Large intestine not working after surgery ?

[daveds]

My girlfriend is 49 and had surgery august of 2009 to remove a fist sized tumor in her large intestine. she has stage 4 colorectal cancer with mestsis on the liver,and several areas in her abdomen. she has had several months of chemo and began having pain again.  they discovered that the original tumor that was removed [along with 6 inches of intestine] had begun to regrow in the scar tissue.  after another surgery to remove this new growth and aproximatly 12 more inches of large intestine she was in the hospital about 4 to 5 weeks and released.  after being home and in pain for 3 weeks she went back to the hospital where shes been for over a week now.  the doctors dont seem to know whats wrong.  all they've told me is her large intestine is not functioning.   my question is - is there a procedure or way to get that functiong again or are the doc's just not wanting to give us horrible news ?  someone please help

[Morecambe]

After abdominal surgery the intestines are sometimes slow to re-start following surgical manipulation during the operation.  I believe the medical name is "ileus".  When I underwent colon surgery I was told that there were drugs that could be administered to nullify an intestinal ileus and you may wish to ask the surgeon about this.

regards
Morecambe

[B_Shel20]

There is a procedure called a "pull through procedure" where a doctor removes the large intestines completely and connects the small intestines to the anus. This is done alot of times for people with really bad ulcerative colitis cases. I have no idea if this is an option for your girlfriend, but could be worth discussing and researching. From what I read, it greatly improves the life of those who have had it. Good luck, and keep us posted.