REFUSES to go poop

This is basically for reassurance that we are not taking 20387 steps back. I'm afraid we could be...

So, Anthony had surgery last Monday. He is fully potty trained, and has been since August. His surgery was hypospadias repair, for those who do not know, and he has a catheter/bag, and it won't be removed until Wednesday. He pooped Sunday before the surgery, and then again on Wednesday. That was NOT pretty, possibly straining so much that the catheter may have come out a little bit(there's a suture keeping it in). It was a two hour screaming ordeal. It was awful. And he won't take his meds, so we need to hide it in some juice(he tastes it in milk) and it took forever for him to drink it! We called the Dr and he said to try to see if we could push the catheter back in, and to give him tylenol with codeine. He's been fine since.

However, he will.not.go.to.the.bathroom. AT ALL. It's awful. And I see him running around holding his butt. And he complains of having a tummy ache. He's getting juice four times/day with his meds. He's really not eating much at all. If I see him holding himself, I run him to the bathroom, and he tells me he doesn't want his pants off, he doesn't want to see it(his penis/catheter), and then refuses to go and tries to jump off the toilet. It really is heartbreaking.

And...he had an accident when he did go on Wednesday. He went in the toilet once, and then again in his pants. He was very apologetic, but I really think he doesn't want to go because of his penis and how it looks.

Will he regress once the catheter is out? More so than he is? I really hope not. He's done AWESOME with going to the bathroom. I'm just afraid he's going to be forever scarred. He won't let us near him at all when it comes to bathroom/ointment application, not to say I don't blame him....

Any insight is appreciated. I'm calling the pedi in the morning to see what I can give him and the dosage. I gave him a little miralax this morning. Maybe it will do the trick tomorrow. And he had some pears tonight...

 

:hug: Poor little guy! I really do think it's because of the surgery and not that he's regressing. Just from what you are describing, I'm thinking to myself...if I were him I wouldn't want to go either! One of the things that helped my son to go was eating blueberries and also mixing up prunes in grape jelly. I hope the Miralax does help and keep us posted on what your pedi says today.

 

I think codeine constipates. Most morphene derivatives do. Call the doctor and ask if you can start to give him Miralax. More Miralax!! At 9 months I was giving Royce the maximum adult dosage to get him started.

 

I called...and am waiting... Unfortunately, I get someone on the phone who has no idea what I should do. So she's going to ask the doctor what I can give(she made sure I was pushing fiber, etc). I know my kid. He's not going to eat something because I tell him to. Don't you think he'd be eating pears, peached, blueberries morning noon and night? This kid is STUBBORN!

I'm waiting. I'll give it til lunchtime...

 

Meaghan-I think the miralax will help!! I know one painfull poop will scar them, and they will hold it which makes it hurt even worse and its a vicious cycle, but once he goes and it doesnt hurt he will be okay.
I am sorry you are all going through this, its got to be tough!! *hugs*

 

Thanks ladies! You all rock!

I just talked to the pedi's office. He ok'd him having a glycerine suppository. And let's just say, that's not on my list. LOL! To me, I feel like it would be traumatic. Would it? I've never done one...and I can't imagine doing one... EEK!

 

Hmmmmmm, I am not sure either of you are in the mood for a suppository but if anyone can get it pulled off then you can!! :youcandoit:
I must tell you I had to do an enema on Sophia when she was this age and yeah, it was quite traumatic for me and her!!

 

I've had to do gly supp's for one of my DDs. I think it was more traumatic for me than her. I just explained to her that this will help the poops come out and make her feel better. Codeine is very constipating, so I agree with trying to get something to soften his stools so he doesn't have to strain. But before that can happen you need to get the poop that is in there out. I'm kind of 'queen of poop' and I've also had surgery that required a cath, narcotic pain meds (and their constipating effects), and a full-on fear of that first poop. Its no fun, but not terrible either.


I think if you calm him down and tell him that you are going to help him get his poops out and he'll feel better (and maybe offer a reward for being an awesome little cooperative boy), you'll both be fine. Insert the pedi glycerin suppository and then wiggle it a bit to stimulate his reflex to poop. Have a diaper or chucks pad underneath him just in case. :hug: :hug: (<- one for each of you).

 

Works that fast huh?!? Could I give it to him in the bathroom and sit him on toilet immediately? Oy.

 

You might get some poop out if its down low. Usually it works within 30 minutes or not at all. :hug:

 

I've never had a glycerin suppository work within seconds, but minutes. They do work. Also, enemas work well too. I've done it all with 3 out of 4 of mine. Not fun, but it does the job. If he is impacted the suppository may not work at all. It has to be against the skin (inside) to work. So if it goes into TMI hard poop, it won't melt and work properly. But if he's just withholding out of fear it will most likely do the job. I think the suppositories are less scary than the enemas. You can conceal what it is and do it super fast. Just make sure he's relaxed and knees toward his tummy, not laying flat. On the side is easiest, but laying over your legs with his legs hanging works also.
Poor little guy! I feel for him!!! I bet you he won't remember this when he's 10. HUGS

 

We've done suppository when A had a colonoscopy. We explained exactly what it was, with no emotions. It was super easy to put it and didn't appear to hurt. It worked within 30 minutes or so.
I can understand why he's scared. I remember that first BA after giving birth. Straining hurts, but with all the pain medication, you get all stopped up. I bet the suppository is just what he needs to get going again (pun intended).

 

I hope he's doing better Meghan. I wouldn't worry too much about him regressing right now. He's got plenty of time to get back on track once he heals.

 

Meg - get the liquid glycerin suppository as opposed to the gel one. It's the right size for a 2-6 year old with the correct dosage. And it comes pre-lubed, so it's simply: pull legs up, insert, squirt, and wait. Roycie used to have one at least once or twice a week, sometimes more frequently than that.

 

:hug: you've gotten some great advice so I just wanted to send you another :hug:
Just a couple more days! You are such a great mom!

 

Ooooh, this is a tough one. Since it looks like this was posted yesterday (or before), have you had any luck? What did you decide to do?

My thoughts are this...the codeine is definitely constipating. And I can totally understand his fear of going to the bathroom for both the pain & having to see where his surgery was (along with the catheter). I'm a nurse & even *I* have had issues looking at my own incisions after surgery! And since it IS painful to poop after surgery because of the straining (plus the constipation from the meds), he's got a lot of things piling up for him . Poor little guy!

First & foremost, aside from dietary things, I'd ask your Ped if there are any stool softeners he can have. Docusate is a great one, but I know that the liquid form is AWFUL tasting. It's one of the few meds that I despise giving my patients because you can't really hide it's taste in much of anything (yuck, yuck, yuck...I've tried it!). I'm not sure if there are any others out there, though.

I also think a laxative is a good idea. Miralax is great because you can hide it in stuff. I'd continue with that, for sure. I think doing something oral is a LOT less traumatic than a suppository.

While a suppository is a GREAT idea, I'd worry about scarring him further. Not only did he just have surgery down there, but he's associating using the toilet as something negative right now (do you blame him?). I'd worry that a suppository would just traumatize him further. It's not like he had surgery somewhere else, just has constipation issues, or isn't potty trained. I don't know...I just think I'd go other routes before the suppository route.

I really hope that after he gets his catheter out, gets off the constipating meds, & gets over the fear of seeing his penis, everything falls back into place for him. I'm sure it will. Just give him time & try not to force him into anything.

Good luck! I know this has been a lot of stress for all of you. I hope it's all a memory of the past for you all really soon!

 

How is he doing today?? Any luck with the pooping??

You've gotten some great advice so far, we had(are still having) some big issues with my one DD and not wanting to poop. We had to do supps a couple times and it was quite traumatic but it does work, I think you may want to give it a try since it's been so long since he has gone and it will help lube it up. You could also put a bit of vaseline on his anus so that it doesn't hurt so much on the way out.

Let us know how he's doing. Poor little guy.

 

Thank you Andrea!

There has been no movement yet. I forgot he went Wednesday AND Friday. So today marks day four. DH is picking up the suppository on the way home, but I'm going to add the miralax and hope that does the trick first. As well as pears, pear juice, etc. His are rock hard and fat. LOL. Not pleasant at all. I know how he feels because after I had the twins...O.M.G. That's all I'm saying! :blush:

DH was trying to push him on the toilet last night...MIL, FIL, and SIL were all here and he kept pressing it and brought the toilet into the living room, etc. Then he complains his penis hurts because it's touching the toilet. It's a nightmare really. He takes two bites of something and he's done.

On the bright side, just over 24 hours to go!

 

So glad he's getting the cath out tomorrow. :hug: Poor little man.

 

You and me BOTH! LOL!

 

I agree totally.

Maybe if you put a pull up on him or just tell him that for now it is ok to go in his pants. I would also continue with the miralax until he has been going regularly for a while it won't hurt him. Poor little guy, I hope and pray that he feels better very very soon.

 

:hug: Meaghan! I have no advice, just wanted to say hang in there and good luck with the cath removal tomorrow! :hug:

 

Thanks ladies again!

Still no suppository...dh is throwing up, and there is no way I could deal with explosive poop as well as a sick husband and two other kids. So I said forget it. I will keep up with the miralax tomorrow and then some. Good idea!

I tell ya, I feel like I've aged 15 years this week! LOL!

Fingers crossed everyone is healthy tomorrow! There is NOTHING that is keeping me from this appointment! And healthy so we can all go to Chuck E Cheeses. Or something! I'm hoping dh has food poisoning vs a bug. I don't want to get it, nor do I want the kids to get it. Annabella woke last night at midnight and threw up everywhere. She was totally fine otherwise. That smell was atrocious. And then dh got sick this afternoon. He's complaining of chills and being hot, but he also says he has sharp pains. I don't know. What I do know is...timing is everything. :headbang:

 

Oh man that stinks I hope your dh feels better very soon and that no one else gets it! Bless your heart!

 

Abby did the same thing last Thursday night...the smell was horrifying (I had to throw her in the shower it was so nasty) but then she woke up Friday morning and was fresh as a daisy and fine...

 

Just wanted to update...

Catheter is out! That was painful. Oy. It's now 10 pm and he has yet to pee since he got it off. We were told it may burn when he goes for the next 24-48 hours. He refused to go before bed. About five minutes after dh got downstairs, he started screaming he had to pee. As soon as he sat on the toilet, he cried and refused, saying it hurt. *Sigh*

However, before bed he pooped!!! And screamed bloody murder after that. This poor kid. He really is amazing! We will continue with miralax for a few days and hope that helps. Dh mentioned putting a diaper on and he freaked out. Not sure if that's an option. So we are prepared for him to have accidents tonight.

And the icing on the cake is I am sick and have been in be since we got home from the doctors. I missed chuck e cheese and everything. I was so distraught! I will have to have a do over!

 

Did he finally go?? I'm glad the cath is out and I hope he's feeling better!!
I just went through he11 with my aly not pooping! Today was day 4 and it's way tmi but let's just say it was awful!! The ped is having us give her a 1/2 cap of miralax twice a day.