Otis Boykin. An ink drawing of Otis Boykin from a U.S. DEPARTMENT of Energy biographical sketch of 1979. Otis Bobby Boykin (August 29, 1920, Dallas, Texas â March 13, 1982, Chicago, Illinois) was an American inventor and engineer.
Without any fluids (either as sips, ice chips or intravenously) people with a complete bowel obstruction most often survive a week or two. Sometimes itâs only a few days, sometimes as long as three weeks. With fluids, survival time may be extended by a few weeks or even a month or two. With a bowel obstruction, things may go better than expected, but itâs important to prepare for sudden, unexpected changes.
Although most people think it is normal to have one bowel movement a day, the actual range of normal bowel movements is quite large. Most health care professionals consider it normal to have anywhere from as many as three bowel movements a day to as little as three bowel movements a week. More importantly is knowing what is normal for you. If you go from having two bowel movements a day to then not having one for several days this could indicate a problem. If you normally only have a bowel movement every few days but it is soft and you don't have to strain too much then this is perfectly normal.