Have you had your bowels opened today?

The aim of this refection with commentaries is to highlight the problems patients face regarding constipation following orthopaedic surgery. Linda, a nurse academic, had spinal surgery a short while ago and the reflections are hers. When a health care professional experiences health care, there is often an opportunity for them to learn from their reflections by comparing their own experiences to the care they give or have given to others in their professional lives. It is our hope that this process, using Linda's reflections on her own experience as a patient, will help and encourage practitioners to engage more effectively with the patient perspective when caring for those at risk of constipation following surgical procedures.