Colon surgery recovery

[Ladyslipper]

My husband is recovering from Colon cancer surgery (successful with no chemo), but we are getting no feedback from the doctors on how his bowels should be acting as time goes on. He's off the soft diet (surgery was 2 months ago) but things are not back to working properly. Example: today he has to run to the bathroom VERY quickly, at least once an hour, not diarreha but loose, and definitely not regular. Is this a normal part of the process, or should we worry?

[mammo]

You don't need to prepare anything special for your husband, he's eating just fine.  Copy and paste the website below in your web browser, it's very informative as to what causes diarrhea after colon surgery.

http://www.ehow.com/how-does_4928394_causes-diarrhea-after-bowel-surgery.html

[Ladyslipper]

Colon was not removed-just a large section at the very end, he was lucky-they got all the cancer, but his system does not seem to be coming back to work properly. It's been 2 months since the surgery, and we just have no idea if this is just a normal progression-or if we're doing things wrong. Getting him to drink enough is a huge struggle, I know he needs to but he has always hated drinking water, and he can't have too much juice because his sugar levels are high-diet soda causes gas which makes things worse, I'll try the gatorade. Any other food suggestions? He does a whole bran cereal, a yogurt, and whole grain toast for breakfast.Lunch is hamburger, activia drink,and maybe a sandwich. Dinner is a vegetable, fish or meatloaf, and mashed sweet potato or regular potato. I should mention I suck as a cook and need any help I can get with menu ideas. Thanks for answering me. Any other help would be appreciated.

[mammo]

Did he have his colon removed? Knowing exactly what kind of surgery he had would help us to help you.  In the meantime make sure he stays well hydrated with water, gatorade, orange juice, and have him eat a banana everyday to replenish his potassium.  He needs to eat plenty of fiber, and pay attention to see if some foods affect him more than others. Make sure he is eating yogurt rich in probiotics, which he has lost with the diarrhea. My son had his entire colon removed at 12, and these are the guidelines we were given, along with him taking Immodium Anti-Diarrhea medication.  He quickly got himself down to 2 BM's a day.  For him it's all about diet and knowing what foods cause diarrhea. Don't allow these doctors to ignore your questions, certainly not fair to your husband.  Tell your husband to hang in there, it will get better.  My son is an untrathoner and running a 100 miles many times a year, so know your husband can have a normal life again.  Let us know if part or all of your husband's colon was removed....it's makes a big difference in how you should approach this.  Best wishes.