bowel function after colon resection

I had a colon resection in October of 09.  I was a stage 2 with no lymph node involvement or organ involvement.  I have been experiencing good bowel movements for part of the time and then out of nowhere comes the diarhea (diarrhea) and frequency.

I notice that certain foods trigger it, but it seems to be getting more frequent.  I just returned to work part-time and I think that might have affected it as well.  The most bowel movements I would have would be 4 or 5 in a day.  Usually I start out with a normal movement, then it gets progressively looser.

I had my follow up CT scan of abdomen, chest and pelvis and all is clear.  I am to have my first colonoscopy since the surgery last year - I am getting nervous about that.  I guess every time my bowels change it scares me.  

Anybody else experiencing this?

Leslie

[pcarrier]

Hi Leslie: My husbands rescection was in Oct 2008. About the same scenerio as yours but with an illestomey and tons of infection. He has experienced the same thing. His surgeon told us it would take about a year to get to "some kind of regularity". Also it depends on what part and how much of the colon was removed. My husband had a "lower anterior resection" removing about 9". This has left him with out the "reservoir" part of his colon, so even now most of the time it is formed, other times it is not. Since his resection we have changed our diets quite abit. It also seems important for him to have a regular eating schedule. Basic healthier eating...low carbs, no refined foods, no sugar, no salt, rye flour ect....

[Morecambe]

About six years ago I underwent a total colectomy for torrential diverticular bleeding and indeed in the period after the surgery I experienced very loose motions up to ~6-8 times per day and ~ 4 times at night.  Gradually the frequency decreased but I found that a high fibre diet made some difference - especially eating home made muesli (soak organic oats + organic bran in milk and add lemon juise, grated fruit etc etc.  It looks like wet cement but it tastes OK!!). The rationale is:-  imagine a liquid spillage on the kitchen floor on which you throw sawdust to make the spillage semi-solid prior to cleaning it up.  I found that this diet had the same effect on the consistency of my motions.

regards
Morecambe