Aa
Colectomy to treat constipation?!?!
Please help, I have reached a point of nervousness and concern. Even with that I am hopeful that this will solve the problem.
I am scheduled to have a colectomy in about a month. My surgeon has tried everything he can think of to help fix my constipation problems. At this point I am lucky to have a bowel movement every two weeks, but have gotten into a routine of having to have a disimpaction about once a month. My surgeon had sent me to a specialist (no results from the specialist). At a follow up with my surgeon, he had mentioned the possibility of removing my colon. He told me he had to go to a conference and would ask some of his colleagues for their opinions. With that being said, I got a call from his office yesterday. The nurse had told me that my surgeon had called him to let me know that the general consensus was that I needed to have my colon removed.
I scheduled the surgery for the next available date (my surgeon will get back basically in time to do the surgery). This means I do not really have an opportunity to talk to my surgeon before hand. I have a feeling I will not be able to get many answers before the surgery date comes.
I do not really know exactly what my surgeon will be doing - other than removing the colon. I am hoping I will not end up with an ostomy (temporary or permanent). I have no idea what to expect after the surgery. Having to wait a month without answers is a little nerve-racking.
If anyone has had a colectomy to treat chronic constipation and could share some information with me I would really appreciate it. Right now I am sitting in the dark waiting for a little light to shine in.
Thank you for your help.
Quartzn99
I am scheduled to have a colectomy in about a month. My surgeon has tried everything he can think of to help fix my constipation problems. At this point I am lucky to have a bowel movement every two weeks, but have gotten into a routine of having to have a disimpaction about once a month. My surgeon had sent me to a specialist (no results from the specialist). At a follow up with my surgeon, he had mentioned the possibility of removing my colon. He told me he had to go to a conference and would ask some of his colleagues for their opinions. With that being said, I got a call from his office yesterday. The nurse had told me that my surgeon had called him to let me know that the general consensus was that I needed to have my colon removed.
I scheduled the surgery for the next available date (my surgeon will get back basically in time to do the surgery). This means I do not really have an opportunity to talk to my surgeon before hand. I have a feeling I will not be able to get many answers before the surgery date comes.
I do not really know exactly what my surgeon will be doing - other than removing the colon. I am hoping I will not end up with an ostomy (temporary or permanent). I have no idea what to expect after the surgery. Having to wait a month without answers is a little nerve-racking.
If anyone has had a colectomy to treat chronic constipation and could share some information with me I would really appreciate it. Right now I am sitting in the dark waiting for a little light to shine in.
Thank you for your help.
Quartzn99
It is saddening to read of the long painful journey you are on.I wish your doctor and looked at your history more; and that the recovery haid been smoother. I pray and will pray hat you get back to that person who likes food & hates being sick.
Quick healing.
Filma
Quick healing.
Filma
Lvfrogs,
I am glad that my postings are able to provide you with information about this surgery. I’m sure reading about the issues I have gone through does not make this seem like a fun surgery to look forward to. Everything I have gone through over the last few weeks, I was told were possible complications. It is important to know the possibility of these complications. You do not want to get hit with all of this kind of stuff without knowing that it was a possibility. To try to ease your mind about all of this, I can say my doctor told me that very few people actually have these complications. There are some things that are more common, like frequent bowel movements, dehydration, and weight loss. All of this is due to the lack of the colon absorbing the fluid from the stool. Over time the small intestine does learn to take over and absorb the fluid, but this can take several months to a couple years.
My surgeon had planned on the possibility that I might be more prone to the complications. My previous surgeries had a high frequency of complications. With my history it was almost expected that I would have problems with this surgery. My surgeon had mentioned that the average hospital stay with the colectomy is 5-6 days. He also said, prior to the surgery that I would probably be in the hospital a few extra days and made plans for that. He did say that if I did not have the complications he would release me from the hospital as soon as possible. There was a possibility that I could have been released prior to the average 5-6 days. I did have complications so I did stay in the hospital the extra few days.
Part of the problem with me having as many complications as I had is due to the fact that my health has been deteriorating and preventing my body for healing normally. With all of the surgeries I have had my immune system is a little weaker so I am more prone to infections. I have severe gastroperisis so my stomach does not empty within the normal time frame (leading to my nausea and vomiting). I have also been battling constipation long enough and severe enough that I was unable to clean out my bowels prior to the surgery. This led to an increased spillage of stool from my intestines into my abdominal cavity. The stool has a high count of bacteria normally. That is why it is so common for mostly women to have more frequent UTIs. The majority of UTIs are caused by e coli from the stool. With the spilling of stool into my abdominal cavity there was a major increase in the possibility of any of my incisions becoming infected. That is why my surgeon ordered so many IV antibiotics prior to going into surgery, during surgery, and following surgery. He was hoping that if he gave me enough preventative antibiotics I could avoid the infection. I also have a very lengthy list of allergies, so it is possible that some of my complications were due to an allergic reaction to something.
With all of that being said, it was expected that I would have complications from the surgery. It is not common for patients to go through everything that I have. It all depends on your overall health prior to the surgery. Everyone's body is different; some people are more prone to complications while others have a higher frequency of faster and easier recovery.
As I provide updates of my recovery process I am not going to sugar coat anything. I think it is very beneficial for people to hear from those that have quick and easy recoveries and those of us that have more problems along the road of recovery. Having this information can make preparing for surgery easier. You can have an idea of the variety of things that you may go through, yet you can also see that some people have a great recovery. Though I new it was possible and highly likely that I would have complications, I had high hopes that I wouldn’t and that this surgery would fix all the problems I have gone through in the last 14-15 years. Because I had high hopes, I did not pay as much attention to the likely hood of complications, so when I got hit will all of this I was a bit disappointed and surprised about it. I think all of this might have been a little easier for me to deal with if I would have paid a little more attention to it and prepared myself a little better. There are some things that no matter how hard or long you try, you can never be prepared completely. But, with an understanding of all of it, you can be at least partially prepared. With my stuff, I was expecting that if I was going to have complications I thought it would happen with the first day or two following surgery. Since I did not have any problems within the first couple days I allowed myself to feel relieved and made the mistake of thinking I wouldn’t have problems. My complications also came on very rapidly. The first night that I had issues I literally was up walking around and felt great 20 minutes before everything hit. After my walk I had gone back into my room and got ready for bed. I did not have any signs that that night would have been the longest night of my recovery. As I was lying in bed I had no indicators that I was going to get sick. I was not nauseous, did not feel hot, weak, or anything. I was very comfortable until the second that I got projectile. It was within a couple minutes of getting sick the first time that night that I coded. I was lucky enough that I had pushed my call light to get things cleaned up and try to get some medications. My nurse had told me that within 30-45 seconds of her coming into the room I coded. With these kinds of complications, there just is no time to prepare for. Fortunately after the first night I started to feel a little nauseous prior to getting sick every night. Though I was a little nauseous I had and still have no control over when I get sick. I do not have time to get to the bathroom or to have anything ready to catch. Because of that and knowing it happens at the same time every night, I spend several hours in the bathroom every night knowing it is easier to clean things up in there.
I do not want to provide information that makes you over concerned about the surgery, but I do want to provide enough information that others can have an idea of what worst case scenario might be like.
On a positive note, for me. I went in this morning to have my dressings changed. The nurse who was changing the dressings measured everything and concluded that the entire hole in my abdomen is about 3/4 of what it measured when I had my first dressing change last Friday. So in six days it shrunk by about 1/4 of the size. This is encouraging thinking that the incision is trying to heal quickly. It is still possible that I will have a few more weeks before things are close to being healed, but I am off to a good start. We are still keeping an eye on things to be able to catch an infection as soon as it shows if it does happen. I do know it is a possibility for the infection to return, so I am keeping myself prepared for it, but hoping it doesn’t. I am still feeling over weak, tired, and in general uncomfortable, but I still am not showing absolute signs of the infection developing. It is possible that I may be feeling like this just for the fact that my body is in overdrive trying to heal. Only time will tell on what happens next.
If you have any questions or would like more information please let me know. I am currently in a detailed conversation with someone else through the private messaging in here. If you would like to I would be more than happy to use the messaging to provide you with more information, other wise I will keep an eye in here to look for any questions you or anyone else might have.
I hope everything is going well for you right now.
Quartzn99
I am glad that my postings are able to provide you with information about this surgery. I’m sure reading about the issues I have gone through does not make this seem like a fun surgery to look forward to. Everything I have gone through over the last few weeks, I was told were possible complications. It is important to know the possibility of these complications. You do not want to get hit with all of this kind of stuff without knowing that it was a possibility. To try to ease your mind about all of this, I can say my doctor told me that very few people actually have these complications. There are some things that are more common, like frequent bowel movements, dehydration, and weight loss. All of this is due to the lack of the colon absorbing the fluid from the stool. Over time the small intestine does learn to take over and absorb the fluid, but this can take several months to a couple years.
My surgeon had planned on the possibility that I might be more prone to the complications. My previous surgeries had a high frequency of complications. With my history it was almost expected that I would have problems with this surgery. My surgeon had mentioned that the average hospital stay with the colectomy is 5-6 days. He also said, prior to the surgery that I would probably be in the hospital a few extra days and made plans for that. He did say that if I did not have the complications he would release me from the hospital as soon as possible. There was a possibility that I could have been released prior to the average 5-6 days. I did have complications so I did stay in the hospital the extra few days.
Part of the problem with me having as many complications as I had is due to the fact that my health has been deteriorating and preventing my body for healing normally. With all of the surgeries I have had my immune system is a little weaker so I am more prone to infections. I have severe gastroperisis so my stomach does not empty within the normal time frame (leading to my nausea and vomiting). I have also been battling constipation long enough and severe enough that I was unable to clean out my bowels prior to the surgery. This led to an increased spillage of stool from my intestines into my abdominal cavity. The stool has a high count of bacteria normally. That is why it is so common for mostly women to have more frequent UTIs. The majority of UTIs are caused by e coli from the stool. With the spilling of stool into my abdominal cavity there was a major increase in the possibility of any of my incisions becoming infected. That is why my surgeon ordered so many IV antibiotics prior to going into surgery, during surgery, and following surgery. He was hoping that if he gave me enough preventative antibiotics I could avoid the infection. I also have a very lengthy list of allergies, so it is possible that some of my complications were due to an allergic reaction to something.
With all of that being said, it was expected that I would have complications from the surgery. It is not common for patients to go through everything that I have. It all depends on your overall health prior to the surgery. Everyone's body is different; some people are more prone to complications while others have a higher frequency of faster and easier recovery.
As I provide updates of my recovery process I am not going to sugar coat anything. I think it is very beneficial for people to hear from those that have quick and easy recoveries and those of us that have more problems along the road of recovery. Having this information can make preparing for surgery easier. You can have an idea of the variety of things that you may go through, yet you can also see that some people have a great recovery. Though I new it was possible and highly likely that I would have complications, I had high hopes that I wouldn’t and that this surgery would fix all the problems I have gone through in the last 14-15 years. Because I had high hopes, I did not pay as much attention to the likely hood of complications, so when I got hit will all of this I was a bit disappointed and surprised about it. I think all of this might have been a little easier for me to deal with if I would have paid a little more attention to it and prepared myself a little better. There are some things that no matter how hard or long you try, you can never be prepared completely. But, with an understanding of all of it, you can be at least partially prepared. With my stuff, I was expecting that if I was going to have complications I thought it would happen with the first day or two following surgery. Since I did not have any problems within the first couple days I allowed myself to feel relieved and made the mistake of thinking I wouldn’t have problems. My complications also came on very rapidly. The first night that I had issues I literally was up walking around and felt great 20 minutes before everything hit. After my walk I had gone back into my room and got ready for bed. I did not have any signs that that night would have been the longest night of my recovery. As I was lying in bed I had no indicators that I was going to get sick. I was not nauseous, did not feel hot, weak, or anything. I was very comfortable until the second that I got projectile. It was within a couple minutes of getting sick the first time that night that I coded. I was lucky enough that I had pushed my call light to get things cleaned up and try to get some medications. My nurse had told me that within 30-45 seconds of her coming into the room I coded. With these kinds of complications, there just is no time to prepare for. Fortunately after the first night I started to feel a little nauseous prior to getting sick every night. Though I was a little nauseous I had and still have no control over when I get sick. I do not have time to get to the bathroom or to have anything ready to catch. Because of that and knowing it happens at the same time every night, I spend several hours in the bathroom every night knowing it is easier to clean things up in there.
I do not want to provide information that makes you over concerned about the surgery, but I do want to provide enough information that others can have an idea of what worst case scenario might be like.
On a positive note, for me. I went in this morning to have my dressings changed. The nurse who was changing the dressings measured everything and concluded that the entire hole in my abdomen is about 3/4 of what it measured when I had my first dressing change last Friday. So in six days it shrunk by about 1/4 of the size. This is encouraging thinking that the incision is trying to heal quickly. It is still possible that I will have a few more weeks before things are close to being healed, but I am off to a good start. We are still keeping an eye on things to be able to catch an infection as soon as it shows if it does happen. I do know it is a possibility for the infection to return, so I am keeping myself prepared for it, but hoping it doesn’t. I am still feeling over weak, tired, and in general uncomfortable, but I still am not showing absolute signs of the infection developing. It is possible that I may be feeling like this just for the fact that my body is in overdrive trying to heal. Only time will tell on what happens next.
If you have any questions or would like more information please let me know. I am currently in a detailed conversation with someone else through the private messaging in here. If you would like to I would be more than happy to use the messaging to provide you with more information, other wise I will keep an eye in here to look for any questions you or anyone else might have.
I hope everything is going well for you right now.
Quartzn99
I am facing this surgery in the near future so your posting has been invaluable to me. I cannot tell you how nice it is to read your posts, although, I hate to hear about the problems you have had, the infections and the vomiting. I appreciate the candor though that you express. I will keep you in my prayers that the vomiting and infection will stop soon and that you will continue to heal and feel better. I will be thinking of you!
Continued...
Two concerns that have come up at this point are dehydration and weight loss. Without the colon and my small intestine has not yet figured out that it has to take of over for the colon, my stools are very loose and wet. This has contributed to a good deal of fluid loss. Also as long as I am battling the vomiting I am losing a lot of fluid. Dehydration under either of these conditions would be a concern. When you mix both of them, it is extremely difficult to maintain a proper level of water in my body. I have also lost a bit of weight. During the day I try to maintain a higher calorie diet to try to maintain some kind of normal weight. I have always joked with my family that I would never be able to have an eating disorder. I like food and I hate being sick. It is a little hard to have any kind of eating disorder with those factors . My family knows what is going on and is able to see that I am doing everything I can to maintain, but those who do not know me as well have made a few comments about having an eating disorder because of the weight loss, vomiting, and frequent bowel movements. There are a few people who are convinced I am intentionally causing these things. Those who believe this do not understand what happens when you remove the colon. I have tried to explain the surgery and the issues I have been having, but they are under the impression that I am trying to come up with a creative story. From the time I left the hospital I am averaging a loss of 1-2 pounds per day. I have been out of the hospital for 10 days now and have lost 19 pounds. That kind of weight loss is not healthy. The day I got home from the hospital I weighed myself. I weighed 127 pounds, as of this morning I weighed 108. I am 5 feet and 3 inches tall. I am quickly going down to the underweight level. My surgeon and I are trying to figure out how to slow down the weight loss, but again with vomiting and frequent stools, it is a little difficult.
So far this has been a long road of recovery from the surgery. All of the complications I have gone through are making things a little difficult to deal with. Even though I am having so many problems, I do not regret having this surgery. I have been very sick for 2.5 weeks now, but I remain hopeful that these issues will be resolved at some point. I am also trying to keep a positive mind by comparing all of this to the problems I was having before the surgery. As miserable as I was with the constipation, I keep telling myself that all of this will be worth it. I do not have to keep an eye on the calendar to determine if it is time to have another disimpaction or seeing how long it has been since I was able to go to the bathroom. During the day, after having my dressings changed, I may go to the bathroom a few times a day, but that is no different than me trying to go to the bathroom for several hours each day. I am also able to go through my day without having a major impact from the surgery. I have not been the kind of person that gets the full 8 hours of sleep for over 10 years. With that, not being able to sleep much because of being sick is not having much of an impact on me. The only two things that every day I hope will go away are the vomiting and the battle with the infection.
I hope everyone is doing well. I will provide another update after a few more days or by next week. I want to be able to provide information for anyone who may be facing surgery to remove the colon. I did not have much time to find this information before I had the surgery, but I hope everyone else is able to take the time to understand what they may experience prior to having the surgery.
Best of luck and health,
Quartzn99
Two concerns that have come up at this point are dehydration and weight loss. Without the colon and my small intestine has not yet figured out that it has to take of over for the colon, my stools are very loose and wet. This has contributed to a good deal of fluid loss. Also as long as I am battling the vomiting I am losing a lot of fluid. Dehydration under either of these conditions would be a concern. When you mix both of them, it is extremely difficult to maintain a proper level of water in my body. I have also lost a bit of weight. During the day I try to maintain a higher calorie diet to try to maintain some kind of normal weight. I have always joked with my family that I would never be able to have an eating disorder. I like food and I hate being sick. It is a little hard to have any kind of eating disorder with those factors . My family knows what is going on and is able to see that I am doing everything I can to maintain, but those who do not know me as well have made a few comments about having an eating disorder because of the weight loss, vomiting, and frequent bowel movements. There are a few people who are convinced I am intentionally causing these things. Those who believe this do not understand what happens when you remove the colon. I have tried to explain the surgery and the issues I have been having, but they are under the impression that I am trying to come up with a creative story. From the time I left the hospital I am averaging a loss of 1-2 pounds per day. I have been out of the hospital for 10 days now and have lost 19 pounds. That kind of weight loss is not healthy. The day I got home from the hospital I weighed myself. I weighed 127 pounds, as of this morning I weighed 108. I am 5 feet and 3 inches tall. I am quickly going down to the underweight level. My surgeon and I are trying to figure out how to slow down the weight loss, but again with vomiting and frequent stools, it is a little difficult.
So far this has been a long road of recovery from the surgery. All of the complications I have gone through are making things a little difficult to deal with. Even though I am having so many problems, I do not regret having this surgery. I have been very sick for 2.5 weeks now, but I remain hopeful that these issues will be resolved at some point. I am also trying to keep a positive mind by comparing all of this to the problems I was having before the surgery. As miserable as I was with the constipation, I keep telling myself that all of this will be worth it. I do not have to keep an eye on the calendar to determine if it is time to have another disimpaction or seeing how long it has been since I was able to go to the bathroom. During the day, after having my dressings changed, I may go to the bathroom a few times a day, but that is no different than me trying to go to the bathroom for several hours each day. I am also able to go through my day without having a major impact from the surgery. I have not been the kind of person that gets the full 8 hours of sleep for over 10 years. With that, not being able to sleep much because of being sick is not having much of an impact on me. The only two things that every day I hope will go away are the vomiting and the battle with the infection.
I hope everyone is doing well. I will provide another update after a few more days or by next week. I want to be able to provide information for anyone who may be facing surgery to remove the colon. I did not have much time to find this information before I had the surgery, but I hope everyone else is able to take the time to understand what they may experience prior to having the surgery.
Best of luck and health,
Quartzn99
Hello everyone,
I just wanted to give an update to the recovery process following my surgery. I am not having as much pain as I was when I first got back home. I am still battling the nausea and vomiting every night, but it is not as intense as it was. Shortly after I got home I was in a pattern of vomiting between 5-7 times every night. Now I am vomiting between 2-4 times a night. My doctors are still working on finding the right combination and frequency of the medications to stop it.
I had all 22 staples removed on the 15th. My incision was looking really good. I had a little bit of an area that was red, but I had not had a temp since I got home. When I got up on the 16th, part of my incision was really squishy and I could see a little bit of pus right under the skin of part of one of the incisions. With my experience as a CNA working on the surgical floor of the hospital, I was able to quickly identify the signs of an infection. I made an appointment with my surgeon for that afternoon. My surgeon looked at the incision and decided that it was good that I made the appointment because as he said, the infection could take over very quickly. He told me he was going to write a prescription for antibiotics. He also told me to try to play with it a little bit to try to get it to open and drain. When he left the exam room to write the script I took the opportunity to try to get it to open up a little bit. I did get it to open, although not in the spot we were looking at. Part of the incision opened up just enough to allow it to spray all over the exam room. I managed to spray the wall across the room and it left a massive trail. My surgeon came back in the exam room, and decided he wanted to look at it because neither one of us thought it was that bad. He barely pressed on my abdomen and about 1.5 ounces of brown pus gushed out. He cleaned it and again applied a little bit of pressure, this time about 2 ounces gushed out. My surgeon decided that I needed to go into surgery the next morning to open the incision and clean it out.
Following the surgery to clean out the infection my surgeon decided to leave the incision open. He did this to allow dressings to help pull any remaining pus and any thing else that might contribute to more infection. I have a hole in my abdomen about 2 inches long, 2 inches spread apart, and about1.5 inches deep. I have to go to the hospital every day to have my dressings changed. We are doing a moist to dry dressing. With this, moist gauze is packed into the incision with a dry dressing on top of it. Every morning I have to go in to have the gauze pulled out, have the incision flushed with saline, scrubbed out with q-tips and gauze, and then repacked with more gauze. This is not a fun process. The incision hurts, and parts of the gauze that is packed dries and sticks to the inside of the incision. When the gauze is pulled out it tears bits of the inside of the incision. This is a very painful process. I was told that I will have to continue to have the daily dressing changes for at least 3 weeks.
Over the last couple days, I have been feeling like I may be starting to develop an infection again. My body is beginning to feel like it is breaking down. At this point in time other than feeling very weak, I am not showing any proof of an infection. So we are just keeping an eye on everything and hoping I do not develop another infection.
I am able to eat a regular diet. I just pay attention to what I eat and identify any foods that cause problems. I am able to go to the bathroom without medications or surgical procedures. This is a great feeling. As odd as it sounds, I am amazed every time I go to the bathroom and see how much comes out. I am able to expel more poop each time I go than I was able to get out in a month. I am going to the bathroom between 5-8 times a day (may be more or less depending on what and how much I eat). I have learned to limit my food intake in the evenings to reduce the trips to the bathroom in the middle of the night. If I eat past 7pm it is guaranteed that I will go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. Depending on what I eat in the evenings I may make 2 or 3 trips to the bathroom. If I pay attention to what, when, and how much I eat I am able to go to bed and only have to get up once if at all. The last couple nights I have been able to go to bed between 2 and 3 in the morning and get up at 8. During this time I am able to sleep through the few hours I am actually able to sleep without lying awake or getting up to be sick, but I do not have to go to the bathroom. If I am able to make it through this time frame without getting sick, I am able to stay in bed without the overpowering urge to have a bowel movement. Most of the time I am able to go at least 3.5 to 4 hours without going to the bathroom. This is very dependant on what I eat, how much, and when. I have had a few days where I apparently tried to introduce foods that my body is not ready for. This has led to watery stools, unbelievable urges, and a very strong need to find a bathroom quickly. Though I have had a few days like this, it is not the norm.
I just wanted to give an update to the recovery process following my surgery. I am not having as much pain as I was when I first got back home. I am still battling the nausea and vomiting every night, but it is not as intense as it was. Shortly after I got home I was in a pattern of vomiting between 5-7 times every night. Now I am vomiting between 2-4 times a night. My doctors are still working on finding the right combination and frequency of the medications to stop it.
I had all 22 staples removed on the 15th. My incision was looking really good. I had a little bit of an area that was red, but I had not had a temp since I got home. When I got up on the 16th, part of my incision was really squishy and I could see a little bit of pus right under the skin of part of one of the incisions. With my experience as a CNA working on the surgical floor of the hospital, I was able to quickly identify the signs of an infection. I made an appointment with my surgeon for that afternoon. My surgeon looked at the incision and decided that it was good that I made the appointment because as he said, the infection could take over very quickly. He told me he was going to write a prescription for antibiotics. He also told me to try to play with it a little bit to try to get it to open and drain. When he left the exam room to write the script I took the opportunity to try to get it to open up a little bit. I did get it to open, although not in the spot we were looking at. Part of the incision opened up just enough to allow it to spray all over the exam room. I managed to spray the wall across the room and it left a massive trail. My surgeon came back in the exam room, and decided he wanted to look at it because neither one of us thought it was that bad. He barely pressed on my abdomen and about 1.5 ounces of brown pus gushed out. He cleaned it and again applied a little bit of pressure, this time about 2 ounces gushed out. My surgeon decided that I needed to go into surgery the next morning to open the incision and clean it out.
Following the surgery to clean out the infection my surgeon decided to leave the incision open. He did this to allow dressings to help pull any remaining pus and any thing else that might contribute to more infection. I have a hole in my abdomen about 2 inches long, 2 inches spread apart, and about1.5 inches deep. I have to go to the hospital every day to have my dressings changed. We are doing a moist to dry dressing. With this, moist gauze is packed into the incision with a dry dressing on top of it. Every morning I have to go in to have the gauze pulled out, have the incision flushed with saline, scrubbed out with q-tips and gauze, and then repacked with more gauze. This is not a fun process. The incision hurts, and parts of the gauze that is packed dries and sticks to the inside of the incision. When the gauze is pulled out it tears bits of the inside of the incision. This is a very painful process. I was told that I will have to continue to have the daily dressing changes for at least 3 weeks.
Over the last couple days, I have been feeling like I may be starting to develop an infection again. My body is beginning to feel like it is breaking down. At this point in time other than feeling very weak, I am not showing any proof of an infection. So we are just keeping an eye on everything and hoping I do not develop another infection.
I am able to eat a regular diet. I just pay attention to what I eat and identify any foods that cause problems. I am able to go to the bathroom without medications or surgical procedures. This is a great feeling. As odd as it sounds, I am amazed every time I go to the bathroom and see how much comes out. I am able to expel more poop each time I go than I was able to get out in a month. I am going to the bathroom between 5-8 times a day (may be more or less depending on what and how much I eat). I have learned to limit my food intake in the evenings to reduce the trips to the bathroom in the middle of the night. If I eat past 7pm it is guaranteed that I will go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. Depending on what I eat in the evenings I may make 2 or 3 trips to the bathroom. If I pay attention to what, when, and how much I eat I am able to go to bed and only have to get up once if at all. The last couple nights I have been able to go to bed between 2 and 3 in the morning and get up at 8. During this time I am able to sleep through the few hours I am actually able to sleep without lying awake or getting up to be sick, but I do not have to go to the bathroom. If I am able to make it through this time frame without getting sick, I am able to stay in bed without the overpowering urge to have a bowel movement. Most of the time I am able to go at least 3.5 to 4 hours without going to the bathroom. This is very dependant on what I eat, how much, and when. I have had a few days where I apparently tried to introduce foods that my body is not ready for. This has led to watery stools, unbelievable urges, and a very strong need to find a bathroom quickly. Though I have had a few days like this, it is not the norm.
thank you so much for being candid and posting your recovery. I am facing a possible subtotal colectomy and had posted a question on here with no response; however, I had previously posted and read Morecambe's journal entry, so I had some reference. I was just now looking for my question and read this post.
I pray that you are doing much better now and hope that the vomiting has stopped. I would think that is definitely not normal. I know how it feels to always be bloated and think you will pop any minute so glad to know that you have relief from that now. Take care!
I pray that you are doing much better now and hope that the vomiting has stopped. I would think that is definitely not normal. I know how it feels to always be bloated and think you will pop any minute so glad to know that you have relief from that now. Take care!
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