Cronic Diverticulitis

[mtdoramike]

I have recurring bouts of Diverticulitis about every 5-6 months or about twice to three times a year for the past 3 years or so. What is ahead of me in the future here. I go to the doctor when I feel it coming on and he prescribes the usual medication for it. But how long will this persist before I have to have surgery. I would assume that my body start become amune to the medication.  

[CalGal]

Mtdoramike, that question is really one that should be directed to your doc. For some individuals, docs say that after the 2nd attack they want them to have surgery, while other docs seem to feel that people can go for much longer periods of time before they suggest it.

I believe however, that you may want to talk to the doc if you've already had about 6-8 flare-ups to find out how much of your colon is compromised and how large an area they would have to resect. The length of the area will depend upon how your blood vessels are 'wired,' and everyone's wiring is a little different.

You might also want him to give you a script to have on hand. That way if you feel problems coming on, you can go right to the pharmacy. And during the times you're feeling okay, please make sure you're following a high fiber diet.

[mtdoramike]

My family Doctor just keeps telling me that any time I start feeling a little tenderness in that area to come in and he would give me a script for the antibiotics. But not to wait to long or else the pain would be very bad. I know, I have made that mistake a few times and the pain was very bad. He has not made mention of surgery or even sending me to a specialist yet. But I'm sure that discussion is forthcoming sooner then later. I would assume that I can't live off of the antibiotics without my body becoming amune to them.

Now my doctor did perform a sonigram (spelling) which is the same test they do for pregnant women and could see the pouch on the side of the colon. My daughter who is a nurse wants me to bypass my doctor on my next flareup and go straight to the hospital so they can have a CT scan done to see how bad it is and wll mostlikely want to do surgery, but I aint looking forward to that. She is afraid that if the pouch ruptures it will be bad, very bad.

[Sue357]

Hi.  I agree with your daughter.  Last year I had 6 episodes of diverticulits that would not go away with the meds.  I ended up having the resection on Jan. of 08.  They had to remove 7 inches of my sigmoid colon as it was so bad that it was starting to close up.  This can be a life threatening condition, not trying to scare you, but I would go to the er next time as if it ruptures it can cause toxins to spread.  We lost a dear friend last year to this.  God bless  Sue

[mtdoramike]

Hi Sue, What am I looking at here as far as the surgery and recovery are concerned?

[Sue357]

Hi.  I won't lie to you.  This is major surgery and I did not realize that until after wards when I was so impatient with my recovery.  Average hospital stay is about 5 days.  They put you under and go in ( I was lucky mine was lapro) and cut out the bad section.  I was also lucky that they were able to reconnect right away.  Some people have to have a colostomy bag to allow the ends of the cut parts to heal.  I was off work about 2 weeks or so.  In hindsight, I would have taken off longer due to the pain.  I had a wonderful surgeon who continued to see me for about 6 months as I continued to have pain, although it got better with time.  I still watch what I eat, no nuts or popcorn.  My colon spasms, at times, and I take Bentyl, which is an antispasmodic.  I lost about 30 pounds through the whole thing as prior to that, I was having to eat only very mushy things.  Now, I am almost back to a normal diet.  Remember, I am a big baby and this was my first surgery.  Everyone's recovery time can be different, but my doc said average is 3 to 6 months.  My son's coworker had it done and was riding his motorcycle after 2 weeks!,  Anyway, I hope this helps and feel free to contact me.