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Diarrhea After Colectomy
by laura326, Oct 28, 2008 03:04PM
I've seen a few people ask this question but since the results I saw were from several month's ago, I was hoping maybe someone out there might have some other suggestions or maybe there are have been people that have joined since then and may be able to offer other/different suggestions.
I had a partial colectomy on 9/5/08 (although why a 70% removal of your colon is referred to as "partial" seems a bit odd to me but then I guess since it wasn't completely removed it's considered partial?) Well, no matter what it's referred to - I was told that the constant diarrhea I've experienced since about a week after my remaining bowels "woke up" after surgery - would eventually (I was told a month or two) "figure out" their new configuration and would return to normal. It's been 7+ weeks since the surgery and there's no sign of anything returning to normal.
I was prescribed Tincture of Opium by the surgeon to slow down the nearly constant, watery diarrhea I had while in the hospital but this succeeded in only slowing down the number of times a day I went. It did not slow down the urgency or consistency of the bm itself. It is so unpredictable still that I am unable to wear normal underwear and have been forced by necessity to wear "adult disposable briefs" which is a nice way of saying "pullup diapers."
It should also be noted that I also had a total pancreatectomy with islet cell transplant, a splenectomy and as a matter of course, an appendectomy all at the same time as the colectomy. In fact, the tp/iat surgery was the main reason I was having surgery but it was discovered that I had a necrotic (diseased) colon such that it had to be removed.
In any case, does anyone have any suggestions or recommendations for further slowing down this diarrhea? And, if anyone has had a colectomy or partial colectomy - does the diarrhea ever end? And, if so, how long after surgery did it take before it ended? I know this is an individualized experience, i.e., everyone is different, but I would just like to get a general timeframe in which I might expect that it will end.
Thank you very much for your suggestions, recommendations and any other comments you may have.
Laura
This discussion is related to Constant diarrhea after colectomy.
I had a partial colectomy on 9/5/08 (although why a 70% removal of your colon is referred to as "partial" seems a bit odd to me but then I guess since it wasn't completely removed it's considered partial?) Well, no matter what it's referred to - I was told that the constant diarrhea I've experienced since about a week after my remaining bowels "woke up" after surgery - would eventually (I was told a month or two) "figure out" their new configuration and would return to normal. It's been 7+ weeks since the surgery and there's no sign of anything returning to normal.
I was prescribed Tincture of Opium by the surgeon to slow down the nearly constant, watery diarrhea I had while in the hospital but this succeeded in only slowing down the number of times a day I went. It did not slow down the urgency or consistency of the bm itself. It is so unpredictable still that I am unable to wear normal underwear and have been forced by necessity to wear "adult disposable briefs" which is a nice way of saying "pullup diapers."
It should also be noted that I also had a total pancreatectomy with islet cell transplant, a splenectomy and as a matter of course, an appendectomy all at the same time as the colectomy. In fact, the tp/iat surgery was the main reason I was having surgery but it was discovered that I had a necrotic (diseased) colon such that it had to be removed.
In any case, does anyone have any suggestions or recommendations for further slowing down this diarrhea? And, if anyone has had a colectomy or partial colectomy - does the diarrhea ever end? And, if so, how long after surgery did it take before it ended? I know this is an individualized experience, i.e., everyone is different, but I would just like to get a general timeframe in which I might expect that it will end.
Thank you very much for your suggestions, recommendations and any other comments you may have.
Laura
This discussion is related to Constant diarrhea after colectomy.
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I think the docs were 'fibbing' quite a bit when they said you'd be back to normal. You may be able to bring your bowel habits a long way away from what they are now, but I doubt that you'll ever go back to being very regular. One of the functions of the colon is to reabsorb the fluid/water in the contents that flow into it. It returns that fluid to the body, so lacking a large portion of that organ you're going to experience a large amount of 'fluid output.' Using foods that help to 'soak up' that fluid will go a long way toward helping to reach that goal.
Anyway, I will look up the posts by Morecambe - is there an easy way to do this? I've just joined this site and am not yet familiar w/all the different ways of doing things yet. Or is there a particular forum where I might find the bulk of his/her posts?
Although I trust my surgeon w/my life I did get a sense he was being a bit "overly optimistic" or didn't want to mess with my already "messed up" psyche after all the years I'd suffered physically w/chronic pancreatitis as well as what I now know was a necrotic (very diseased and extremely painful colon.) When he said a couple months in ref. to the chronic diarrhea, he did look a bit "sheepish" I guess would be the word and, in fact, rather than looking directly at me, he sort of looked at the floor when he was saying it. I remember thinking there was some "fibs" afoot but after what I'd been through pain-wise, I would have and still would trade a lifetime of diarrhea over what that pain was like. He didn't have a choice but to remove, dead, diseased tissue anyway, so what was he to do?
I was made aware that one of the functions of the colon is to absorb the water from food so I pretty much figured things out from there. Although a friend of my mother's who had a large amount of her colon removed a number of yrs ago, did want her to ensure I was told that though it took awhile, she eventually had things return to fairly normal. So, at least, if at some point, I could wear normal underwear again, I'd be happy.
Anyway, thanks again, and if you know of a way to find Morecambe's posts please let me know ok? In the meantime, I will try to peruse the site and find them myself.
Best wishes,
Laura