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colon resection recovery

I had a carcinoid tumor removed from the terminal ileum losing  @ 1 foot each of small and large bowel as well as the gallbladder. This has been 9 weeks ago and I still have almost uncontrollable diarrhea. It seems to be almost a reflex everytime I eat or become stressful and forget caffeine!! I also get terrible low blood sugar attacks. I take Questran twice a day and Ultram 6+ tabs and it is the only thing that gives me any relief. Anyone had a similar problem?
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Hi - I have just  come home after my first resection - having had Crohn's for 39 years!  had 20 cm removed - last part of the small intestine, the ileocaecal valve and the first part of my large colon.  The food in hospital was gross, so I lost 9 lbs during the 2 weeks, and have not regained it.  I saw a number of dieticians in hospital, and their advice was simply "eat what doesn't give you diarrhea!" - hardly helpful as most food did. Some 5 weeks on, I am slowly getting back to normal - well, my "normal".

I am eating solid food for the first time in 9 months, having been on Fortijuice and Ensure Plus, and the 3 months before surgery, nightly parenteral feeding of Osmolite through a tube in my nose into my stomach.  It has been a tough time, but the light is there, and I am feeling a lot better.

I stick to a high protein/low fibre diet - no fresh fruit, no salad,  little red meat, mainly fish, chicken egga and cheese. Vegetables - I only eat creamed potatoes, mashed swede (rutabaga?) and chopped spinach.
I drink gallons of ginger drinks - ginger ale, green ginger wine (an inch, topped up with lots of ice and ginger ale) and non alchoholic ginger beer. The ginger does help in quelling the nausea and keeps me hydrated.

I think you just need to introduce your favourite foods slowly, and one at a time to gauge their effect.  Although for the first time in 39 yrs I am not on any steroids or immuno-suppressants, I am still taking Imodium first thing in the morning, and maybe during the afternoon if I have had a watery motion.

I do hope your post-op problems resolve soon - my gastro surgeon said I will have a good day, then a bad day, but I will be a "new woman" before long! Has he a crystal ball?

Take care, and be well,
Liz.
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Avatar universal
Had 6 ft of ileum removed 30 yrs ago - took questran 4 times a day, Robinul 6 times a day, drank a glass of buttermilk once a day, lost 50 lbs (only 12 at the time) that was half my body weight!  If I drank red kool-aid, I had diarhea that was red koolaid!  This will improve over time as your intestines begin to adapt!! I promise, Stay away from fatty foods, fried foods, fresh veggies and fresh fruit - enter these foods in slowly and guage your body's reactions...I also drank 3 cans of Ensure daily to get nutrients in liquid form that are easier to absorb - they will also help prevent the hypoglycemia.
Nine weeks is too soon for you to really start feeling improvement, Try eating a very high protien/low fat diet - and avoid eating lots of carbs!! While breads and cereal may be the only things that don't seem to upset your system, they can actually contribute to making you feel worse along with causing blood sugar to spike and then rapidly drop! I also took some anti diarhea rx muliple times aday - it never seemed to work as you really can't use medicine to treat something that is not there anymore.  You have to do some major diet changes - send me a message if you want to learn more, It took teams of dieticians and specialists to help me way back then as no one really knew much about the residual effects that long ago. Stay away from apples and bananas for a while - they are high gas producing foods and you don't want to add to that either. Any green leafy foods, brans, and high fiber foods may also give you lots of grief right now too...if you are able to stick to a very plain, simple diet (like they fed you in hospital) and add one thing every day...keep a journal of what hurts you, how long it took to start the tornado in your belly...you will be able to see what foods you can tolerate and what to avoid. Over time, you will be able to eat more and have better bowel function. Good luck!  Contact me if I can help!
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