post total colectomy

[poopytail]

i just recently had a total colectomy 7 weeks ago. the procedure was done laparoscopic with a bikini cut. I'm doing great, everything is working fabulously. the only thing that is annoying me at this point is the swelling. I'm closer to my normal size first thing in the morning but as the day goes by my tummy gets puffier mostly in the lower part but the whole abdomen definitely is larger by bedtime. when will this go away?

[ng1031]

I had a laparoscopic colectomy with ileorectal anastomosis surgery at the Mayo Clinic on January 18th for slow transit constipation. I was suppose to be in the hospital for 1 week and ended up there for 3 weeks. I formed an ileus.. the most pain I have ever felt in my entire life. I was on decompression tubes.. one in my nose/throat to my stomach and the other inserted in my rectum through the small intestine until my body could do things on it's own. Before the tubes I was vomiting bile. I was on morphine drip and it still was not enough for the pain. It has been aweful. Now I am home and no more narcotics.. just tylenol which to me does nothing but I understand that the narcotics are not good on the stomach. Did anyone else form an ileus? The surgeon told me that it happens to 10% of people and that the type I had was very rare. He also scared me when he said there was no guarantee it would not come back later on.

I also formed a blood clot in my liver so now I am giving myself Lovenox shots in the stomac every morning. I go to a doctor on March 9th to start coumadin pills. Because of this I had to stop my birth control. They believe it could have contributed to why I got the blood clot during surgery.

I am going more frequently (which is great from never going at all or feeling like your being ripped apart when you go) but because I am still on the liquid diet the bm's are also liquid. From hearing other people's stories I am surprised I do not got a million times a day. How much I go is pretty tolerable. I am behind as far as food.. I should be on week 4 introducing foods etc but instead I am only a week into things. The doctor sortof started me over after the ileus cleared so I am still on liquid/soft food.

Now its a matter of trying to deal with the aches and pains and these cramps whenever my bowls decide to move. Did anyone else experience these cramps? They are aweful. The doctors say its the small intestine trying to figure out what to do and that if it's making noises and moving that is a good sign that they are still working. It might be a good sign but its painful and keeps me up at night. I also getting a shooting pain whenever I pass anything that is not liquidy.. like if my bowl has any bit of substance to it I get this shooting pain in my lower right abdomen. Anyone experience this? Doctors say its because my body is healing. It just makes me nervous as I really am scared of the ileus returning. They told me as long as I am not vomiting again, passing gas/bm and do not have a fever that I am ok.

Just curious if anyone else experienced anything similiar?

[ng1031]

Just curious to see how you are doing.. I might be getting this same surgery and was looking for some feedback :) Thanks

[poopytail]

thanx. i'll  just be glad when my clothes fit the same all day as they did in the morning when i put them on.

[Jaybay]

It could take several weeks.  I had a couple feet of colon removed and did the same thing.  Intestines just don't like being messed around with, and tend to sulk a long time when they get rearranged.  If I remember correctly, it took about 2 months, maybe a little longer, for everything to really get to where I wasn't bothered with the PM bloat any longer.  Hang in there - it really will get better.  :-)