# How much did they surgically remove?



## Emily (Jan 23, 2012)

Hi guys! I only just now figured out how to view my medical records online. I finally got to have a good read at my surgery pathology and I'm seeing that they removed my appendix, something called "omentum" (didn't even know what that was or that they removed some!) and...
13cm of small bowel and 12cm of colon.
25cm overall in length. I am just curious...is this a lot, a little, or a normal amount for an average resection? Or better put, I'm curious what was removed for you and how much? Thanks guys! It'll be interesting to see some responses.


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## simon47 (Jan 23, 2012)

*not sure what average is!?*

Hi Emily, when i had my right hemicolectomy in 2009, they removed 60cm, which was a lot of acending colon, cecal valve , apendix, and two complete loops (fistulas)  ,  and two strictures with 1cm openings for food to get through. Aparently they did not know it was so messy 'til they got in there. Because the illeum had lots of skip lesions they had to take that much. It seemed like a lot to me at the time. Then I read on this site about others have larger resections! Guess its all relative. hopefully others will answer this thread for you and give you more help. cheers , Simon


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## archie (Jan 23, 2012)

Hi I had just over 1 ft removed mainly small intestine at the terminal ileum my appendix and a small bit of large intestine. I had an abscess and perforation hence the surgery they also fixed an adhesion elsewhere. Resection vary from a couple of cms to the entire intestine depending on damage and type of IBD. I was lucky as mine was just located to one area, however have a few mild ulcers back at the resection site but not active crohns according to biopsy.


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## DustyKat (Jan 23, 2012)

Hi Emily,

Just my personal opinion but I would consider anything under 30cm as fairly conservative.

Both of my children have had Right Hemicolectomy's, Sarah's was emergency surgery and she had 59cm of small bowel removed and 9cm of large bowel, so 68xcm in total. My son had planned surgery and had 20cm of small bowel removed and 8cm of large bowel removed. 

When you have disease affecting the terminal ileum at the ileocaecal valve they have no choice but to also romve the valve and caecum as the caecum is a pouch at the start of the large bowel. The size difference between the small and large bowel at this point is too great without removing the caecum. That is why you will see many people with amounts like 7-12cm of large bowel removed when having this type of surgery.

Dusty.


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## Emily (Jan 23, 2012)

Thanks Dusty, that was what I was wondering. Mine was a right hemicolectomy too, though it was planned like Matt's and I think my surgeon was big on only removing what was necessary, so I guess that'd be why my resection is pretty conservative. I didn't really have a gauge of what was a lot and what was a little.

Thinking back, I guess I knew my surgeon didn't take too much out because once my GI joked that my intestines had grown back from the amount he saw in a scope. In the daze of anesthesia, actually believed him!! :lol:

Anyway, now that I realize that I had a pretty small resection, all thing considered, I'd still love to hear other's responses


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## Feather (Jan 24, 2012)

Hi Emily! I think I also had about 25cm removed (about 10 inches, my dad remembers). There was another section of my intestine in a different area that my surgeon considered removing or doing a strictureplasty, but he and my GI decided that it was small enough that they would try to handle it with meds instead (to minimize anastomosis recurrence, I guess). I haven't read my pathology, but I'm really interested to know how much small intestine vs. colon they removed.


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## rob101 (Jan 24, 2012)

Hi Emily, I had 100cm  from my terminal ileum ,appendix,ileocecal valve and a bit of the large bowel removed as an emergency after a perforated bowel .


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## Emily (Jan 24, 2012)

Feather, if you have UPMC doctors, you can join UPMC Healthtrak which is all your medical records online so you can see test results and stuff. that way you can read your pathology and find out!


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## CyCrohn'sGuy (Jan 24, 2012)

I had 80 cm removed including TI due to a perforation.


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## archie (Jan 24, 2012)

i feel lucky i had so little removed after perforation compared to rob and crohn's guy!! do either of you guys suffer deficiencies/ short bowel syndrome?


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## Emily (Jan 24, 2012)

I agree archie! I'm learning that people on here have really had a lot removed compared to me. Those are some big numbers!


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## Sailorluna (Jan 24, 2012)

10 inches (about 25 cm) for me. Good riddance.


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## CyCrohn'sGuy (Jan 25, 2012)

archie said:


> i feel lucky i had so little removed after perforation compared to rob and crohn's guy!! do either of you guys suffer deficiencies/ short bowel syndrome?


I have absorption issues so its really difficult for me to gain weight and as soon as I do I tend to lose it just as fast.....


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## rob bcfc (Jan 25, 2012)

hi , i had 48cm of small bowel and apendix and illeum, but another 18 and half came back , but ive got active crohns, i thought i had a lot out but now reading what others have had out i guess its not.


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## Nyx (Jan 25, 2012)

I had about 50cm of my large intestine removed and have a permanent colostomy now.  Best thing to ever happen to me


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## Feather (Jan 25, 2012)

Emily said:


> Feather, if you have UPMC doctors, you can join UPMC Healthtrak which is all your medical records online so you can see test results and stuff. that way you can read your pathology and find out!


Wow, that's great--I'll go check it out. Thanks!


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## Kev (Jan 26, 2012)

I had about 1 1/2 feet of colon removed (how the feet got in there is anybody's guess, I sure don't remember eating them, and where did the other half foot go?)..  OK, for those raised on the metric system, I think that's about 48 cm (give or take).  Here's the thing.. If I'd have found out about LDN sooner, then I could have spared myself the operation and kept my GI tract intact.  I'm not saying surgery isn't an option, or beneficial, or even often the best choice; but it is a permanent decision.  And as such, it is worth trying almost all other options first before going with a surgical solution. Many have opted for surgery, and their lives have improved.  But it doesn't always work that way.  For instance, when I first joined this site, years ago, many folks felt that UC wasn't as bad as CD, because (as many stated) ' you simply have a full colostomy and the UC goes away'.  Well, in my early days, many doctors thought I had UC.  But, turns out they were wrong.  If I'd taken the advice offered to cure my 'mis-diagnosed' UC and had all my colon removed, it wouldn't have cured anything, and I'd be in much worse shape today.  With my current remaining colon, I can perform my job, keep my job and paycheck AND more importantly all my health and disability benefits.  One of the other things to consider is that, if too much bowel is removed, you can develop short bowel syndrome, and the consequences of that are almost as bad as the disease itself. Again, don't get me wrong... I had surgery, it was the only option available at the time (report on LDN came out months after I had resection), and my surgery was a walk in the park. Just that surgery is a, and perhaps should be considered, 'final' choice.


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## cgull1 (Mar 25, 2012)

My husband just had 130 centimeters taken out of his small intestines (about 4 1/4 feet). Supposedly he has extra long small intestines, so the doctor isn't worried about short bowel syndrome at this point.


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## maria (Mar 25, 2012)

7 inches and my appendix. I still have 2 inches left.


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## Heather_D (Mar 26, 2012)

Hi Emily!  I just had surgery on Thurday. I'm told they removed a little over a foot total; which included mostly the later part of my small intestine and ileum, the cecum, appendix, small portion of the beginning of my colon and a small section of my rectum since I had a fistula that went from my ileum to my rectum (they didn't know about that until they got in there).  My 2 hour surgery turned into 5.  I've been doing fairly well though, finally allowed clear liquids today, so with any luck I will tolerate those well and be able to try soft solids soon!   Good luck to you and everyone!


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## Suvii (Mar 26, 2012)

Hi Emily :smile:

I had my appendix, 10 cm of my cecum and 20 cm of my terminal ileum removed one month ago.


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## cecilialynn (Mar 26, 2012)

Hey Kev, just what is short bowel syndrom? never heard of it before. had surgery last month to reconnect. They pretty much removed all my colon because it became perforated during a colonoscopy back in July 2011.Was told that there was about 16 cms left which was healthy so they reconnected me . I feel pretty good but dont go too far from house right now because of the urgency still.


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## CLynn (Mar 26, 2012)

I had just over a foot removed at the ileum. Another tiny spot more on my left side, and my appendix, since I wanted them to take that if they ever did my surgery.


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## NikiB (Mar 26, 2012)

I had 30 cm of my small bowel and my appendix removed..And Im pretty darn proud when I talk about it!:ybiggrin:


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## Emily (Mar 26, 2012)

Have been so absent from this wonderful forum lately...great to read all the responses! Keep em' coming!
NikiB, I'm proud too!


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