- Joined
- Apr 29, 2014
- Messages
- 1
Hi all ... I'm pleased to have found this forum, having found my post-op care lacking in 'care'.
That said, I'm a bit of a gate-crasher. My right-hemicolectomy - performed as emergency surgery 5.5 weeks ago - was not for Crohn's or the other conditions listed here, but rather after a (rare) right-colon diverticuli had become infected and abscessed. It had presented as appendicitis, but some eagle-eyed surgeons at Addenbrookes in Cambridge identified it and, after trying to control it with ABs for two days, decided to cut it out.
I've yet to receive my histology report, but I think it was a 'straightforward' procedure, with the whole right-colon extracted and the 'usual' sort of resection made into the right-side of the transverse colon.
I had a shocking few days immediately post-op, having reacted badly to the anaesthesia and then the pain (not sure what I was expecting, mind!). But I've been recovering reasonably well thereafter, with just a couple of readmissions to check the cause of some rectal bleeding (8 days post-op) and then again to check some greater than usual pain at the resection site (3 weeks post-op).
I'm now reassured by my GP that the 'stitch' like feeling I get sometimes in various parts of they colon area are normal for a while after surgery of this type; that it will take a while for my bowel movements to resume their pre-op patterns (they're nearly there!); and that the small amount of bright-red rectal bleed (tissue only) is due to a small tear rather than the colon falling apart!
But I still worry.
And I guess that's my main reason for looking for support groups and posting here ... is my worry about these gripes, grumbles, aches, pains, twinges, changes, etc, misplaced? Are they usual 5.5 weeks after a right hemi-colectomy? How long do they last? Does it all sound familiar to people who've had this type of treatment, even if it was for different causes?
I'm also frustrated by the fact that the wound opened up after the staples were taken out (2 weeks post-op), and that it's still not fully healed by secondary intention. Although a few of the tales here about months of infection and healing kind of put me in my place about that one!!!
I'd be interested to hear back from people, just for the sake of my sanity of nothing else.
FYI - I'm a 42 year-old, caucasian (thus the rarity of my right-side diverticuliti), professional, and otherwise healthy dad of two kids, with an incredibly supportive wife, family and network of friends. I also have a reputation as being a crazily optimistic and happy chappy, so all this worry and negativity even when I am evidently on the mend is most odd!
That said, I'm a bit of a gate-crasher. My right-hemicolectomy - performed as emergency surgery 5.5 weeks ago - was not for Crohn's or the other conditions listed here, but rather after a (rare) right-colon diverticuli had become infected and abscessed. It had presented as appendicitis, but some eagle-eyed surgeons at Addenbrookes in Cambridge identified it and, after trying to control it with ABs for two days, decided to cut it out.
I've yet to receive my histology report, but I think it was a 'straightforward' procedure, with the whole right-colon extracted and the 'usual' sort of resection made into the right-side of the transverse colon.
I had a shocking few days immediately post-op, having reacted badly to the anaesthesia and then the pain (not sure what I was expecting, mind!). But I've been recovering reasonably well thereafter, with just a couple of readmissions to check the cause of some rectal bleeding (8 days post-op) and then again to check some greater than usual pain at the resection site (3 weeks post-op).
I'm now reassured by my GP that the 'stitch' like feeling I get sometimes in various parts of they colon area are normal for a while after surgery of this type; that it will take a while for my bowel movements to resume their pre-op patterns (they're nearly there!); and that the small amount of bright-red rectal bleed (tissue only) is due to a small tear rather than the colon falling apart!
But I still worry.
And I guess that's my main reason for looking for support groups and posting here ... is my worry about these gripes, grumbles, aches, pains, twinges, changes, etc, misplaced? Are they usual 5.5 weeks after a right hemi-colectomy? How long do they last? Does it all sound familiar to people who've had this type of treatment, even if it was for different causes?
I'm also frustrated by the fact that the wound opened up after the staples were taken out (2 weeks post-op), and that it's still not fully healed by secondary intention. Although a few of the tales here about months of infection and healing kind of put me in my place about that one!!!
I'd be interested to hear back from people, just for the sake of my sanity of nothing else.
FYI - I'm a 42 year-old, caucasian (thus the rarity of my right-side diverticuliti), professional, and otherwise healthy dad of two kids, with an incredibly supportive wife, family and network of friends. I also have a reputation as being a crazily optimistic and happy chappy, so all this worry and negativity even when I am evidently on the mend is most odd!
