9 days post surgery

[Terry]

Hi Everyone, well I finally had my surgery after being on the waiting list for the past 8 months. A right sided hemicolectomy was performed on the 30th of April. All went well "so I was told" I haven't seen my surgeon as yet. He headed off to Singapore with a bunch of other surgeons for a conference the day after, I guess I'm lucky he stuck around to do my surgery, hey! I was told by the registrar that I have had 20cms of small bowel and the valve removed. My bowel woke up straight away the day after the surgery, this was good and bad, good that it was working so quickly, bad because it didn't let me know what was happening the first 2 times it worked, I was horrified and wondering what in the hell I done, but thankfully I started to get a bit of notice the next time that I needed to visit the bathroom, I believe I couldn't feel it because of the high regimen of pain meds that I was on, I can't fault that side of it, I was really surprised when the anaesthetist recommended that he do a spinal block as well as the general anaesthetic, and long lasting local anaesthetic injected into the wound before I woke up, and for an encore 2 painbuster coils, one on each side of the abdo, which stayed active for 5 days, and I had a morphine pump which I could press every 5 minutes if I needed it. I was released from on hospital on the 6th day after the surgery. I had half my staples removed today, the nurse wasn't keen to take them all, as I have a couple of weepy areas that don't look like they have knitted together enough yet. The wound is about 9" long and straight down the centre of my abdomen, I have also had a bit of a problem with my stomach being quite distended, although nobody can really say why. The bowel motions are still pretty watery and frequent, today about 6 times, but I'm hoping these things will all improve with time. All in all I seem to be improving each day and am hoping to be rid of this disease for as long as I can. Thanks for reading. Theresa.xx

 

[Grumbletum]

Hi Theresa
It's good to hear that things have gone well with your surgery. That's quite unusual, your bowel waking up so quick. So the distension is not because you're backed up, then! They do pump you full of air during surgery in order to see the organs better, so it might be that some of that is still hanging around. Also I think it's a result of cutting through muscle. My surgery was laparoscopic but it still took a while for my tum to go down.
Wishing you a speedy recovery.

 

[Trysha]

Thank you for the post Terry
I am scheduled for a right hemicolectomy in a few weeks time--they found a large tumor that has to be removed .It is mid right colon but I have been told due to blood vessels they have to take the whole thing.
I am most unhappy about the situation.
Your post has given me some hope but the watery bowel worries me since they said this will happen. but is manageable.Hmm
Good wishes for your continued recovery.
Feel better soon
Hugs and best wishes
Trysha

 

[Terry]

Hi all, I had the rest of my staples taken out on Monday, the Dr wasn't happy with how the wound is healing so he took a swab, results came back yesterday, you guessed it I have got staff, I couldn't believe it, but hospitals are full of it. This is why they like to get you out as quickly as possible. It explains why I have been having a lot of pain, and why the wound has kept on weeping. They tell me it takes about 4 days to see a difference after starting the antibiotics, I hope they're right, I just want to move forward and get beyond the surgery and hopefully start my new life CROHNS FREE. XXXX