Bowel Surgery

[DevonM]

I am a 14 year old girl and I have been diagnosed with Crohn's Disease for about a year now. Not long ago I found out that part of my bowel was blocked and so I would have to have 25cm removed in October. I have had knee surgery before for a different condition but I have never had an operation as big as this. I wanted to know peoples stories and experiences with this surgery.
Thank you!

 

[BadGnus99]

Hi Devon

Sorry to hear you've had a rotten time of it lately. There are lots of good pieces of advice here on the forum - have a look around. It was great for me.

Take care.

:hug:

 

[Rebecca_K]

Hi DevonM - have you looked at the Sticky forum called 'Your Surgery Story' located in the 'Surgery' subforum? There are loads of surgery stories in there that you might find useful. I hope your surgury goes well and you have a speedy recovery!
-Rebecca

 

[emmaaaargh]

Hi Devon!
I'm 14 too and I had surgery when I was 11. I think it was my small intestine? But I had a blockage as well. All I can really say is that you want to be up and moving as quickly as you can but don't try to over-rush things if that makes sense. I was only in hospital for about five days
Hope that helped, even just a little!

 

[Horn024]

At what point does surgery become an option? Is it totally up to your docs opinion?

 

[DevonM]

Thank you everyone for the replies,

Rebecca_K I will take a look at that, thank you for the help!

Emaaaargh Thank you, my doctor said I would be in for 5-7 days so it will probably be a similar recovery for me, do you know how long it took you to be back at school/fully recovered? Ive been told I will be off school for 3-4 weeks as I will struggle to walk and it will tire me out a lot even trying to walk a small way.

Horn024 I was told I have to have it or it will progress a lot and get very serious, I can always say I dont want it done but obviously that wouldnt be the best choice, the only real option I had was when I get it done, I got to choose whether to be put in as an emergency and have it done in about a weeks time or wait another month or two, but even then I couldnt have it much past that as the pains im having are quite serious.

 

[emmaaaargh]

Gosh, I don't really remember how long it took me to go back to school! Er, I don't think it was very long. I think I managed to stretch a week after I was discharged out of my parents, but they had me trying to walk in the hospital and I was doing okay by the end. Would it be keyhole surgery or not? Mine was and obviously since the scars are so tiny it didn't hurt afterwards at all

 

[DevonM]

Ah well hopefully it wont be too long then! Mine is hopefully going to be keyhole although I may have to have it done normally, thank you you have really helped me feel better about having it done

 

[Tink572]

DevonM~
I have a son who is 14. He had surgery a month ago to remove 11 cm of his terminal ileum. Just wanted to let you know a little about his surgery and recovery.

He was in the hospital for 3 days before the surgery (was not a planned surgery, he was admitted through the emergency room with narrowing through the terminal ileum). After the surgery he slept most of the day, didn't get up out of bed until the following morning. He was in the hospital for 6 days after the surgery. His surgery was done through just one incision through his bellybutton.

Try to get up and walk as much as you can. That really helps with recovery. About a week-and-a-half after surgery he was riding his bike and skateboard. He felt like doing things a lot quicker than we all were expecting!

Best wishes on your surgery and a quick recovery!

 

[DevonM]

Thank you, hopefully it wont take too long to be back on my feet then! How long was he off school in total then?

 

[Tink572]

We were almost at the end of summer break when he went into the hospital and he didn't miss any school!

He had surgery on August 9, was discharged on August 15, and started school on August 20. Not exactly how we had planned on ending the summer, but we were very glad not to miss any school!