Confused

[tishbite]

confused

so i got my surgery (10 inches of ileum/stricture removed) about a month and a half ago. i'm completely healed up except for this pain on the right upper side of my bellybutton (not were my ileum is but going up towards my ribs). my pain had gotten better sinse the surgery and i am not puking as much but i am still having awful diarrhea and am still having pretty bad pain. i was expecting much less pain after surgery. i have also had pain on my left side that sometimes shoots over to my right side and my right side is still pretty tender. i have never experienced pain in my left side before. two weeks ago my stool had bright red stool in it but that resolved itself. i am back on methotrexate and am waiting for humira to be re-approved. my question is do you think i am having yet another flare or is this to be expected this long after surgery? i'm afraid that sinse i didn't get back on medication immediately after surgery that my inflammation is coming back strong. i had some inflammation they didn't remove during surgery but nothing too serious. i also haven't been able to gain much weight. i'm eating around 1500-2000 calories a day. when i was discharged from the hospital after surgery i was almost 117 and now i am 112-114.

 

[mikeyarmo]

Hi Tishbite,

It can take more than 6 weeks to fully recover after surgery. Is the pain you are feeling totally different than what you felt like before surgery or is it similar?

It can also take some time for your bowel movements to return to a more normal consistency as your body adjusts to the fact that you have less intestine.

While I do not suggest you totally ignore your symptoms and act as if everything is normal, I would recommend doing your best to not let yourself stress over this too much. That will not help your recovery or symptoms. I think it is smart to continue to monitor your symptoms but realize that it can take another month or even a bit longer before your body is fully recovered from the surgery.

 

[tishbite]

The pain is somewhat similar. I get pain after I eat and i am having diarrhea and the feeling of needing to puke at the same time. It's really overwhelming.
Thanks!

 

[Manzyb]

I completely agree with you. It is overwhelming. I've been a bit of a wreck recently. I had my surgery about 2 weeks after you (I'm one month post op today). Anyway, before surgery had I severe pain/vomiting/diarrhea. After surgery I'm still having the lower abdominal cramping, diarrhea, bloaty-ness, nausea nasty feeling. I had 18 inches removed, but still have inflammation and ulcers in my colon and rectum. Bowel movements are between 10-20 times per day if not more on some days.

I see GI next week. I'm only on 20mg of prednisone right now and should be on Tysabri next week too.

I hope you start feeling better soon. Just know you are not alone and someone out there knows (kind of) how you feel.

 

[tishbite]

Yeah, I thought the pain would go away after the first month but it's still there and I feel so weak and discouraged. I hope you start feeling better too. I'm tired of running to the bathroom every five minutes!

 

[Manzyb]

ME TOO! Any word on getting your Humira anytime soon? I go to the GI on Wednesday and we're getting the ball rolling on Tysabri for me. I was on Humira and stopped after 3 years because I ended up getting strictures and a blockage anyway.