General surgery question

[anitcincin21]

:ylol:Hello everyone I was diagnosed with Crohns 2009. I am 48 years old and doing ok. I was told that I need surgery to remove a small area of my intestines. This would be my first surgery. Can someone give me some info on what to expect? I would greatly appreciate it.

 

[mrjohns2]

Do you know what portion and how much? Do you know why (narrowing, ulceration, etc)? I have had surgery yet, but these details can help you find people who have had a similar surgery. Doing some reading it seems like people are in the hospital 4-8 days and back to normal in 6-8 weeks. A resection gives 50% of people 10 years surgery free and 50% have one ore more surgeries in that time. During my surgical consult, my surgeon said 50% of people then have a blockage due to adhesions some time in the future. I hadn't head that number before.

 

[goldwingman]

Do you know what portion and how much? Do you know why (narrowing, ulceration, etc)? I have had surgery yet, but these details can help you find people who have had a similar surgery. Doing some reading it seems like people are in the hospital 4-8 days and back to normal in 6-8 weeks. A resection gives 50% of people 10 years surgery free and 50% have one ore more surgeries in that time. During my surgical consult, my surgeon said 50% of people then have a blockage due to adhesions some time in the future. I hadn't head that number before.

I Have had 3 bouts of adhesions because of my Cronic Pain trouble they give me a Ketamine infushion ,One good thing to come out of my Gall Bladder opp on the 27/08/2011 the Ketamine reset my Brain reseptor,s so no need to smoke any more No with Draws, as i take 2 Mg MS Conton 2 Proladone a day for Pain The adhesions are playing up again as its been 7 years since i had them done Cheers every one >?oo:

 

[Jennifer]

Hi anitcincin21, do you know when (roughly if you don't have a date yet) your surgery is going to be? We have a thread going here where many share their surgery stories (mine is there as well): http://www.crohnsforum.com/showthread.php?t=30212 I've only had one resection and it put me into remission for 14 years. I'm in a flare now but the surgery was definitely worth it.

I was in the hospital for 7 days but many go home sooner than that these days. Often times resections can be done laparoscopically/key hole so be sure to ask you surgeon if they will be doing it key hole or open. You'll have plenty of pain medication following surgery so don't worry about that too much. You aren't able to eat solid foods for a few days after surgery so you start out with a liquid diet. They wait to make sure that your bowels are functioning properly first (passing gas and having a bowel movement).

If you have any specific questions feel free to ask and good luck with your surgery.

 

[UnXmas]

Surgeries vary hugely - I've had six, from one so minor I went home the same day, to surgeries hours long followed by complications and months of recovery. But, in the most general terms, I think surgery is an excellent form of treatment, it has improved my quality of life in ways that meds could never have done.

If you've any specific questions, just ask.

You'll have plenty of pain medication following surgery so don't worry about that too much. You aren't able to eat solid foods for a few days after surgery so you start out with a liquid diet.

Not to worry anyone, but this is not always the case. With bowel surgery, opiate pain meds (especially the morphine that treats pain so effectively after many surgeries) can be completely unsuitable as they can slow the digestive system down. After my colectomy I could have no opiates - no morphine, no codeine - and after my ileostomy surgery, the doctors could not risk anything that would slow the bowel, so again, no pain meds. Well, I was given paracetamol, but I hardly consider that a pain med after major surgery - I certainly wasn't noticing any benefits for taking it!

I just don't want to mislead anyone - surgery hurts. You can not expect to go through surgery of any significance without pain.

But I got through it without meds and I don't regret having surgeries. You cope with pain.

Also I've never had to follow a soft diet and certainly never a liquid one. After my ileostomy surgery, they gave me a sandwich and ice-cream for tea, just hours afterwards. Though a couple of days later my digestive system became paralysed, and I couldn't eat at all and was fed via IV, but this was all due to paralysis, not the surgery itself. All my other surgeries I was told to eat what I liked, and often the first thing they do when you come round is get you to eat (in my experience anyway). After one of my more minor surgeries, they wanted to check I could keep food down right away, and so I came round to a plate of biscuits. (And this was a bowel surgery too.)

There are a lot of variations regarding surgery.