Surgery

[chskirm]

surgery

hey guys im really here for some first hand information i am 19 and it looks as if i am going to have to get surgery for my crohns in the form of a small bowel resection and various other procedures such as widening strictures. i am just looking for some first hand information from peoplewhp have experienced this about recovery and the feelings afterwards ie pain ect ect as doctors seem to be very conservative when i ask about recovery as obviously they dont want to pin down a time and then you be dissapointed if your still ill.
thanks for any information you may have
skirm

 

[Sojourn]

Hello and welcome. Your recovery time, pain, etc. may depend on the extent and type of surgery being performed.

I can only tell you my experience but yours could be different. I had a colon resection done last November and removal of an abscess/fistula. I was in the hospital for 5 days and only had serious pain the first two days after surgery. After 3 weeks I was able to go back to work. The only pain I had during those 3 weeks was getting up or sitting down.

My main problem has been my bowel function which has not returned to normal since the surgery. But a lot of people come out of it and do really well. I hope it does work well for you.

 

[chskirm]

thanks a lot that really helps yeah hopefully i wont take to long to recover but who knows!

 

[Kev]

Yeah, skirm.. I had a colon resection, done the old fashioned way, not laproscopic, and my experiences were similar to sojourns. Best advice is to get up, get active. I started walking the day of my surgery, and tried to double that every time I got up. it really helps. My bowel resection (took out 1 1/2 ft) was much, much easier than my g/b surgery (done laproscopically, no less) to recover from. I dunno why!

 

[Darkeffx]

I had a small bowel resection this summer, and the recovery was pretty fast. Was walking next day, and was back to eating soft food a few days after that. The only things that really hurt - besides sitting down and standing up - were laughing and coughing, but even that went away after a week or so

 

[chskirm]

thanks guy this really helps as i was worried about missing work ect for a long time

 

[Jeff D.]

Yeah being active is so important after surgery. I didn't have surgery per say but I was in the hospital all last week and I didn't walk enough so I have basically had to reteach myself how to walk.

 

[CdnCrohnie]

Hi there,

I had an ileocolic resection performed laparoscopically on January 7th. The surgeon estimated a one week hospital stay, 2-3 weeks of recovery and 6 weeks before going back to the gym or doing any heavy lifting.

Because the procedure was laparoscopic, I recovered fairly quickly. I didn't find the pain unbearable after surgery - it felt a bit more intense than a really hard abdomen workout. The worst part was moving from the OR stretcher to my bed, and then shifting positions in bed that night. I used the morphine pump a few times before getting out of bed the following morning, but after that I was done with it, and it was disconnected by January 9th. I didn't use any more pain medication after that, even though they offered morphine injections or Extra Strength Tylenol. I was up and walking by the second day (January 8th), and had enough energy to walk around for half an hour at a time, at a normal pace. By the third day I spent most of the day either on my feet or sitting with my laptop.

I am sure that I would have been out of the hospital sooner if my bowels had started moving sooner! In the end, I was out by the morning of January 13th. I am supposed to be eating a low residue diet for four weeks, but I have been eating fairly normally since coming home.

I have a desk job, and would have felt comfortable working from home last week, but just decided to take it easy and rest up well. I am starting work again tomorrow, and will alternate between working from home and the office. My belly button incision is still slightly tender at times, but nothing more than a nuisance. My biggest trouble at this point is making sure that I don't overdo the stretching and bending, while I wait for all the internal healing to complete.

Hope this helps, as I was really concerned about getting work and the rest of my life back to normal again as well.

 

[chskirm]

yeah that really helps man thanks for goin into so much detail has given me a better idea of whats to come i think i should get taken in this week so il drop in and let you guys know how it goes just want to thank everyone again who posted you have really helped give me a better picture goin in to this

 

[Kev]

Yeah, during post op recovery, avoid the heavy lifting... and laughing, coughing AND definitely sneezing. Oh, and stock up on saran or plastic wrap for showering!

 

[ruthymg]

Wow, you lot have had really positive experiences. Hate to be the one to put a spanner in the works but mine wasn't so easy. I had a bowel resection, where a foot of small bowel was removed,my appendix, the ileum, part of the top of the rectum and about 3-4 inches of large bowel. The reason for the surgery was for internal and external multiple anal fistulae. I was left with a 6 inch scar down the centre of my abdomen which was extremely painful, (even though I had had an epidural before the surgery and morphine afterwards)a drainage tube in my tummy (I nearly fainted when that was removed)2 drainage tubes from the fistulae in my rectum (they surprisingly didn't hurt at all when removed even though my surgeon warned me they might) and a loop ileostomy (stoma). I was in hospital for about a week, was let home after much begging!!, and wasn't back to being able to do things properly for about 3 months. I was taking strong pain killers for a good 5-6 weeks. Now you may be thinking that I have a low pain threshold, I would probably disagree and so would my surgeon. Prior to this surgery I have had 2 caesareans where I was vacuuming after a week, a lymph node biopsy on my neck and a few broken bones and not one of those was any where near as painful as this. It may have had something to do with the pain I was in prior to the surgery, with the fistulae??? Not sure. Anyway I was told recovery was approx 3 months and after I have my reversal for removal of the stoma, recovery can apparently be anything up to 2 years. I appreciate mine wasn't a simple resection, My surgeon wasn't sure what he was going to find until he had a look inside (the MRI was difficult to read)All he was sure of was that I had a loop of small bowel which had become attached to the top of my rectum and he suspected this was the cause of all the fistulae infection. He was right fortunately and 18 months later I am totally healed and the remaining fistulae in my rectum which werent cut away have totally healed. So, mine has a happy ending but it just took a little longer to get there. My advice to you would be take one day at a time, don't be downhearted if you are not getting better as quick as you had hoped, it will come. And enjoy the time where you can sit and do sweet FA, because that time never seems to last!!! All the best



Ruth

 

[D Bergy]

Sneezing and coughing about killed me. The constipation from the Oxycodone put some serious beads of sweat on my brow also. Woooo doggy!!!

Dan