undefinedundefinedundefined :wave: hello,
I am scheduled for resection surgery on Thursday and would like to chat with anyone who has undergone this proceedure. The doc says I will be in the hospital anywhere from 4 days to 2 weeks. The proceedure is scheduled because of adhesions and a tortous sigmoid colon.
Thanks! :D

Hi there! There is an active cohort of resection folk here on the board. Things have been quiet lately, so they may or may not check in. I had my colon resected in August and was in the hospital for 10 days (one of the longer stays in the group, many of whom had laparoscopy whereas I had open resection). I will be around most of the day, though I do have to go for my annual mammogram in an hour. But I will be back within an hour after that and will be here if you want to talk. :)

There are some useful threads on this board. In particular, there is a diary thread by Resection Man which gives great insight into this surgery. I'll see if I can find it and bump it for you.

Well, I had my surgery on the 13th of Jan. and am back home doing much better than I could imagine. I'm 48, female and from what I understand my surgery was necessary because of my hysterectomy several years ago. Seems the adhesions that formed from that surgery grabbed my sigmoid colon and plastered it to my pelvic floor causing a blockage. The doctor removed 12 inches. I had an open surgery and he went through the same scar I had from my hysterectomy. The first 2 days after surgery are a complete blur, I had some complications with pain med's but once that was all settled I found myself doing quite well. I was released from the hospital Monday which was 5 days post op. I'm worried now that I'm home though because I haven't had another bm. I was going good in the hospital and not sure what is happening here at home. I will be calling the doctor this afternoon to find out if I need to do something different.

Glad to hear everything went well! Do check in with the Colon Resecties thread for additional moral support. It is the "home" thread for the colon resection crowd here.

Don't sweat the BMs. After my surgery, I went two days at home without a BM and then when I did get the urge I was constipated. As you know, the doctors tell you not to strain, right? So I fretted a bit, ate more fruit and drank LOTS of water. Heavy on the water, to keep things fluffy. And I did get that BM. Still, it took about three weeks to get "regular" again, and eventually my surgeon did recommend I take fiber supplements daily, which I now do. Talk with your doctor if you're worried, but I suspect things will get back on track for you. If you have a willing significant other, use this opportunity to get some good relaxation pampering: candlelight, fireside snuggles, romantic music, a good book, a nice long massage. Relax, enjoy and get your mind in a happy place. Your body will thank you for it.

Hi mtsparkles, Glad everything is going well. I agree about the bm. Even though you were going in the hospital, getting back home is a bit of a strain so can slow things up a little. This too shall pass!

Hope you have some help at home. One of worst things, I found, was trying to do too much. Getting overly tired can really set you back.

Keep us posted!

Things are working good now. Just took a couple days being at home to get the bm's moving again. I did run into another problem 1 1/2 week post op I started draining blood from my surgery site. Wouldn't you know it was on the weekend so I called the ER and they said to get in there ASAP. Turns out I had a hematoma. The ER doctor pushed around the area where I was draining and you wouldn't believe the blood that poured out. It was all old blood and needed to come out. He estimated he got about a quart out. It didn't drain anymore for a day and then it started again. I called the doctors office and they said to just let it drain. What a big mess. I'm using kotex to try to keep the flow from ruining all my clothing! I see the doctor tomorrow to get the staples removed and hopefully he can do something so I don't have to put up with this mess! Other than that I'm really feeling great!

A quart of blood? That had to be uncomfortable! I'm sure you felt much better once it was drained. I can't say I have read anything here from anyone with quite that same problem. Sounds like you are handling it well, though. Does the drainage and having to use Kotex interfere with getting up and about, walking around? Walking is such a helpful part of healing, and probably helps with the drainage, but I can only imagine it is a bit of a mess if you have to wear Kotex for absorption. Let's hope your doctor gives you good news, or at least some idea how much longer you have to put up with this problem. My favorite words to say to myself post-surgery were "This too shall pass". And so it does. Hang in there! :)

I had all but two staples removed on the 28th and 4 more stitches put in to stop the bleeding. YES!! I was so tired of putting up with that. I'm doing so much better now. I walk all the time and I'm eating good. In fact I never lost a pound throughout all of this. I need to loose but I'm not going to diet for a couple of more weeks. I go in on the 4th to have the other staples removed along with the stitches. I hope everything continues this well. I should be going back to work on the 7th. Just over 3 weeks post op. Pretty good I think!