Good to hear from you. Man, I thought I was typing to a brick wall for the last couple of days. My bottom was not talking to me, my board was not talking to me, the wife moved back to the house (school nights). Pretty quiet around here. I just laid down a post about my anastomosis. Probably there was some surgical bruising to the rectum with the other information I listed that is behind the lack of information flowing to my brain.
I am not really worried, just trying to figure it out. So, I have had a grand total of 3 or 4 BMs and they are getting better. You know me, super Type-A. Trying to be in charge of my body again. ???? Maybe I never was.
Heading back to the room to get my walking papers. I’ll be back this PM. I have an amusing story from stay here at hospital. I’ll have to start a new thread someday to talk about it.
Hello resection man, I began reading your story while looking for info for a friend, and was "hooked!" You should write a book; your style is compelling.
So glad the surgery went well and you are recovering.
I also want to comment on your sweet wife! YOU GO GIRL for being the moral, physical and every other kind of support for your husband! I do love a good love story!
Again, glad you are doing well, cheers,
"A thread reader"
Hey resection,
Glad to hear things are looking up for you. Hang in there. Ijust got home after a 5 days in the hospital for this severe pain. They ran tests in and out, poked every vein i have in me, even drawed blood from an area between my thumb and the wrist. My veins keep popping so they say , that i have small veins. Well finally got home, and am suppose to call the surgeon and gyn doc today, well actually already did, waiting for them to call to let me know when i can sign papers and get registered.
The surgery probably wont be till either the end of the week or beginning of next week since im running a slight temp and was given antibiotics, they wont operate if you have a temp unless its an emergency. Please take care of yourself and that sweet wife of yours. She surely is a blessing aint she? Just like my hubby, never left my side except when i scooted him out of the room to either go to work or go eat.
Was sent home with lortab 10/500 plus demeral for pain. Lortab works fine, demeral makes me sorta goofy and the guys (hubby and son) get a good laugh at my expense lol. For some reason, instead of demeral knocking me out, yea it controls my pain but, the bad side is i NEVER SHUT UP. Talk constantly and just dont make sense i guess, so they say.
I cant imgaine what youre going thru, dang everything sensation must be a new experience for you, and wondering if that is normal or not. But you had good doctors, good knowledge , good attitude, TONS of prayer going in and the support of people and your sweet bride and family. What else do ya need right?? If that doesnt get one thru things like this, what can?
Talk to ya later, gotta get some rest.
Jen
Mom woke me up to eat and I read your post on the way to the table. I am so sorry to hear you are headed to surgery this way. If you can set the pace, I think it might be so much better. In any case, I spent the last hour silently praying for you. Get plenty of rest, fluids and take those antibiotics religiously. Take heart though, you and I were the same, and my experience was better than I expected. I stopped the antibiotics on Tuesday and had the surgery on Friday. Different though, in that I stopped the Lortab at least 10 days prior. I have a pretty high pain tolerance as evidenced by my crawling into the chair last Friday. Take ‘em if you got ‘em. There is no reason the combo you have can’t take the edge off. Follow the directions. Neither is super fast acting when taken orally. You have to plan for the pain.
Dehydration and salt imbalances might be part of the problem with the vein popping. I went through 11 sites in January (when I was sick) but got by for my entire stay this time on only one. I was drinking plenty. Also, if you where taking Demoral and Phenergran by IV, they are quite caustic. That was part of my problem the 1st time. Tequin and Levequin are also very harsh.
Finally, I suggest you hide the Demoral from your husband. If it makes you take incessantly, he is liable to hide them from you … just kidding.
Is the carving party in Corpus or are you coming to the Med Center?
If your surgeon can’t keep it lap, you might want to consider the trip to town. I was part of a show and tell program among med students AND peers today. Only three incisions, AND they had to remove barnacles from the cavity, an artery, and an uterer. Very little blood loss, and I am recovering at a remarkable pace. There are probably at least 1/2 a dozen docs like mine.
It is late in the game to take (and give) advice. You are going to be on a short fuse pretty quickly. I wish you well.
Thanks for the fan mail. I have only read a couple of mainly picture books in my entire life, while my wife is a book worm. Oh the sweet, sweet irony that I might get requests for a book. And, good critique on my style. Wow !!!
I would have to disavow my nom de plum, Resection Man, and start over though. Not that Resection Man isn’t mysterious and interesting, but the whole story of a medically necessary surgery is a wasted prop. And, I would have to cover my tracks. The truth behind Van Gough’s ear is that he slipped on some of his own spilled paint and ended up ripping his ear off on a wall scone. Everyone would have thought him a jackass, so he came up with the chop-my-ear-off-for-love-and-inspiration spin and look at his market cap now.
Maybe I can put a love spin on my intestine surgery. It might do wonders for my currency. Here I am struggling to get views on my posts. CNN would pick me up for sure. “Man removes own intestine as sign of love …”.
Actually, this is my first time to participate on a board much less write on anything larger than a napkin. You can read my early work on the same board, thread: “A little tense need some reassurances” where I even muse about titles. Well, I did keep an adventure journal from a big camping trip 25 years ago. It is very funny.
I told my wife she had a fan and I got that soft Marge Simpson groan, “mmmmmm”. I could see the wheels turning: “What’s your angle man?”. She was not thrilled with my discharge papers. No work, plenty of rest, no lifting over 10 lbs, no taking out the trash, mowing, no driving (the kids to school) etc…
I must get foot and leg massages to help prevent DVT, and the cherry: Sexual Activity may resume when comfortable. I am comfortable exactly 73 minutes after taking the 1000 mgs of Vicodin every 4 hours. Yeah Baby!!!
My wife is a saint and I love her dearly. Her nom de guerre can be Santa X. I am six years older than she (she was only 12 when I was 18 !!!) and we have been married for almost 10 years, together for 12. Oh, she is a real keeper too. Brings home bacon, quite useful around the house, and she is my perfect soul mate. This has been much harder on her than on me. I will think about what to write and lay down a post later on (it has been 71 minutes since I took the vike, and I need to freshen up). I think it is important for the unresected to think about how this is all going to affect those that love them. Also, you don’t quite feel so bad yourself when you think about others.
Hey R man,
Thanks alot for the prayer, I mean that from the bottom of my heart. Yea carving party will be done here in CC but it will be lap for sure. Yea thought about running off to that Med Center for a few anxious minutes but then settled down and thought , well one of the surgeons is a gyn/ob surgeon who has been my gyn doc for over 10 yrs so she knows me pretty well. Trust her, (well i tell myself that anyway to build up courage lol). Still waiting, no call today, didnt think one would come anyway. It was going to take longer than a day to set the party up just for me. Hopefully will know soon, cant do much anyway but rest and get better and take my antibiotics.
Oh yea dang, that phenagran is a killer. You should have seen what it did to my arms and they had to keep switching the IV thingie cause the site would get so red and hot and swollen and very painful. Found out towards the end it was the phenagren so they took that out and from then on it didnt happen. Yup, im so full of holes if i take a drink i might just spill out.
HA HA on the demeral , but i doubt theyd hide it. I mean where else are you gonna get a laugh and have insurance pay for it??? He thinks its like that truth serum, keeps asking me "questions" with a little glint in his eyes. HA!!!, doesnt work that way. I cannot hold a decent thought in my head let alone a decent and understandable conversation. God i went on and on about how green the hospital door was, as if i had discovered something "NEW AND INTERESTING". Feel like a total idiot now lol. Trying to keep a sense of humor but gotta admit, am a bit apprehensive. Read a bit about all the stuff that can go wrong, ya know slicing a bowel and not knowing it, infection, but hubby told me to stop reading that and concentrate on the good side of it. Hopefully that will mean NO more PAIN. Lived this way for as long as i can stand it now and hopefully nothing will stand in the way of healing.
WOW, you had all that taken care of?? The artery part is really scary. I mean it. Hope you continue healing at a fast pace. Son will be leaving back to ausin tomorrow. Tried to get more days off but i told him, this is a waiting game. Could be the end of the week or the beg of next , cant tell you hon but go on with YOUR LIFE. The last thing i want to do is get in the way of his life, work, church ministries (which he's in charge of) and his job as assistant casting director. Hes extremely busy, but his dad promised him that as soon as i felt better hed take me up there to austin to spend a few days unwinding in that nice NICE NICE apt complex where he lives. Just to relax and unwind. AHHH sounds nice.
Thanks for the update, keep up the good work and ive prayed for you and yours as well and again, thanks for the prayer, can REALLY use it about now.
Jen
OH get this. GOOD question. A total of 8 docs came my way to see me. EACH one a specialist in his own field and just checking out, ruling out things it could be and all. Each one told me YOUR COLON IS FINE! Dont let anyone touch it. May be long and a bit sluggish but theres no reason to take 3/4 of it out. So that other guy must have really been an idiot or he probably believed it was for the best, still could be just NOT GONNA happen. No theyre just going in to do exploratory surgery and look around. THey know ive got adhesions for sure. How much of it they can free theyll be able to know once theyre inside. Endometriosis was another one of my problems. Had tons of it several times during my life and for some reason or another seems to keep coming back. Very painful. So, YES SIR, IM KEEPING MY COLON! uhm unless they see something in there that would warrant it being taken out that is, which i seriously doubt.
Jen
Hallelujah and pass the Doritos, I had Braxton Hicks contractions this morning.
I am looking forward to today. I skipped the pain killers overnight, and not surprisingly, I felt pretty sore this morning. Anyway, I cut the dose in half at seven just to see where I am at in the healing process. Right on time, one hour and fifteen minutes later, my morning buzz has kicked in. I have probably been over-medicating a little bit over the last day or so, but I have been comfortable, and I have been able to enjoy music in color for the first time since college. The half dose appears to be enough to sufficiently take the edge off without interfering with the feedback I am seeking.
One positive benefit of staying off of the drugs is that I am a little more aware of my plumbing. I suspected that that a general numbness from the procedure and the heavy duty drugs where interfering with the ability to notice urges and differentiate among them.
The anastomosis site was at the rectum which no doubt provides a lot of WC feedback. So, maybe the staple gun left it stunned for a few days. That seems reasonable. Aunty helped me come to the conclusion that it was time to move on from the drug induced haze yesterday and rejoin the feeling population. Two snaps for Aunty. I going to miss my buzz though.
I skipped the hanging out around the bathroom last evening. I was more aware of a “lack” of urgency, which was new. And once the Philistines where upon me, I could get to the backroom in our simple home in plenty of time (provided I did not step on any Legos and drop to the floor in pain, a daily risk in our home).
So, Santa brought me a cup of coffee this AM with my half dose of vike, and then I noticed it: I was having Braxton Hicks contractions in my tummy. It almost brought a tear to my eye. Yeppers, that gentle rolling action that a nice warm cup of joe in the morning gives you well before you get down to the business of a constitutional. In my case, I rarely experienced full blown labor. I have never really been a “constipated man” (I am more of a neo-chauvinist-renaissance man AKA: chauvinista). But either way, Braxton Hicks were my first sign that I should clear my schedule at some point in the near future.
My birthday is coming up on the 2nd. It is my plan to have a “good one” by then.
I think anyone with a social calendar would agree that pooping like an Owl with less than 90 seconds of warning is, well, just plain inconvenient. My prayers go out for you if you are in that club. So, I hope to end up somewhere between Shrek (my old self) and a Cat.
I am sure the ladies just don’t get why a man would find pride in Shrek-like habits. Go to a woman’s issues board for that discussion.
I think Santa is almost done with my illness. It sure did not take long after the doc told her I was not going to die. In fairness, this round started back during the Sugar Bowl, January 4, 2004. It has been long enough. Anyway, Santa said she is on to my scam. Everyone is taking care of me, while I am off sailing on drugs.
Oooooh!!! Sends a chill through me. She looked right in my eye with a cold stare and Damascus steel in her voice. “Listen buddy, I am on to you and your scam. I’m moving in see. Thanks for setting it up. I’m taking over the business today, I’m shutting you down. Don’t even think about putting up a fight, I can take you easy”. She had that Roxie (Chicago) look in her eye. Women.
In a page torn from the script book from Hey Arnold (episode 205), Santa told she will be coming down with monkeynucleosis, a potentially fatal disease with no visible symptoms, that requires an even higher level of pampering, rest, and drugs than I am receiving.
She said she followed my fine example and researched the best protocols and techniques to treat monkeynucleosis. It will definitely not resolve on its own. There are only three doctors that have successfully treated the disease, two are in Cancun and the other is in Paris. It is probably highly contagious, and she will have to leave me here … for my own good. But, my mom and dad are going with her. I get the kids and the pets.
I ain't backing down. I am going to plenty sick tonight. I might even come down with a case of monkeynucleosis before she does. This ain't my first rodeo.
Okkkkay sounds like your doing better hon. Uhm totallllllly agree with Santa tho , a trip to paris sounds about the "only" cure for her condition. lol
Well got called, surgery is set for may 13th at around 1:00 pm.They want to give me time to finish my antibiotics, and take some iron as well since i was very anemic in hospital and it was dropping. They say it will get me healing quicker if im in good condition by then. Thats two weeks away. Im suppose to call in for more demeral if i run out which is good.
Son is getting ready to head on back to austin. Brought me donuts from my fav place this morning. YUMMY after all that jello and juice i was on in the hospital. He may not be able to make it for surgery but said hed be down that weekend , told him NOT TO WORRY, id be fine and that his dad would call him ASAP after surgery to let him know i was ok. Just felt good spending time with him tho. I needed that. Wow i agree with gatormom, you REALLY should be writing for a living! LOL
Sounds like youre working the kinks out of the plumbing slowly but surely. YEAAAAA!!
Well time for meds and a little rest, so talk at ya later, have a great day.
Jen
It occurs to me that I'm reading and discussing folks' bathroom habits . . . and enjoying it! Must not have enough excitement in my life. But I did start reading the thread because a man who helps take care of my Mom (86) in an assisted living home is having the same surgery. She's been wondering how he will do so I'm gathering info.
Looking forward to future updates; keep feeling good!
Gatormom
If you are super anemic, talk to your doctor about Procrit (EPO). It works faster than iron alone. IMHO: Blood can cause so many problems, so you are better off trying to do without. Rest, rest, rest, and get plenty of fluids. We’ll be praying with you. The 13th is great. A Thursday procedure will almost guarantee you a stay over the weekend into Monday. No one gets out on Sunday.
The difference between writing for pleasure, my apparent hobby while recuperating and writing for a living, are clams. Getting published and actually have a readership is actually incidental.
Clams, lobsters, bones, franklins, and mula. That is the difference. If you and the G-Mom want to cut a check made out to Resection Man for six figures as the writer’s advance, I will produce a 438 paged pocket-sized writing on the topic of your choice within 90 days.
Otherwise it is strictly for fun, and my health. And, to help those waiting to be resected know what it is like on the other side.
The Braxton Hicks turned out to be false labor. I have not had my BM today. Still waiting, but I am not hanging out around the WC. Played cards with the folks. Doing research on monkeynucliosis so I can properly co-opt my bride. I feel the asymptomatic symptoms coming on as we speak.
I come from a small but extremely close family. Despite that, with children, nephews and nieces, aunts and uncles, and in-laws thrown in, it is not unusual for us to have 12 to 15 different people over for any given Sunday dinner. As might be expected, the family count has been running high around Resection Man’s castle despite my best efforts to create an unwelcome environment.
Locusts … people have descended upon my home like locusts. So get this, my pipes are clogged this morning from someone pouring grease down our kitchen sink (it sure wasn’t me going poop).
Mom and Dad come over about 9:00 this morning. There was no end to the lecture from Mom. Dad pops smoke just like the Roadrunner and leaves to take it sick and all.
“See, there is a lesson here for you son. If you put things in your plumbing that shouldn’t be there, this is what you can expect. And, you don’t drink enough water, and you should chew your food a minimum of 2,400 times with bread and milk of magnesia or you will back up just like your kitchen. Then I will have to get your father to use a snake on you. Did I mention Mrs. McPhale has a bacteria in her stomach that was dissolving the key she swallowed when she was nine. I didn’t. Sit down here, and let me tell you about e Rollie Pollie bacterium from your anus. ….”
I am thinking to myself, “Lady, didn’t you cook last night, weren’t you responsible for feeding me for the first twenty years of my life. Do you think there might be a lesson in this for us?” But I let it go. She is my mother. She is so happy I am passing gas right now.
Our Home Depot actually rents tools. Not all of them do. Dad and I went over to rent a 50’ electric pipe snake. Despite my careful actions I walked backward into the handlebar of a garden tiller right into my kidney area, which is right behind the site of the major incision and pain. The other two incisions are fine, but my front left one still hurts pretty good, especially since I stopped the meds. The pain hurt worse and pretty strong for a couple of hours, but has since dissipated. I still have not taken any more meds, but probably will in a couple of hours. A one half dose again.
I got a quality assurance call from Methodist hospital this afternoon. Mrs. George, the Indian lady that had been a nurse for 33 years was the caller. I referred to her as a “top nurse” whenever I was quoting her sage advice in the hospital. As in, a top nurse told me ….
She wanted to know if I had passed any more gas through my penis then started laughing. If I was just thirty-five years older and still single, I might hit on her. Charming lady.
The pain caught up with me today. I took one Vicodin 500 at 2:00, and 750 at 4:00. I will get back on the 1000 mgs when I go down for the night and stay on a new cycle somewhere closer to the original prescription.
More or less, I was just as interested in seeing how much I have healed, and the underlying level of pain was. Now I know. I won’t need to know again for three or four days.
I also took a little nap. Just like this AM. The pain was much worse getting out of bed. Keeping active must really be good advice.
We are having chicken and rice. It will be an American version to take it easy on my body.
Also, I started a broad pro-biotics supplement twice a day. Hopefully, it will help me get into the swing of things.
My wife is into Arnica for bumps and bruises. I think I will start that when I go to sleep for the surgical healing. I have heard good things about it, and we have used here for years.
I have gotten pretty tired as a result of the pain. I am also back in the compression stockings just for good measure. I don’t want to go through all of this only to die of a blood clot.
Hey, my first time trying this out. Just wanted to pass along some info I came by the hard way - I had a colon resection 7yrs ago. It took numerous dr's and 9 colonoscopies in 9 months to finally find the tumor - I'm really lucky to be alive according to the Dr's. Anway, since the surgery I've been diagnosed with IBS complicated by constant diarrehea & abdominal pain. After I had no more control of any "lower body functions" (diapers really do nothing for the morale at this age), I was finally referred to a neurologist. He diagnosed a B12 deficiency - I'm on shots for life, but oh how my life has improved. According to the Doc, malabsorption is the normal result of colon resection (your liver stores B12 for up to 7yrs). Before you get as miserable as I was, have your Dr's check your B12 levels. It's amazing what that vitamin handles in your bodies.
Last edited by cajun mawmaw; 04-28-2004 at 07:03 PM.
Eeeeee Aaaaaw !!!! A Cajun. We have family in Ville Platte via my bride. If you know the town, you can probably figure out my true identity in about six minutes, but then I would know yours.
Yes, I have worried off and on about losing control down there since I found out I was getting surgeried. Especially at my age. Actually, at what age is it OK? Never. There might be a higher incidence of diaper fashions among the resected as we age though. Nothing concrete. Probably we non-Maw-Maw’s have more to worry about prostate cancer blowing out the last of our control systems than the long term affects of a resection. Anyway, I told my wife before we got married that she could expect that from me someday. It was pre-disclosed.
If you have followed my posts you know I do not have a lot of sensations going on, but I don't have the obvious signs of dumping syndrome going on either. In fact, I have almost no sensations of anything. I am urinating just fine, so I think "normal" absorption is in play. I am drinking plenty though, and I am sure that is good for me. I am really trying to march the clock down until I get a feel for my new habits and sensations. Waiting is always the worst part for me. I even skipped the pain meds today just to get a feel for what I might be missing. I got some tingles, but mostly, I got a double helping of pain. I won’t say it was a bad idea, but I will take the meds for the foreseeable future. Oh, and I only lost 7 inches. Not quite enough to give a Cajun feelings of inadequacy. I presume with the malabsorption that you lost 15 inches or more. Is that right?
Like you, I am lucky to be alive. So I am trying to be thankful and not complain too much. And if I can’t remain entirely dignified, then I hope to keep a sense of humor about it. What goes in must eventually come out. Right now, I guess you could say I am in gestation.
I did not quite follow the need get to a B12 study at this point. Is it to form a baseline? Are there standards already established? Does the vitamin help with my lower functions?
It is awful quiet. If it stays that way, I can put on my red tannyshoes and my wife can make a sauce piquant that could noise up the dead, but I am afraid to give it a try right now.
There have been a several posts on this thread and others commenting about how wonderful my bride is, and how fortunate I am to have her.
Neither of us have many friends outside of our family. Only two to three at most. Well, outside of someone that is related to one of us by blood or marriage, I can only think of one couple right off of the bat.
She and I are very close. We are each other’s best friend. And, my family and friend(s) adores her. That is also important. Our extended family is right out of Mayberry RFD. Family can be so hard on a mate. It has been a real blessing to our marriage and happiness. This is kind of reverse discrimination. God forbid my mother or sisters see me lazing around while Santa is hustling around the house. They kind of slow cook my extremities like a pot roast until I can’t take it any longer, and I acquiesce to their demands.
Her family is a little more modern than mine. This part doesn’t talk to that part etc…. We try to get along well with everyone, but we are really only close to one sister, and she is Michigan.
The Louisiana side is really cousins (and plenty of them). That is a different story. We are very close them’ens. In some ways, they are a proxy for her immediate family in terms of love and relationships go. My extended family gets along handsomely with the Cajuns and vice versa. Traditional Mexicans and traditional Cajuns are similar is many ways. Maybe that is why. For instance, we both use accordions in all of our native music. Neither use a little bit of pepper when there is plenty in the cupboard (spicy pepper on the table comes is the 12 ounce Sam’s Clubs containers right next to the china). Sundays are reserved for God and family. Etc. etc. …..
We eat at the dinner table together every night as a family (with our two children, La Princessa – 7, and Mini-Me – 4). We also had an additional four foster children (they are actually nieces and nephew that we took in as legal wards for six months), so I have a giant dinner table. It seats eight or ten, plus the formal with another six, and another six on the deck. So as you can see, 10 to 15 on Sunday is no sweat. My sister can seat well over twenty pretty easily. Average Thanksgiving is between 25 and 35 at once plus stragglers.
My wife is very smart, and she works very hard. She never nags me, and she is a great mother. In our twelve years together, we can’t count the fights on a single hand. That never nagging me thing is important. My personality could not handle it. She still gets me do pretty much whatever she wants including having my intestine removed, but she uses her own un-describable Santa technique.
She and I met at work. For four or five years, we only had one car. We were together twenty-four hours a day. We really enjoyed that time. With the kids now, that is just not practical.
We read the bible and try to be good Christians.
This most current situation has been a win all around.
I got rid of a diseased something in my body that one day might have killed me.
Our faith in God was strengthened by what we saw and felt, more than I can describe. We asked for peace and we got more than we needed. We asked for courage, and we had no fear. We asked for dignity, and well I am still Resection Man. We asked for a speedy recovery from the hospital, and I broke records.
And, our marriage was also strengthened. When you sit down to freshen up your will and you know there is some risk that you won’t be around in a couple of days (which is true on any day), it helps to cut through the less important things. The pure emotion was refreshing and invigorating. I probably cannot stress that enough. Pure emotion is better than anything if life and you can’t get it with MasterCard. It only comes when you care enough to really love. The more you love, the more you can understand real fear and that can be uplifting too. You know how much you love. Impure emotion is never uplifting, hate, anger etc…. It always tears down by comparison.
Hey RMan,
Great post. You are one very blessed family! My hubby and i married on his 18th birthday (wow long time ago lol) and we will be celebrating , yea i like that word, celebrating our 31 yrs of marriage this Nov. Not too bad considering i turn 50 in July, so have spent more than half my life with this handsome generous , most loving, compassionate man. His family (my inlaws) all live up there close to ya, LaPorte. We moved out about 20 yrs ago or so. Closer to my family. Yea family is the greatest thing and we ALL get along wonderful. In fact, in laws (sisters and MIL, DIL is deceased) will be coming to see me this weekend to see how im doing. They are constantly calling to check up on me and some of those inlaws are like sisters to me. Get this. My sister is married to my hubbys brother. YUP , we have the same inlaws lol. Two sisters married to two brothers. So we are all one huge family and close.
Good christian people too. Ever been to church of living waters in pasadena? WOW, love that church. Thats where i went for the longest time till we moved away. Still go back and visit when we're in town. Family is everything to me as well. Oh and if the inlaws are a coming!! You can be sure MIL is bringing turkey and dressing and ohhh calabaza w/corn and on and on and on. YEAAAA!! uhm guess you got the picture that im not a traditional mexican american, since i dont cook that often. Take out for us mostly and tortillas are those round things that come in a bag from HEB store in your case probably FIESTA???? LOL i remember fiesta! AHHH thanks for giving me a chance to remember some fond memories.
Have a great day!!
Jen
UPS finally got here with my birthday present. It was a fine present indeed. I am a joyous man. This took longer than the birth of our first baby, although there wasn't any work involved. The waiting and pacing was very similar.
The need for this thread as an outlet for my peace of mind has almost come to an end, but I am going to make at least weekly posts for the next six weeks regarding food and the nature of my habits for the sake of the unresected until I am “predictable”. Boy, it would have been a must read if I could have found a diary.
Thank you all so much for holding my hand, for praying with me, and helping me laugh at my situation even when I was really scared.
If you are here for the limited entertainment value, you can come back at another time. If you are waiting for your resection and want to know more details, then keep reading below.
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The good news is that there was no pain, no blood, no discomfort or anything like that. I had a hernia repair about 20 years ago and got corked up like the Hoover Dam. When that ship came in, it caused some serious pain and damage. So, I know what can happen after general anesthesia. If your bowels are asleep for an extended period of time, you can produce a brick. They warned me at the hospital and offered me some laxatives. If you are a guy and under the age of 35, then you know that you would never take a laxative on your own. That was a mistake. I was a bloody mess. After giving birth to that hockey puck, I thought my rear-end would never be the same.
Wifus called the doc's office this morning since I still had not gone and there was no indication that anything was on the way. Wives do that for husbands. They told her to just give me more water to drink. They did not want to chemically stimulate my colon and rectum this soon after surgery. Phew!!!! I am so relieved UPS got here. The thought of “non-chemical” rectal stimulation would have started to put the freak on me ... even after everything else I have been through.
Also, I had very good control and had plenty of biofeedback. I guess there has not really been anything going on for a couple of days so there was nothing to report to my brain. Interestingly, my train came in at about the same time as my next pain dosing was due. Probably not a coincidence. Aunty has had me wondering what was wrong with me for a couple of days. If she figured it out quickly, then why hadn't I. I guess we are all different. This is one man's story. I hope all of my good things happen for you too or even better, and none of the bad ones.
Of course, one of my main concerns was about the nature of the poop. Really from a social perspective. I want to have man-poops that do not negatively and drastically change my lifestyle. Glad to report, that while it was a little more firm than I would have considered comfortable, it was certainly livable. And with the proper diet, if this is my natural status, quite manageable. Wife will load me up with fiber. This AM, I got a ton in a single glass of Ogadawalla juice this morning. Of course, she did not tell me I got five days of fiber until after I had already tossed the juice back. It was quite tasty though.
Here is the odd part, and the part that might be changed forever. You might remember that the doc widened the freeway so to speak. There where the intestine meets the rectum, he removed the bottleneck that he believes causes the high pressure which in turn aggravates the diverticulosis. The part that went in one ear and out the other. Since I still cannot “bear down”, I had to sit there and wait to finish. Giving a little push, pinching it off and getting on the road was not an option, at least at this point in my recovery process. By nature, I am not a patient man, but I will have to get used to it I guess. I can't run around with only half a poop out of the way. Naturally, my wife thinks this is good.
So far, my recovery has all been good. My doc has far more people in my situation than not. Believe me I checked. Between the surgeon and the anesthesiologist, a lot can go wrong. They can starve your intestine of blood and oxygen during the procedure thereby leaving your intestine paralyzed or gangrenous etc. etc.... Cut vital nerves. It is not like a garden hose. This is a system. Systems have relationships with interdependencies. And, it is possible to damage the system either through the procedure and/or the disease. If I can escape the IBS on the backside, then I should be home free. My doctor told me on several occasions to stop being a “worry-pot” (he is a foreigner), his benign patient's have normal bowel habits after his resections. That's one of the reasons I picked him.
Obviously, I can't live on the Vicodin forever. The real test will come a couple of days after I get off of the meds. I think the vike definitely slows down my pipes. Between the slowness and the mind numbing effects, I have been in absencia when it comes to the general digestion business down there. If I had my wisdom teeth pulled out I would not care, but since it is the plumbing, I am eager to know what is going to be my new “normal”. Plus the boards are full of the bad things that can happen.
If this were Goldilocks, I was somewhere between Papa Bear and Just Right. Going forward, I will not file a report on every visit to potty unless something is “newsworthy”. However, I will make a point to make at least one BM report per week as a look-back comparison for the next month or so. By the end of the six week, I should have settled into my new poop-groove.
So in closing, if you are waiting to get your resection, take heart that the possibility exists for a relatively normal guy-life. The real bad pain, the kind that cannot be controlled with meds, does not last forever. While IBS and diapers are a risk, they are not a certainty. And, although I have not gotten to the trial and error part of the diet program, you should still be able to eat and drink many of the things you love. Maybe all of them in moderation. I was really frightened about losing all of the things I love to eat, but I have spoken with so many people that assure me you still can eat many of the same things that I am not too worried about it righ now.
On the dumping syndrome problem. I studied the management strategies around that too prior to surgery. I still considered my surgery “elective” in the sense that I had a choice about the procedure itself not just the timing. Of course, my surgery was not elective, but I was in denial, like you might be, almost up the last ten days. You really cannot get ready for surgery without acceptance. You just have to get past it.
Anyway, in my opinion, dumping syndrome is one of the worst possible outcomes after death. We are not talking about IBS. This is a constant flow with serious and frequent complications. You can still lead a kind of a “normal” life, but it takes extremely careful meal planning (both in terms of timing and menu selection). You might have to take daily meds for life to be able to work somewhere other than your bathroom. You might want to consider easy to remove and clean garments and yes, diapers. And, dehydration and malabsorption is a real concern. You have to consume more water than you lose, however much that is, and you might have to supplement your nutrition IM (through shots). The primary lifestyle management strategy seems to center around timing. Only eat when it is also a convenient time to poop. Obviously that impacts social consumption. Most people eventually opt out for a bag. That solves many of the social and hygeine problems, but still leaves the malnutrition issues. Nevertheless, it is a life strategy. Again, next to death, that is one of the harshest outcomes. I think it is less than single digit risk. By comparison, the bag does not seem to be that big a deal to most I have spoken with. Yes and no. Two out of many that I have come across are still missing their old “complete” selves. The rest are so glad to be past the pain, or the dumping syndrome or the knowledge that the sieve would lead to death without it, that the bag is a welcome alternative. Everything else is an improvement and somewhere North of these worst outcomes.
I want to close on a high note. So, if that is as bad as it gets, and everthing else is an improvement, and many people resolve completely, and I appear to be one of them, then there is certainly hope for you too.
So far I have had a great outcome with significant health, spiritual, and marital benefits. The downside is there, but with careful surgical and facilities selection, you can statistically minimize that risk. I believe with prayer and faith, you can further minimize the risk. My doctors tell me that any goofy problems and pains will most likely resolve on their own in the next couple of months. Also, I should be able to eat and drink anything I want to. Not that I should. Just that I could.
If you are a worry-pot like me and can't live without scaring yourself silly and knowing how bad it can get, then that was it. All of the scary stuff I could think of. At least you can quantify and measure the fear, and then deal with it. I hope you also get relief from the fear by reading my posts.
It would have been horrible to keep a journal for others that had a “bad” outcome. That would not have been very encouraging to others. What if I died last week. What a bad thread that would have been. What to expect .... death. Actually, very few people die on the table during elective procedures. If you are reading this, then you are probably not an emergency case.
Re: Post-Colon Resection - What to expect? 
