Colorectal Surgery Recovery-- What No One Tells You!
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- Опубліковано 19 вер 2021
- In this video I discuss my colon resection (open low anterior resection) surgery, hospital stay, and life after going home.
#coloncancer #cancer #colorectalsurgery
Dietician input is so important. I had this during all phases of my cancer treatment.
Thank you for your video. Just had Laporscopic sigmoid colon resection 1 week ago. Approximately 7 inches of the sigmoid colon was removed. Still healing & having some burning pain. Waiting for the pathology but surgeon said he was able to remove all the mass & it was no metastatic. Praying for you 🙏🏼
Wendy, I am a RN who was recently diagnosed with colon cancer. I have a pretty extensive background in Oncology and Surgery. Your explanation of your experience was extremely helpful. I am now the patient 😢...Thank you so much for posting this!
I'm an RN who just got diagnosed last week with colon cancer. I have it in 2 parts of my colon and the Surgeon has said I'll need a Total Colectomy with ileorectal anastomosis. I hate being the patient, lol. I've got my scans next week and then scheduled to speak to the Surgeon. Will you also need a Total Colectomy?
@@sheffield99 No, my area is higher up. I've had my staging work up, and my Gastroenterologist tattooed the site. I am waiting and monitoring.....
@marik6025 I've had my clinic with my Surgeon and am booked for surgery on the 21st of this month. Because I don't have Lynch syndrome or FAP the Surgeon has offered me a left extended hemicolectomy/ Deloyers procedure. Basically I'll get to keep my ascending colon. It will get freed up, untwisted and flipped upside down to connect to my rectum. I figure that's better than no Colon that was offered to me earlier.
@@sheffield99 so sorry you are having to go through this. It's not fun being the patient.♥️
@@marik6025 when will you be having your surgery??
This video can be extremely helpful for so many people
I am 3 1/2 weeks out from colon resection surgery. I am still in shock with how little I knew about what this was going to be like! My surgeon doesnt give narcotics (due to their constipating effects) so the only pain meds I got were Gabapentin, Celebrex, and Tylenol in the hospital. I was in such pain I could barely breathe. Hospital stay was only 2 nights. Then upon coming home i only got 1 perscrition of 100 mg Gabapentin and once it was out, I was told to take Tylenol and ibuprofen. My gut is so painful, so bloated and even sitting on the toilet hurts my abdomen. Bowel movements are completely irregular and very small. I can barely sleep because of the pain. Ive been calling my surgeons office every other day in tears. I get different advice every day from a different P.A. regarding my diet or fiber supplementation. I do think I need a dietitian because the dr office cant seem to come up with a protocol that works.😓
@staciejean I am so sorry to hear you are in so much pain. I was on Tramadol for about 2 months until my surgeon cut me off cold turkey. I also had a dietician, but the thing that gave me the most relief was taking Miralax ever day. I am hoping and praying for a speedy recovery for you.
@@WendyBurbridge thank you so much!
When I had the same surgery it looked like a rabbit stool. I believe what changed it was eating ribeye right after I started my stool got longer and more of it. So now instead of going to bathroom 15 times a day I go 4 to 6. My question is to you does your left or right lower side hurt after a bowel movement? A low fiber diet or low residue diet seems to help.
🕊️ Thank you Wendy !!!,,, I'm in My hospital room just got out of robotic abdominal surgery , Just want to thank you for the video, it was extremely helpful, l wish l could thank you in person 🕊️🙏🕊️...
Thank you for the kind words :)
My protocol calls for a reverse approach where my treatment started with radiation, followed by chemotherapy. I will soon be going in for surgery as the final step. Your strength has inspired and helped a great deal. Thank you.
@1042Rocky Best of luck to you.
Thank you so much for sharing 🙏🙏🙏 I wish you full Health and God Bless 🙏🙏🙏🙏
Thank you!
thank you so much for this video. I am going in this Friday for this operation, thank you for the added information, thank you
Hope your recovery is going well.
Thank you for posting this video. Know I will be praying for you. May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. May the Lord give you strength and peace.
Thank you!
Thank you for sharing your experience
Absolutely! Happy to help!
Thank you for sharing 😊 i just came out robotic colorectal surgery. Ive learned alot waiting on pathology report! This helps alot!
I’m sending you my thoughts and prayers. I know how nerve wracking it can be to wait for those reports to come through.
@@WendyBurbridge thank you hopefully I find out tomorrow
H@@sherrioverstreet9119 how are you doing? My wife has this surgery next week.
I am also recovering from colorectal surgery. I thank God daily that mine had no cancer. Know I will pray for all those with cancer. 😢May God strengthen you through your journey.
Thank you.
God bless you and prayers going up for you! 🙏
Thank you!
So very helpful...hope you doing well
Thank you. I am doing well now. :)
@@WendyBurbridgehi wendy, is the ileostomy reversed in your colon all hooked up now? Are your bowel movements normal? I had the same surgery and I'm looking forward to getting the ileostomy reverse soon wondering what I should expect and prepare for
Very helpful, thank you! Hope you’re doing well now! I had a right hemicolectomy in April and still have some discomfort so looking for similar stories. Thank you!
Good luck to you as well Jennifer. I’m much better now and have been in remission for over a year. The discomfort will subside over time but be patient with yourself. My recovery was so much longer than I anticipated.
@@WendyBurbridge thanks so much for the quick response!! soooo glad to hear you’re doing well!!
I had the surgery a year ago but it was an emergency surgery. I was in a head on collision and I also had an aneurysm in my stomach from the impact and the seatbelt cut my colon so I had to have 5 blood transfusions. I don't remember much because my whole right side was broken too just just glad to be alive.
I’m sorry to hear that Kevin. Glad you made it through. 🙏
hope you are doing better and well now! wish you health and happiness 😊
@@sarinirangedera7476 thank you sooo much ❤❤
THANK Jesus you made it through! 🙏 🙌
Hi wendy had my op for bowel cancer a year ago only enema on day of surgery robotic surgery sigmoid colon removed no need for a bag left hospital after 3 days a year on and still cancer free off work for 3 months hope you recover ok.
Well I'm surprised it went so well for you! I had the same and a temporary ileostomy and the surgery got infected from the first day, it was horrific I was in the hospital for 30 days and looked like a holocaust Survivor, and even after being released the infection persisted and in severe pain even going into the tailbone for several months
I was told it would be like your experience, but they failed to tell me to do all the prep early enough so I didn't start until the night before and they still told me to come in anyway even though I was still passing stool that morning. I think that's ridiculous, but you're saying that you did not do any prep at all except in enema the day of the surgery?
@7x779 that's right went into Derby royal at 07.30 had enema after getting a bed operation around 09.00 . Very sorry to hear of your experience hope you are well now.
Thank you. I am so happy to hear you are cancer free!!!!
it’s so wild to me how the non-nutrition specialties in the medical world not only don’t care more about avoiding sugar, but that they readily recommend it. colonoscopy prep clear liquid diet, beside the broth, is ALL sweet. the only thing i figure is that they don’t care about the sugar because it’s a temporary situation. but man, as another health conscious individual who genuinely doesn’t care for sweets except very specific ones on occasion, i really wish there were some more savory/healthy options for prep!!
@themegfox I totally agree!
Just had mine 24th and have a morphine button. Going home with hydrocodone and solace. And it works just fine. That's what he gave me after my emergency surgery and it worked fine.
Colase
Wishing you a speedy recovery :)
I just came out from surgery, experienced hallucinations also a 90° visual rotation which meant I thought I was vertical while in fact was lying down on my bed, it was very far out. Luckily the main event - the surgery - went very well, no bag, pretty good pain recovery
So glad the surgery went well.
God bless you, tnx
Thank you. You too.
I am recovering currently, very helpful
Great to hear!
Hi I had rectal cancer 3 years ago on ostomy bag I have had 2 hernia operations in a year now have horrible neuropathy from chemotherapy me and my wife got Covid after my operation hang in there 🙏🙏
Thankfully I had no pain. It just took a while to have a really good movement
How long is a while?
Same with me. It took quite a while. I think it was months for me.
This will vary by person but it was several months for me.
Got diagnose with colorectal cancer. Getting the whole large intestine taken out 😢. The whole thing has to be taken out because I have ulcerative colitis. Hoping to get all the information I can.
How did it go 😢
@@patrickhamilton1617 surgery will be in November. No set date until the authorization gets approved. Doing all my research before to be ready
@josiefernandez822 hi, I've got bowel cancer too and will need a Total colectomy with an ileorectal anastomosis. As long as my scans next week show no disease progression then I should have surgery within a month.
Just found out it may be in December. I don’t want it to get pushed back further because I don’t want the cancer to grow
@@josiefernandez822 Hi, I understand your concern but bowel cancer is incredibly slow growing - which is why it's often discovered once it gets a bit bigger and starts to bleed or cause problems. It's usually taken at least 2-3 years of growing before it's suddenly discovered. Between now and December I very much doubt your cancer will grow at all. You will do well with your surgery and recovery, I am sure of it. My whole colon needs to be removed and the surgeon has said they will attach my small bowel straight on to my rectum. I see him next week in his clinic to discuss my scans and options going forward. All the best to you.
I had my appendix removed and the whole right side of my colon removed. I was wondering how long it was for you until you became regular? It's been a month and still dealing with watery stools and flatulence.
How are you doing now? And I'm curious what what has your diet been when you were having gas and flatulence and stool problems?
Have you tried a zero fiber and even perhaps a meat only diet?
I have been thinking about this and it seems like the animals who have the most flatulence and very complex lengthy digestive systems all eat plants and high fiber
And the animal with the simplest shortest digestive system which happens to be the cat, can only eat meat because that is the most easily digestible food there is
How is it that nobody has noticed this or talks about it
For an example, you might search for someone named Kelly Hogan on here
It was several months for me.
Postoperative for healing you need full liquids, to soft diet. After healing, or healed colon, need a high fiber diet... Post-op RN. (Of course, decrease that if it causes pain)
I'm so conflicted about this advice to take fiber. I saw a study on a bunch of people that had all types of digestive issues, gas, bloating, constipation, diarrhea, cramping, pain etcetera. They measured the Baseline of all of their symptoms then they put them on a high fiber diet and everything got worse for all of them. Then they put them on a low fiber diet and everything got a little better than the baseline. Then they put them on another diet and all symptoms were resolved for everyone. Completely healed. Do you know what that was ?
Zero fiber😮
???
It seems to make sense, have you ever put some Metamucil or psyllium husk in a glass and let it sit and watch it gel up and solidify
And I also thought about the animal which has the shortest simplest digestive system, which happens to be cats, and the only food they can digest is meat because it's so easily digested and absorbed. How can that be that nobody has noticed and thought about this?
I felt the same way. It seemed like my surgeon was pushing fiber, but my GI doctor wanted me on a low FODMAP diet. I had to really try a lot of different things to ultimately stop the pain and start feeling better.
My sigmoid colon had to be removed it was so diseased..... but My constipation is terrible and the bouts of diarrhea..... then the constant pain and burning that won't go away in my gut.... not sure if it's nerve pain or gut pain....
Wow that sounds really terrible. Have you talked to your doctor about nerve or gut pain?
@@WendyBurbridge yeah.... I am going to do a pain pump trial or a nerve stimulation trial
@@myalaynaangel Wow! I really hope one of them works out for you. Keeping you in my thoughts and prayer.
I had a 20mm polyp removed from my rectum during a colonoscopy. Biopsy came back that it’s a “small adenocarcinoma” I have an appointment for a consult and imaging/bloodwork. Really not looking forward to this. How are you doing? I hope you’re feeling better 🙏🏻
Hi John, do you have an update on your consult yet?
I was where you were in Jan '23, a lot has happened since which included LAR surgery, an ileostomy in April, an ileostomy reversal in late July. if you need any pointers I can help.
@@mtnbkrken05 Thank you so much for reaching out! I just had LAR surgery this past Thursday. I was home the next day. I fortunately didn’t need a bag. The pain’s been pretty manageable, but I’m miserable. I’ve got diarrhea with hemorrhoids 🤦♂️. This is brutal. I’m just taking it day by day. I hope you’re doing well. Are you out of the woods totally? Happy new year, bud.
Hey Johnny, I feel your pain for sure. I now know what it feels like to s--t lava in clusters for about 10 times a day. This was after my ostomy reversal and not having used my colon and my bum for 4 months. I'm still teaching my colon how to work again, getting much easier every month. They tell me it takes a year to completely return to normal, so by the end of this summer I'll be fine. I had the smallest cancer polyp removed as well in a colonoscopy, but they determined it was best to remove 20CM of my colon and part of my rectum to prevent any other polyps. I had 11 the last time and 8 before so, sounded reasonable.
Glad you're managing your pain ok, I had a slight struggle with this at first, but I figured out that I can take the daily max dose of ibuprofen and Tylenol and just alternate them in the day and it worked for me. As far as the bum pain goes... NOTHING helped until I installed a bidet under my toilet seat. I don't know how I've lived all these years without one! @@Johnny-ip4mk
@@mtnbkrken05thanks for your comments. I've had the same surgery almost a year ago and it got infected badly, was in the hospital for one month. The original plan I was cut out about 12 in where the tumor was, temporary Loop ileostomy for 6 weeks and then reversal . But because of the infection which was excruciatingly painful I'm going into my tailbone it took several months on super strong doxycycline antibiotics to clear it and about 7 or 8 months since the surgery for the wound to heal
Now it's going on over a year since surgery and about to have the ileostomy reversed I'm wondering what I can anticipate. It sounds like you were in for a whole new set of challenges after reversing the ileostomy in hooking your colon up again
@@mtnbkrken05I'm just wondering what I can expect. How are you doing now? Would you say you have normal bowel function or you still having to go 10 times a day. Are you able to wear a normal clothing or do you have to wear pads and such?
❤Hello
Your LAR was a single-stage procedure (without a stoma reversal), wasn't it?
That is correct.
@@WendyBurbridge Did you experience what's called 'LAR syndrome' and, if so, how did you cope with it?
@@ld4032 I wasn't ever diagnosed with LAR; however, I had many of the complications common to LAR, I believe. Gas, bloating, difficulty going to the bathroom, pain with bathroom visits, frequent bathroom visits, etc. My GI doctor put me on Miralax for a month, which was horrible, but did ensure that I was "going" every day. She also put me on a low fodmap diet to alleviate the gas. I am now introducing foods to test to see which do not produce gas. I have also removed the Miralax and am now trying magnesium before bed, which is seeming to be more effective.
@@WendyBurbridge One more question: what type of anastomosis did they make (end-to-end, j-pouch et c.)?
@@ld4032 I actually don't know. I was pretty much told they took two hose ends and connected them. Sorry I don't have that information for you.
Great video. I have to go in a week for the same surgery. They’re taken 12” out around a 2” mass that is cancerous. I think I got mine from low carb diet with too much red meat and fats over two years.
So sorry to hear that Douglas. Best of luck to you with your surgery.
Same here -- I'm 5 months postop sigmoidectomy. Raised our own grass fed beef/dairy, lamb, pork, chicken for last 15 years... thinking I was eating the good stuff until I got cancer.
vax
@@colleenlouise4521 -- no vax in my case.
@@davidvealewell thank you for sharing that. For a little more detail, were you also eating carbohydrates or strictly on a meat only zero or no carb diet?
Were you checking your blood sugar and were you in ketosis?
Were you practicing intermittent fasting and or any longer term fasting?
Or like most of us, were you just eating when you felt like it and along with the meat eating other things as you felt like it?
Please help as I'm also trying to figure out what happened to me as well
You gonna get the re connection surgery?
They did the reconnection in the same surgery.
Was this surgery for colon cancer?
Yes. It was to remove a tumor.
Probiotics / Prebiotics
I definitely used probiotics and continue to take them.
How much weight did you initially loose after the surgery?
Just a few pounds because I had to fast until the surgery and then was on a liquid diet for several post-surgery. However through the course of surgery and chemo I lost about 15 pounds.
Great information on post surgery prep and pain modification. How long was the pain post surgery during your recovery period?
Did you have a partial or total colectomy? I am likely to need a partial that I’m hoping to be able to have laparoscopically.
Robotic sigmoidectomy in 3 days.
Good luck to you!
How are you doing now? Did you have an ileostomy Colin hooked up again or a permanent colonoscopy
too bad a lawnmower was running halfway through!
Sorry about that #firstworldproblems 😂