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Posted 2/23/2009 12:30 AM (GMT 0)
I am 28 and going in for resection surgery on March 6th. I was just wondering what to expect with this surgery, especially with the recovery. I was told I would not be able to lift heavy things (over 5lbs) for a while. I have a 9 month old daughter that is moving nonstop and I am worried that I will hurt myself playing with her after the surgery. Does anyone have any advise for recovery? Thank you for your help.



Crohn's since June 2005
In Relapse/flare up since Oct. 2007 been on Pentasa, asocol, predisone, Imuran, Entocort, Humira.

Right now Only taking Pentasa 4000mg day and Entocort 9mg day
Posted 2/23/2009 12:39 AM (GMT 0)
Hello Cubfan26,

Welcome ot the Forum! Sorry you have to have surgery! I haven't had resection surgery, but many on this forum have and I'm sure they will chime in soon. I suggest you search previous post because you will find lots of useful discussion on this topic. You can use the Search Site in the middle top of the page. And congratulations on your daughter!
Posted 2/23/2009 3:22 AM (GMT 0)

Hi Cubfan

Im sorry you need surgery too. I have had a right sided hemicolectomy and found recovery time to be a few weeks at least. I dont have any young children mine are all grown but I have 2 gorgeous grandkids (only had one at the time of my surgery) and she always wanted cuddles from grandma so for me it was easy enough cause my daughter would put her in my arms. Do you have close family that could come and stay with you after your surgery for a little while to help out? Some people recover faster than others too. I am happy you have found us the people here are a great support and any question you have is always answered. Take care and keep us posted and welcome to the forum. :-)

Posted 2/23/2009 9:06 AM (GMT 0)
When my daughter was 11 months old I could no longer pick her up. I explained this to her and told her she would have to climb into my lap from now on. It worked.

You can teach your daughter to climb up and sit on/against the safer areas of your body. Little ones adapt well to their mothers health requests.

Take care,

Donnaeil
Posted 2/23/2009 11:15 AM (GMT 0)
Hi Welcome to Healing Well.. It is important not to lift so them hernia's don't poop up. I have one. Not sure what you should do about the baby lifting do you have someone who will help for awhile? Hope all goes well with your surgery. lol gail
Posted 2/23/2009 1:20 PM (GMT 0)

Have a very direct discussion with your surgeon and gastro...ask them for practical advice on lifting.  Ask about the possibility of some sort of backbrace...only backwards so it will hold your stomach area in place.

You should for the first 30 to 60 days avoid lifting any heavy loads up from a bent over position.  I had surgery in November....they did the full opening (about 8 inches)  I learned early on that being handed a package or taking one off of a counter at waist height was much easier and less stessfull than trying to actually lift something.  It is easy to carry things....but the lifting can be a bit messy.

For the first 10 days I slept with a small pillow (Iused an airline pillow mostly) held against my incision.  I kept it there when riding or driving in a car..and I used it to hold agaisnt my stomach when i would laugh, cough or sneeze.

Our kids are all grown and gone ...but I still needed to carry groceries and do some work around the house.  Plus I travel a lot and was back in the airport about ten days  after discharge from the hospital.

The big thing is that you really need to be concerned about a squirming child....if you have to move quickly and you over reach or stretch...you could end up back under the knife....being extar careful upfront could save you lots of problems in the long run

Posted 2/23/2009 8:38 PM (GMT 0)
Hi, good luck with your surgery, hope it will make you feel better !

I had a resection a year and a half ago, followed by another surgery two days later as my intestine got twisted and needed to be put back in place. Don´t know wheter that was the reason, but it took almost two months to recover, luckily I had all the help of my family - I was taking care of our two year old son at the time. I did feel tired a lot of the time and couldn´t walk much.

The recovery seemed longer than the one I needed after my first surgery (accute appendectomy when I was 32 weeks pregnant with our son- that´s how I was diagnosed with Crohn´s ), as back then I gave birth without any problems only 6 weeks after the surgery and was able to hike quite a lot before that.

I wish good luck !!!
Posted 2/23/2009 8:45 PM (GMT 0)
So sorry to hear that surgery is impending for you. I've had resections twice and the recovery time was tough. I agree with some of the other posts here...talk with your surgeon and gastro. They will be able to give you the best answers. And kids will adjust. Your health needs to come first.

After my surgery I felt better when I had a folded up blanket on my lap. I'm sure it was all in my head but it made me feel safer.

I also had a friend that had surgery recently and once her incision was pretty much healed, she wore spanx all the time. Again it was something to do with the pressure.

Good Luck. Stay positive. And Heal Well.
Posted 2/24/2009 4:20 AM (GMT 0)
mad  sorry cubfan to hear that you will be having surgery.  i had ressection surgery on august 12th 2008 with a temp ileostomy.  i was reversed on oct 24 of 2008.  so i'm exactly 4 months post op.  as far as the recovery goes everyone is different.  when i was going in for my surgery i went on a lot of the forums and everyone said that it was horrible and they were in a lot of pain but my ressection went well as far as i was in minimal pain.  also it will depend on if it is done lapro or if you will actually be cut open.  i was lapro.  now the reversal was a different story.  this time i was in excrutiating pain i was on morphine and then dilauded which i don't know if you know but it's the equivalent of heroin.  and i got that shot every 2 hours because of the pain.  i was in pain for weeks.  i couldn't walk let alone lift anything.  i have a four year old son and obviously i could not lift him because he weighs 43 lbs.  as far as a nine month old i know it's going to kill you not be able to pick up your baby but try hard not to because you do not want to end up back in surgery because you gave yourself a hernia.  once that pain has subsided and the swelling goes down everything should be okay.  the surgery itself isin't so bad it's the ng tube that is shoved down your nose and throat that is unpleasant.  i was in the hospital for 8 days with 105.00 fever that they were packing me in ice.  then i went into surgery to remove a foot of my terminal ilium and ileocecal valve and my appendix.  they gave me a temp ileostomy because i was on steroids at that time and i needed to heal and they put a central line in my neck because my veins were so shot they couldn't keep an iv in my vein for more than a couple of hours.  after ten and a half weeks i was reversed.  i feel better now but i still am not "normal".  i still have diareah and i still have to watch what i eat but i don't run fever every day and i am not bleeding when i go to the bathroom and i am not in excrutiating pain from my severe stricture.  i hope everything goes well and if you have any question i will gladly try to help.  good luck.
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