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In the hospital now. . .awaiting first surgery

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Crohn's Disease
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Posted 11/16/2009 8:23 PM (GMT 0)
Well everyone, all that severe cramping I was having was more serious than I thought. I came to the ER last night and they did a CT scan and found an area of inflamed tissue outside the bowel with a hole in the bowel leaking out. Right now they are pumping me full of anitbiotics and pain killers. They want to try and see if they can alleviate it any before they do surgery. . . as soon as tomorrow is what they are telling me. He said they would cut me right down the middle and take the least amount of bowel out as possible. I'm scared to death. I wasn't expecting to come here and need surgery in 2 days. Without scaring me too, too, awful bad, those of you who have had surgery. how long is the healing process? I know it varies from person to person, but a ball park time? I had 2 weeks of school left before winter break. . . Crohn's didn't seem to care cry
Posted 11/16/2009 8:48 PM (GMT 0)
Aww sweetie I am so sorry to hear you are in the hospital and needing surgery. I have had 2 resections myself, both were open as you are going to have. I am not going to lie you will have some pain afterwards, but don't worry they will give you great pain meds to help. One suggestion I have is to ask for a pain pump for your pain meds, so you are in control of them instead of waiting for the nurse to bring your meds. As soon as you can afterwards try to walk as much as you can, it will help to wake your bowels up. My recoveries were about 8 weeks, although most are about 6 weeks. Do expect some explosive diarrhea for a bit afterwards, it does get better once your body adjusts to the changes. They like to feed you quick, but take you time with the softer foods. I went home and stayed on a low residue diet for a few weeks.

I want to wish you good luck with your surgery and I hope it leads to a long long remission. Do be sure to get on maintainence meds afterwards to help you avoid further surgeries in the future. Let us know how it all goes, we do care:)

Hugs
Gail*Nanners*
Posted 11/16/2009 10:51 PM (GMT 0)
Good luck with your surgery, nanners covered basically everything. Try not to stress, your thoughts are almost nearly
always worse than the real thing. Just make sure the nurses know your pain levels. It's easier to treat pain when it first
starts, than to wait too long. Once again good luck.
Posted 11/16/2009 10:55 PM (GMT 0)
None of this ever happens at a good time...I can't count the vacations I've canceled, things I haven't gotten to finish, etc... Anyway, I've had 2 surgeries, and thought I'd give you some of my input. After my first surgery, I was at home for about a month before things being normal. I was pampered by my parents, and I had plenty of time to heal. After my second surgery, I was back at work after 2 weeks...more out of necessity than anything else. What I will tell you is this-make yourself get up and move around as quickly as you can. It'll hurt like crazy, and you won't want to get up, but the more you move, the better and faster you'll feel back to your normal self.

It's almost a blessing in disguise that you only have 2 days till you'll have surgery because if you had longer, you would probably build things up in your mind and freak yourself out even more!

I hope surgery goes well. Hopefully they don't have to take much out and you'll be feeling well soon. Let us know as soon as you can how things are going with you.
Posted 11/16/2009 11:12 PM (GMT 0)
I think the only thing they missed is to not be a hero. Don't let the pain get to be too much. Always try to stay ahead of it. We all think we can handle pain, but when it get to be unbearable it takes a lot more pain medication to bring the pain back to a level where we can tolerate it. And if you keep it to a low rumble you will be able to get up and move and be able to eat a bit, all part of the healing process.

I wish you a long and healthy recovery.
Posted 11/17/2009 1:25 AM (GMT 0)
I hope the surgery gives you long lasting relief!
Posted 11/17/2009 2:56 AM (GMT 0)
Thoughts and prayers are coming your way Dana. Keep us posted, ok?? Hang in there!! Sounds like you have expert advice at your fingertips here at the forum.
Posted 11/17/2009 5:28 AM (GMT 0)
I feel for you, I was recently diagnosed and had my first resection surgery all in the same week! One trip to the ER ended up exactly what you are looking at! My advice to you is to use the pain meds right after the surgery, and then immediately try to wing yourself off them enough to get around on your own without looking like a total drunk! I found that the more I walked the more things 'settled' with my intestines. WALK, WALK, WALK!!! As for recovery time, I was actually feeling pretty good right after having the staples out (about 3 or 4 weeks I think). You will most definately have some issues with digestion for awhile so be prepaired to make adjustments to your schedule and distance to bathrooms at all times! Good luck, god bless, and WALK!!!!!
Posted 11/17/2009 2:48 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks everyone for all the advice. I will definitely listen. I just wanted to give an update. I saw my GI last night and he wants to keep me on antibiotics a few more days before rushing me into surgery. He said it would not be good for me at all for the surgeon to do it now. I'm not sure why the surgeon was in such a hurry now, after talking to my Dr. He thinks we should try to heal the bowel some before they go in. I'm not as scared anymore after hearing what you all had to say. Thanks again to my healingwell family, you all are the best :)
Posted 11/17/2009 2:56 PM (GMT 0)
Good luck! Many good thoughts and prayers coming your way from Maryland!
Posted 11/17/2009 4:51 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Hun, sorry your going through this but hey it will soon be over and LIFE HERE YOU COME!!!!!! My op in jan went like a dream as far as pain relief goes i had an Epidural put in to knock me out and used as pain relief after, along with the morphine pump and i can honestly say i felt no pain whatsoever just a bit of an achy back around day 3 but that was it! you will be fine hope you get a long remmision i did for 15 yrs. let us know how your getting on sending good vibes your way Bev x smilewinkgrin
Posted 11/17/2009 10:03 PM (GMT 0)
Good luck Dana, I'm sorry your going through this. I wish I had access to a computer the last time I was in the hospital, it must help a lot.

I strongly agree with asking for a pain pump, I think the anxiety of waiting for pain meds, when the nurse gets busy, actually slows the healing process.

We'll be thinking of you. Please keep us informed.
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