Need some advice... I need surgery apparently :(

I had an obstruction in my small intestine last year. My stomach had been hurting off and on for a while...I would come and go. Then I started getting fever off and on, and no appetite at all. So I did go in and had to have surgery almost immediately...A week later I had surgery...I was in the hospital for 7 days and they had to cut me wide open..(sorry don't want to scare you) I was cut from the top of my stomach to the bottom of it....Believe it or not I didnt have much pain after surgery....they gave me an epidural for the pain...so I never felt nothing much at all. When they took me off of the epidural i was then okay also....my stomach was sore where the incision was but not to bad. I hope all the best for you.....

Aww Valerie sorry to hear you are headed for surgery. I had 2 open resections so I can only comment on that. I was in the hospital for mine almost 10 days for both, but thats because I got an infection in my incision both times (not common). But from what I have heard for the laproscopic surgeries its about 3-5 day hospital stay with about 4-6 weeks recovery time. I sure hope you are able to have it lap as it is much easier recovery. Hopefully, the one good thing to come from the surgery is you will have a long long remission. One big tip is to walk as much as possible afterwards, it helps to wake the bowel back up. Good luck and keep us posted. Hugs!

I am concerned, too. The Moderator has a good point.

Thanks guys. I'm glad that I should be able to get out of the hospital pretty fast, I was expecting a week so 3-5 days is better than what I was thinking. I know at this point that I really do just need to get it over with, I was going to go into my appointment today fighting to not have surgery, but knowing that I'm perforated I know that I really need to just do it as soon as possible. I think that the point of me being in the hospital for this has came and gone, I'm perfectly fine now, I don't even have any pain whatsoever, I guess I need to just keep taking my antibiotics and being careful until then. It's just weird because I really can't even pinpoint when it could have happened...I only ended up on Cipro in the first place because I go a UTI (I noticed I felt better and asked my doctor to give me Cipro and Flagyl). I don't even want to think of how sick I could be if I wasn't on them right now, it's funny because it's a bit of a blessing that I got that UTI. Now the only problem is that my new GI is worried I may have another fistula leading to my bladder that might have caused the UTI in the first place.

I'm supposed to check in with my doctor and his nurse every day until I get this over with. I have to see him again 2 weeks from now, go for another ultrasound to see what's going on, and go see the surgeon. I'm in good hands I guess, they told me that if I have any pain whatsoever, I need to come to the hospital right away.

Hopefully after this is over with I'll be able to be up and about relatively quickly. I know I'll need a couple of weeks of rest, but I don't want to be home forever either.

Has anyone heard of them going through the bellybutton before? I was kind of expecting a small incision (or a few) on my stomach, but the doctor was mentioning my bellybutton. Is this common? It sounds great if they're actually able to do it that way. haha

Newbie question here:  how do the find out you are perforated, and is that the same thing as having fistulas?

 

Thanks Becky, your explanation explains a lot. I didn't know how it worked with scabs and stuff, I think I may have actually perforated over a year ago then when I got diagnosed. I did a bowel prep and I thought I was going to die because of the pain, it was the worse I've had, I was on the ground shaking and sweating and throwing up constantly and I was practically screaming from the pain. I didn't even go to the hospital, I was in so much pain that I thought I would die before I got there LOL. I didn't think it could've been that if it was so long ago, but I guess maybe that it keeps reopening and healing over and that's what's going on when I'm having my pain. I don't think it's leaking now, which is why I'm not in the hospital, but the Cipro and Flagyl have helped me a lot which means that a lot of my pain was coming from some sort of infection I guess, most likely the abscess and stuff though. On the scan he said that there was air in my abdominal cavity (which is how they can tell that I perforated) and I do have some fluid buildup, but I'm guessing it probably isn't too bad since I seem to be doing OK.

I'm glad to hear that everything turned out OK for you, it's reassuring to know you went through something similar. I really want to get this consultation over so that I know exactly what's going on. I wish that this would just heal itself with medication but the doctor seemed pretty sure that no medication will fix this. At least now I learned my lesson, and I guess hopefully after the surgery is done I'll get put on the right medication to prevent this from happening again, or at least hopefully for a long time.

So I have my consultation with the surgeon tomorrow morning. I'm not sure when the surgery will be yet, but there is a very real possibility that they may just admit me tomorrow and do it right away. I'm really freaking out. Here's some questions I have...

Do you get a nasogastric tube? If so, does it hurt when they take it out? lol. I'm so worried.

I also heard they don't let you wear even nail polish or anything, is that true? I'm the type of girl that always wears makeup (lol I know it's bad that I'm thinking about that), and I don't really like the thought of not being able to wear it when people are visiting me and stuff. Should probably be the least of my worries, but it's a thought I've been having haha.

Also, I've got my belly button pierced. I'm doubting I'll be able to wear my bellybutton ring while I'm recovering...right?

Also, do you need a catheter or can you walk to the bathroom yourself?

Anddddddddd, how tired will I be post-op? Will I be sleeping most of the day or bored out of my mind? LOL.

I talked to the HR manager at my job today, and they gave me all of the disability forms and told me not to push myself too hard to come back to work. They told me not to worry about work and that they just all want to see me get better. I know that that can't legally fire you or anything for a medical condition, but I still needed to hear it from them because I feel so bad about needing so much time off. I was only hired on a permanent basis at the end of October, and I'm still in my probationary period so it really looks bad that I'm having surgery so soon after.

I'll let you guys know what happens at the consultation tomorrow. If I don't post back on here tomorrow, it means I went in for surgery and I'll update this as soon as I get back (you guys can see my scars! haha).

I'm seriously so freaked out right now. I have only had 2 minor surgeries as a young child so this is really scary for me. I've only been to the ER once in my life (just before Christmas), so I'm really not sure what to expect. Since I'm Canadian, I'm not even sure that I'll be able to get a private or semi-private room, but hopefully I'll be able to since my insurance covers it.

I'm making a list of questions to ask tomorrow, if anyone has any suggestions I'd appreciate it. I'm also making a list of things for my family to bring to me if I do end up being admitted tomorrow. I'm going to have to get a portable dvd player, tons of DVDs, and some books to read. Not sure what else could keep me busy, I don't want to bring my laptop because I'm paranoid of it getting stolen. I can also bring a Nintendo DS and my Ipod.

Thanks for your support everyone.

Another update - I saw the surgeon today, I don't have an exact date but he said about 2 months. I'm glad that it isn't right away because I'll have a bit of time to mentally prepare myself. Also, the antibiotics really have been helping me a lot - I'm hoping that by waiting, they may not have to take as much out. As it stands right now, I'd have to get my ileum, cecum and ascending colon removed. I'm hoping that some of my ascending colon may heal so that I don't need so much taken out, because it really sounds like a lot to me. He told me that most likely, I will be on Remicade after the surgery. The fistula that I have is between my ileum and my ascending colon, although there may be another going to my bladder so we're going to find out on an ultrasound. They don't know exactly where my abscess and perforation are.

They're actually going to be doing (or trying to do) the surgery with a single incision through my bellybutton. He said that he wasn't sure how big the incision will be, because he said that some people's intestines get to be quite large with the inflammation, so hopefully some of it will calm down so I have the smallest incision possible. He did say that no medication would fix what happened though, and surgery is inevitable for me at this point. He said if I was to stop taking the antibiotics, I would get extremely sick again. I also asked about the nasogastric tube, it's the thing that is worrying me most still. He said that I'll have one in during surgery and it'll be out before I wake up, but after I wake up there's a 20% chance it'll have to be reinserted depending on if I can keep liquids down or not, I guess.

Thanks for all of your support everyone, I feel a lot better now. I'll keep you updated once I find out the exact date.

My resection was four months ago - I didn't even know I had Crohn's beforehand and I think it was better that way because I couldn't get nervous!

Worst part, hands-down, was the NG tube. I had it for the better part of a week and whenever it had to be unhooked (to walk, go to the bathroom, etc.) I would get sooo nauseated after as little as five minutes. After 3 or 4 days it shifted and was hitting my throat at just the right spot to make me gag like crazy, I had to beg the nurse to take it out but once they did, instant relief.

I was in the hospital for a week, went home for one day, and was back in the ER the next night - they had sent me home with a JP drain and the fluid coming out into it had changed colors, which ended up being because of a fistula at the anastomosis. You'll definitely be very sore, but if it's laparoscopic it probably won't be as bad (mine wasn't laparoscopic, I have a scar about as long as my hand). I was pretty much out of it for the first week, but I remember bathroom activities being extremely unpleasant - I had very little control and diarrhea was awful even for several weeks after I went home. They probably won't let you eat much, if at all, while you're in the hospital, and for a while after surgery you'll probably want to be really careful about what you try to eat. Potatoes and pasta were basically all I ate for a week or so after I got out of the hospital, everything else made me feel sick. Zofran was my best friend.

I went on Remicade the week after my surgery, I've had 4 doses so far and I really like it - the worst part is having to sit for 2 hours getting the IV. Good luck with your surgery, I hope it goes well for you!