Bowel resection surgery tips

I decided to start a new thread to ask this question...(most of you have been following my saga on my previous post) I am going to the store to buy yoga pants for after my surgery, as I'm assuming that my regular pants will be uncomfortable. Any tips of what I should buy in advance of the surgery? Other tips about what to expect for recovery? How long do you think I'll need to be off work? How painful is it, etc?? I believe it will be laproscopic surgery with more than one incision, but I don't know much more about it. Thanks in advance for any and all advice!!

Thanks. I'm pretty nervous about it, but I'm not able to eat anything but liquids, so I'm quite sure I have no choice at this point. Let me know how your daughter's appointment goes with D. Hanauer too....I hope it goes well and she is feeling better.

Stock up on toilet paper. It's common to go through a period of bad diarrhea after bowel surgery. It will get better with time. As for taking anti-diarrheal drugs, probably best to ask the doctor about that.

Stock up on some post-op foods. I found that overcooked rice with some salt (hold the pepper, at least in the beginning) was relatively well-tolerated. You could try some overcooked hot cereal (instant oatmeal, Cream of Wheat, etc). Important is that it should be very soft and not fatty or spicy. Maybe add some protein powder to it for nutrition, which will help you heal. Adding some lactose-free milk (or soy milk) to it should be OK. Regular milk with lactose might increase your diarrhea, so you should probably avoid it. You should be back to normal eating habits after a few months.

Buy a small portable mp3 player (if you don't already have one) and load it up with your favorite music. Nice to have it in the hospital as an alternative to watching TV. In fact, you can wear it while walking, which brings me to my next point...

Post-op exercise - get out of bed and walk as soon as you can. This will help prevent adhesions from forming. For the next six months, try to walk as much as you can tolerate without exhausting yourself. Nothing helps you recover faster than exercise and nutrition.

I don't think you need to be too nervous, since this is a planned surgery. My last surgery was emergency - total obstruction and I had pneumonia at the time. In fact, I nearly died but here I am six years later, still kicking. You are starting out with a lot more points in your favor, and I'm sure you will do fine.

Post Edited (ozonehole) : 5/18/2014 2:01:44 AM (GMT-6)

Hi. I've lurked here for quite some time, so first I'll offer thanks to everyone for sharing their experiences, fears, and humor. I appreciate being able to come here and read posts from those who know what it's like dealing with Crohn's (though I'm sorry you do!).

I was compelled to register because I read this post and wanted to wish you well and offer you my one piece of advice which is to take it easy following surgery, even if you start feeling perky (which I hope you will!).

I had a basically emergency resection in January of 2011 and was up and about far too early, as I was given very vague outpatient instructions. Of course, you want to walk a bit and move your body, but I was foolishly trying to do errands with my boyfriend and finding myself quite dizzy in the aisles of the grocery, clinging to the cart for support. I just wanted to feel like a person (and not just a patient!) again. I think I hindered my recovery by not babying myself a bit more. As I mentioned, gentle walking and movement are a must, but please be careful not to push too hard or to let guilt creep in because you're relying on others to do most everything. Even laparoscopic surgery, while an excellent option, is invasive in its own way, and the body can need time to recover. Of course, everyone's experience is different, but from reading your story, it seems similar to mine, which means you've been quite ill and unable to eat leading up to surgery, so the body needs gentle consideration as far as the increasing of activity.

Goodness, sorry for the book! The only other thing I'll say is that surgery did allow me to get back to being more active and able to eat, though of course there have been bumps/flares along the way. Though I am currently struggling a bit, I am able to visit the farmer's market and eat fresh fruit and salads, something I worried would never be the case again. I realize everyone's different, and that my situation, as all of ours can, is subject to change at any moment (thanks, Crohn's), but wanted to let you know that surgery can indeed get you to a better place.

Anyway, so much rambling; brevity is not my strong point. Best wishes to you!

Thank you for the welcome, gumby. :)

Good for you for deciding to vacate earth for a bit. It can be a downer, anyway. :P Seriously, though, I do relate to pushing too hard, but healing takes most of your energy so don't steal it away on stuff that can wait. I will be thinking of you and sending you good thoughts from San Francisco, CA.

I didn't read all of the responses so I'm sorry if someone already mentioned this. I was given a binder after surgery but I didn't want to wear it directly over my incision so I had some tank tops to wear under it and then a loose shirt to wear over it. I didn't really need much too keep me occupied at the hospital because I was sleeping most of the time, when I wasn't sleeping I was trying to walk or reading on my tablet. If you need to cough or vomit after surgery try to hold a pillow against your abdomen for support, you'll be in pain if you don't. Good luck, let us know how everything goes.

Hey gumby....pillows for the car ride home no matter how short it will be. Granted my surgery was 24 years ago and full open emergent, but even after my lap gallbladder I found it nice to have a pillow on my tummy for any bumpiness on the ride.

I don't wear dresses, but I liked them after my surgery. Easy to get to the potty if a hurry was needed and no extra pressure. I bought a package of underwear one size bigger too.
Small dumbells---I used them to exercise my arms when I was too pooped to get out of bed or off the couch. Oh and my mother went through lots of eggs when I stayed with her after the surgery---for some reason they were the best thing in the world to my gut.

It sounds like you have already gotten a lot of good advice - Just want to wish you good luck! I wouldn't wait too long to start eating once you get the green light. I just had no appetite and the longer I put off eating, the harder it was to start (over that now, and like 30 pounds heavier than I was after surgery, haha). Also, light exercise will really help out in the long run, and I mean LIGHT. Take walks and have you walks include a flight of stairs. I walked around the hallway of the hospital after surgery when I was recovering, but never stairs. Once I got home (2 weeks later) and attempted to walk up my stairs to my bedroom I needed like a 2 minute break half way there. I lost of ton of muscle mass and am just starting to exercise to gain back some muscle. Good Luck Gumby!

Hi Gumby,  I had a bowel resection in September 2013 and had 2 1/2 feet of small bowel removed with an ileostomy.  Sounds like yours is not that bad so that is great.  Just make sure you have loose pants,  sweatpants, loose shirts, slip on slippers and I bought underwear one size to big, as well as get  lots of magazines, puzzle books if you like them.  Having loose clothes around your incision helps a lot.  Hope this helps and everything will be fine.  All the very best! I'll keep you in my prayers.  Take care! Sue

The day before is pretty tough on the nerves, no doubt! Sorry to keep poking in here, but I did think of something else. I'm not sure how you are with pain meds, but I was on one of those pump things where you press a button to release the medicine into your vein. A nurse scolded me for being too conservative with it. (I had figured if I wasn't biting through my tongue, I'd abstain). His rationale was that waiting until the pain was bad was more stressful on the body than keeping the pain at bay by being a bit more regular with the doses. I'm not sure if this is a widely held notion, but figured I'd mention it.

The pain after surgery came and went, at varying strengths, but it wasn't unbearable. Certainly no worse than what I (and most likely you and many here) have dealt with.

Best wishes, once again!

Hi Gumby, Operatic is right about the pain pump. You will be fine, everything will go great. I know how stressful it is the day before and the day of. Try not to worry, you will feel so much better. No more pain! That is what I keep telling myself. The pain is gone and I can eat! You will too! My thoughts and prayers are with you. Take care!