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recovery after resection question

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Posted 8/23/2012 9:58 PM (GMT 0)
Hi!  I'm facing a resection (terminal ileum area) next month and I'd really like to know how quickly others were able to return to work.  Were any of you given certain restrictions after surgery?  The doc said 3-4 weeks off work but I've read more like 6 weeks.  I'm in the medical field and my job is a combination of computer work, bending, lifting, walking, etc.  I'd say it's moderately active to lightly active depending on the day. 

Were you able to drive pretty soon after surgery? I know everyone's different but I left the dr. appt in shock and now have so many concerns and questions.  The surgeon did tell me to call but I worry he's trying to paint a pretty picture b/c I'm so against having surgery. I'm so worried that my digestive system will be even worse after surgery than it is now.  I am seeing my GI next week so I'm making a list of questions for him as well but this is on my mind 24/7!

Thanks for your help!

Posted 8/23/2012 10:40 PM (GMT 0)
My son had a resection in late October he is 17. Went back to school the week of Thanksgiving only half days. It was laparoscopic surgery healing time is quicker than if they have to do open surgery. Talking to him recently about the whole ordeal he told me the first few weeks at school was real hard that he was really weak and tired climbing stairs and walking the hallways but he was determined to keep going. I think at his age he just was something normal in his life that is why he wanted to go back so quick.

So if I was you I would go back when your ready everyone is different but just remember when your back at work your back. Wishing you the best of luck with your surgery. By the way he feels so much better since surgery he takes asacol and 6mp for maintenance drugs.
Posted 8/23/2012 11:22 PM (GMT 0)
I had a resection 16 years ago. The first 2 or 3 days I was knocked out on Morphine from the pain of the open surgery. Each day my GI would come into my room, put a stethoscope on my stomach to listen for activity. I was told the intestines go into shock and weren't functioning at that time. It was odd not feeling anything at all in or from my stomach, no more gurgling noises that we tend to have during very bad flare ups or blockages. By the 4th or 5th day my intestines were functioning again and I was allowed soups, jello, sherbert, no more TPN!

On the 4th day the nurses had me getting out of bed, coughing up phlegm, stretching, ugh, it hurt.
I was back to work by around the 9th to 10th week after surgery. I took Questran for nearly a year to absorb bile, massive amounts of gas but within a year I felt darn good.
Still a bit of urgency after the surgery but my weight went from 140 at the time of the resection to 185 in 6 months up to a steady 190 in a year.
I suffered the very bad, down side of Crohn's for over 20 years, so the surgery was the best thing to happen to me.
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