TOTAL COLECTOMY PART 19

Hello Everyone!! 

     Well the time has finally come and I am having a Sub Total Colectomy this Friday! I am more then anxious to have it since I have been through hell and never left, lol! I wanted to know has anyone had the laproscopic done and how was it afterwards at the hospital with coping? How long were you there for? How bad was the pain? How long after the surgery were you able to get up and walk? Did it take long to have a bowel movement? Sorry about all the questions, but my surgeon's assistant was very vague and said that the pain would be little...doubt that one! They did tell me though that the surgeon would be going through my bellybutton since I have a belly ring and would try to save it..lol! Hope that anyone can answer my questions and thank you! Take Care!

Hi Sub and Saharra

Just want to wish you both a very very successful outcome. :)

It just occurred to me .... it seems to be only females that get STC!!! I wonder why..

Hi 2much2bear,

Thanks for your advices. I really appreciate it a lot. me, 26 years old. I'm not a very young girl but doctor always concerns of my age and said it is not worth to have surgery in younger age. I think maybe they want me to try all the medicine then only decide whether it is a right decision to have TC. But this problem(STC) has occurred since i was very small, around 7 years old or earlier.

about the Dulphalac Syrup, i have stopped it recently when i'm taking Movical now. I felt my heartbeat increases a lot when i took it first or second day, but slowly my body begins to accept it and now it backs to normal. no more heartbeat increases :) however, Movical seems is still too light for me. :( I still need to depend on 2 tablets of dulcolax + 2 sachets of Movical everyday. I hope i can reduce the dosage of dulcolax these few days.

Thanks for your sharing about senna. :) okay i will try to get it from my pharmacist here one day :) I found out Senna is a type of flowering plants and it plays a major role in herbalism and folk medicine. Unfortunately, medicine supply is quite limited in M'sia.

I only took gastroscopy, colonoscopy, and x ray health screening only. I haven't taken any sitz marker test, transit study test and MRI scan. My next appointment with my doctor is July 4th. I will mention these checking that you stated with my doctor. I really really wish they can find out my problem quickly, without taking more time to make a guess.

I have not taken any vege for about 5 days. mmm.... It seems that my stomach has less gas/wind now :) I don't know whether it is effects of Movical, or because of less taking high fibre food :) At least now i have a little hope inside my heart as the gas inside the stomach is lesser. I really wish in the future i don't need to depend on any laxative. Laxative will only make our colon lazier and get worse :(

yes, i agree with you. Why it seems only girls could get STC? and it is true that most of us who have such disease are those who easily get stressed. I'm definitely a girl who easily get stressed, and over worried.

To april, I really hope you are getting fine now. Please don't be upset. We are all here to support and give help to each other, we are all same categories who could understand each very well, torturing pain, bad experienced, all suffers etc. When i found out my problem in age-14, my body was extremely weak & i always teased by all my friends in school, and some teachers. I used to be a cheerful little girl who likes to hang out with a lot of friends. But suddenly i lost all at that moment. And end up i always kept quiet and stayed in one corner. I've thought of commit suicide that time but i know this is only a way to run away from the truth. God won't appreciate if we kill ourselves... Think about your lovely family, husband, kids, friends, they all need you. We, from this forum also need and care you because we encourage one another. :) I always blame when i'm suffering and upset of my sick. I'm a moody girl so i can understand your feeling. But it is very very.. lucky as i have a good and caring boy friend & my family who always support me. Without them, i would be like you also, out of control and doing something that's out of my way. Let's encourage each other and hope tomorrow will be better!
Cheers....

KRISTA/BOOKA - I'm hoping things finished up well last night for Takera.  I hope she isn't feeling too bad today - her poor little body has been thru so much.  I truly believe you made the right decision going with the reconnection vs the bag.  I pray that God gives her little body strength thru the recovery process so she can begin having a "normal life".  I also pray she doesn't have complications post-op.  I also pray for you my dear - God will see you and your family thru EVERYTHING!!

APRIL - I hope your reading if not posting.  I'm very worried and concerned about your wellbeing.  You MUST talk to someone ASAP!!  Maybe your medications need to be adjusted because things are moving too quickly thru your body.  I will tell you that I suffer day to day with manic depression and other emotional disorders and I've been exactly where you are.  Suicide is NOT the answer.  Things will always come and go in our life when we feel hopeless, however, you must focus and remember the good that comes and goes too.  Your children need their mother.  The impact it would have on them if you take your life is something they will NEVER get over.  You MUST look outside of the box and understand the domino affect this will have on them.  Please seek medical assistance!!!!!!!

 

KRISTA - I know all too well the surgery taking longer than they expected.  My surgery took eight and a half hours and was done laparoscopic.  The original time frame was three to three and a half hours.

Yes, it will now be a waiting game to see how things will move.  Even if she does have trouble with incondstanace now there is a light at the end of the tunnel.  The majority here have had this issue but in time things do get better, not to mention that things can be given to slow things down until Takera's body get used to its new way of transit.  It can take up to a year for the body to do this, so keep that in mind.

Do they know what is causing her fever?  Are they concerned about it?  I hope she's able to deal with the pain with the PCA pump.  This could be a blessing in disguise because she will be able to get up and start walking sooner.  It is KEY that she get up and walk as soon as she can.  Every step makes a difference and she will go further and further each time she walks.

How ironic that you mentioned Jeremiah 29:11 - for Mother's Day my 15 year old daughter bought me a sterling silver bracelet with that scripture.  I've been dealing with a lot of personal issues and receiving this gift is a blessing.

MIMI  - My heart just breaks for you!!  If you were here in the US they wouldn't hesitate doing the surgery on you.  I know your pain, physically and emotionally, as I suffered for 43 years, YES, 43 years.

FOR OTHERS FACING SURGERY SOON - I wish you all well - just knowing you will regain your life, or in my case, gain a life - it's a wonderful thing!!  Just keep in mind that this is a HUGE surgery and recovery isn't easy, however, it's worth everything you will face in the upcoming weeks.  

Hi everybody!I had my colon removed 4 wweeks ago---I am trying to eat and drink as much as I can-----but it is a slow process. I am walking a litle bit more each day---but fall short of breath at times! Could anyone please advise me if your have had similar experiences post-op? about how long til you regain strength and fell confident to go back to work. Thanks for any info you can provide-MannyG(age 63)

Hi all,

I haven't updated you all in a while, so I figured that I'd get a quick note off before going to work. I heard from my GI's office about the defecography results. There are some issues and they want me to try good old biofeedback before proceeding to the next step which is removing the rest of the colon that should have been removed when I had the first surgery. That was supposed to be what was done, but the surgeon didn't do it because it looked okay. Grrr!

Problem is that they send biofeedback patients to San Francisco which is 100 miles from me, and I'd have to go two to three times a week. I can't miss three days a week from work for this, so they're trying to find somebody in our area that does this. I honestly don't think they'll be able to find anybody in my area.

Question: Has anybody had biofeedback and did it work? I could understand doing it if I had this problem for a long time, but this didn't start until after I had a colon resection done in 2005. I had two huge babies (9lb 8 and 11 lb 9) and everything even worked after that. This is just so frustrating.

I hope this finds everybody doing well.

I am having my subtotal colectomy in exactly a week. Before I looked forward to it (so that I can live a normal life), and now I am scared to death. I keep thinking of the pain that I'll be in... the epidural and NG tube. I don't do good with that kind of stuff. And I have a low pain tolerance. My question is if anyone who has had a subtotal/total colectomy received a NG tube. They seem terrifying... Do they hurt? How was it when they put it in? How long did you have it for? Do you recommend getting one? I am so nervous! Thanks for your help.

SubcolectomyhereIcome:
I had laparascopic colectomy four weeks ago---no naso-gastric tube ----just be aware that postop the painkillers are very potent--I hallucinated for two days---the surgery did not give me very much pain afterwards---Believe me--I know what you're going through!I went home after 8days--recovery is very slow---appetite and attitude not great--fortunately,I have a great wife and daughter.--Keep in touch----MannyG
best of luck

Janiepain

I got a call from the doctor's office and they did find somebody closer to home for me. It's in Merced which is about 40 miles. They're going to fax them my paperwork and then we'll go from there. In my mind I don't think it will work, but if it does that's fine with me of course. LOL

I'm seeing a different GI doc; this one is in the Bay Area and specializes in motility disorders. I still like my doc here, but the Bay Area has more specialized care. The surgeon that did my resection also did my subtotal. If I end up needing to go back for surgery again, I'm going to go with who my new GI suggests.

I'll keep you updated on how the biofeedback goes and you do the same. I hope for success for both of us.

Subtotal

My subtotal was done laparoscopically, so the pain wasn't bad at all. I was up walking the halls the same day. I hate hospitals, so I spent most of my time walking. In fact, a couple times they actually told me to go to bed and rest. haha They gave me a couple of shots for pain and that did the trick. My worst pain was caused by the potassium that I had to get by IV. I didn't have an NG tube, but almost had to get one after I first ate. Things were working well and then when I ate things shut down and I started swelling up. The nurse brought me some peppermint tea (her own stash) and warm blankets to lay on the stomach. She also had me lay on my left side. It helped and within about an hour I was back to normal. I stay in the hospital for six days and went back to work after four weeks.

Hi everyone!! I apologize ahead of time for not being active on the boards...things have been extremely busy here and WERE going really well.  I need to ask:

Has anyone developed adhesions that have caused problems post TC or Sub TC?  Has anyone had a leakage of any sort?

For about two months I have been walking started running and doing tae-bo.  I was doing great!!! I could eat what I wanted, exercised and was toning up.  Then all of the sudden, about two weeks ago, I started getting achy pains near my belly button to the left actually.  I thought I had "pulled" a muscle or something.  So I gave my exercising a rest and it went away.  I resumed exercise and guess what, returns the pain with evengance but now won't go away.  I have this dull achy pain that persists but then I also have intermittent sharp pain that radiates out.  Then sometimes I experience a water feeling around the ab. 

SO, I called my surgeon today...he STILL has not called me back.  I took it upon myself to call my primary care, he ran some blood work and did an x-ray to rule out obstruction...and nothing.  So now I am thinking we will have to do a CT scan with contrast.  My primary care doc wants to wait and see what my surgeon says...hopefully tomorrow.  I know something isn't right!!! My bowels also have slowed down significantly.

I was doing so good.....

Lizzi: Besides the history of leaking and abscesses...I had the exact same day as you...even called his nurse around 11...Oh, and I don't have visual bruising...which would kind of worry me if I were you.  Tell me more about your leaking and abscess symptoms...just briefly.  I don't think it is that, b/c I don't have a temp. 

I bet you'll have to have a scope done...I haven't really even had the urge...unless I drink 6 cups of coffee and eat something.  I don't know what the heck is going on. 

Good luck...and keep me posted.

Mom- Yes, I definately had fevers with my abscesses and a rigid stomach. I had 103 temps for almost two and a half weeks. I had been checked for leakig twice in the hospital, but my tests were ok. I was almost a month post-op when a CT showed four abscesses and I was readmitted and had drains. You would kow if you had infedtion of some sort.

I do not have the urge anymore either and I am starting to get bloating again after eating. I just got to work at 7 am and I already have the dull/achy pain. It hurts to even touch my lower inscision and yes the bruising has been there for almost three weeks ( I thought maybe it was from doing abs). I had to take milk of mag and miralax yesterday ad this scares the living daylights out of me. I was going almost eight times a day and now almost nothing. Also, I do not kow about you, but I am havig a hard time digestig fiber....salad and veggies just do not set well.

Irish- Thanks for the info, I bet he was talking about biofeedback. What exactly is that and what is done? I do not was a balloon dilation if it is oly going to work for a couople days. It is not worth the risk of leakig at my coection again and having drains for a month a nd a half.

Mom- Keep me posted. Let me know what your surgeon says. Still ever heard from mine.

Lizzie