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how was your pain after surgery?

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Posted 11/8/2009 3:38 PM (GMT 0)
Hello folks

I have a painful colon disease and thinking about colectomy. But all docotrs who I`ve met, claimed that I will wake up after surgery with even more pain. Is this true? How was your painlevel after surgery?

regards sarmiento
Posted 11/8/2009 3:48 PM (GMT 0)

What condition has you considering surgery?  Do you have UC, Crohn's, FAP, or CI?

Sue

Posted 11/8/2009 3:55 PM (GMT 0)

Somebody said...
What condition has you considering surgery

A bad case of chronic IBS. I have so much pain that I even cannot walk anymore.
Posted 11/9/2009 1:52 AM (GMT 0)
I assume they mean the post surgical pain would feel worse temporarily maybe? Or did they say you would have more pain forever?
Posted 11/9/2009 12:54 PM (GMT 0)
I acutally didn't find the post surgical pain that horrible. The worst part for me was having all these tubes all over me. Of course, the drugs were amazing! I was in the hospital 8 days, and by the time I got home I was almost completely off the pain pills; I think I had a total of 3 pills after I came home and they were in 1/2 dosages at night.

I would think if your colon is causing so much pain, your pain would be gone if your colon is!

Janie
Posted 11/9/2009 1:29 PM (GMT 0)
My husband had his colon removed on October 15th. They put in an epidural before the surgery and left it in for a few days after the surgery. He had no pain at all with the epidural. Then he went on Percocet - and had minimal pain.
Posted 11/9/2009 1:57 PM (GMT 0)
Is it possible that your surgeon does not believe the pain you currently have now is from IBS and is worried that this surgery isn't a cure? I have never heard of having surgery for IBS?

Sue
Posted 11/9/2009 4:04 PM (GMT 0)
I think anytime you have major surgery you can expect pain!! However, pain can be controlled by the docs and nurses and might be a conversation to have with them prior to surgery. I had pain but it wasn't anything that I couldn't take and I think the nurses were awesome in helping me with it.

Cathy
Posted 11/10/2009 1:11 AM (GMT 0)
After my surgery I woke up in post op with the most horrible pain you can possibly imagine. about two minutes of pure hell until the morphine kicked in. That was it. No pain after that and i was off the morphine pump in about 2 days or so.
Posted 11/10/2009 7:20 PM (GMT 0)
I don't remember waking up after my surgery, but I had terrible chronic pain from Indeterminate Colitis beforehand. Now I don't have any pain from that as there's no more colon. The pain after the surgery was minimal compared to what I was going through before I had it done. I live with a bag now, and changing that every 5-7 days is the biggest pain I have now. I think your surgeon is trying to disuade you from surgery because it is IBS which usually doesn't get surgery. Plus, what if it is something else that is causing your pain? I would do some more research, and maybe visit a few more doctors before deciding on surgery. It's a big decision!
Posted 11/11/2009 9:41 PM (GMT 0)
OMG-I was in the worst pain of my life when I woke up from surgery. The pharmacy at the hospital was backed up, so I had to wait about 3 hours for my pain pump to arrive. Im hoping I dont have a repeat of that on my second surgery.

Anyways, after the pain pump arrived, I was okay. Unfortunatly they turned off the automated service a day or two in, and I woke up the following night in god awful pain again. It took about an hour of dosing myself every 10 minutes to get it under control.

Besides that, I had post surgical pain for about 6 weeks following surgery. The only pain I have now is from the UC that creaped back in to the rectum. That should be removed though in about 3 weeks. No pain at all from the now healed surgical wound, and the stoma.
Posted 11/11/2009 10:24 PM (GMT 0)
The pain was intense right after surgery but once they started giving pain meds it was alleviated. Just make sure you get pain meds in a timely fashion and ask for them before your pain gets too bad. I was in the hospital for 7 days but once home I think I took vicotin only at night for two nights to help me sleep. Getting comfortable in bed was an issue. I am 2 1/2 weeks post-op and am glad that I had the operation. I can already tell a difference by not having a colon.
Jen
Posted 11/12/2009 12:39 AM (GMT 0)
thank you all for your share of experience. You answers are helpful for me.
Of course, know that normaly doctors dont do colectomy for IBS. But I have a very painful, chronic, version of this disease since 11 years. Normal life like working, having friends, girlfriend, going in holyday etc. is impossible since years. I cannot even walk anymore. At home I have to put hot water bottle on my tummy without it, the pain is unbearable. I suffer from chronic gut senstivity, tenderness. The gut feels painful tender and sore. And this gets more and more worse.
Recent IBS research found out that inflammatory cells in IBS are present. And they release a substance called "serine protease" into the gut which irritates the gut nerves. Probably this is what gives me a lot of pain.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/63221.php
Because there is no real treament for my pain, i decided to talk about colectomy with my gastro doctor. Of course he is against it. No suprise for me. The problem for me is not, if doctors are for or against it. Doctors are human. My stepfather is doctors and his knowledge about IBS is minimal. I have met about 40 diffrent specialist in my IBS career. gastro physicans, alternativ medicin doctors, chinese doctors, even psychiatrists. If you go to 20 diffrent persons you get 20 different opinions , and no one was right in my case. There go a lot of money (thousends) on the one side and minimal life quality gain on my side. After 11 years of this I dont give darn on opinions from so called specialists. When It comes to IBS they are often useles.
What I need is a treatment now, but they are none. So I think I should treat it or take it out.
I have only pain in my colon not in the small intestine. Maybe I would live better without colon.
Due the pain I have lost really everything in my life that is imageable. I see colectomy as a last option before suicide.
Posted 11/12/2009 12:52 AM (GMT 0)
sarmiento... I was in the same boat as you with proctitis, but IBS on top of that that gave me pain throughout my entire colon. I had it removed recently, and I'm glad I did so. If you think life with a bag might be better, and you're thinking of suicide, you should be thinking about surgery. It was a last option for me as well, but I'm glad I did it.
Posted 11/12/2009 1:36 AM (GMT 0)
I have an ileo and wish I could have had a colostomy because the ileo goes constantly so maybe sooner rather than later might be better than letting it get to your small bowel.
Posted 11/13/2009 11:55 PM (GMT 0)

Somebody said...
If you think life with a bag might be better, and you're thinking of suicide, you should be thinking about surgery. It was a last option for me as well, but I'm glad I did it.

I think so. The last 11 years I did everything to treat this disease and tried every single drug under the sun. Even more. I tried every approach, from diet changes to chinese meds, hypnotherapy etc .The list is infinte. I had email contact with two of the best IBS reseacher on the planet. The problem is that I more or less sure what I`m suffering from but there is no treatment for this. My colon nerves gets irrtaded every day which lower sensitivity in the colon and cause a lot of pain. And this pain gets more and more intensive every week.
The only solution for me is colecomty, but doctors r against it. They say that I will have more pain after surgery (longterm). Which I cannot hardly believe. But they do colectmy for nearly all bad cases of gut disease like colitis, megacolon, cancer, crohn. constipation etc.. but not for bad case of IBS.
Dont get me wrong, I have huuuugh respect from this severe surgery, but I have also fear of living like this, with the painful colon in my body.
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