Three weeks from surgery

Oh man Bob, now I KNOW you're in severe pain. You'd take your MIL over the pain. I'm trying not to smile here as I type.....

I didn't have my rectum removed, obviously, since my temp ostomy was reversed. But I did have a lot of surgery done to my lower rectal/sigmoid area. They removed 90% of my sigmoid and then 15 inches of my colon, pulling it down and re-attaching it to my rectum. I have permanent staples in this area. Also, the stapler malfunctioned during surgery I was told and they had to push my lower newer sigmoid area out, staple it and push it back in.

So all of that said? I was in SEVERE pain for 4 straight weeks. So in this small way I know the pain you are describing. The only way I felt relief for it was if I put pressure on my rear end. Meaning, sitting on a hard wooden chair or lying flat on my back to sleep. Or putting my hand on top of my rear end over my clothing as I walked around the house. Sometimes when I'd get up from a chair, I would feel as though I had left half my bottom behind. No pun intended. It felt like my bottom was not attached to the rest of me. If that makes any sense.

I was told this area of the body has many, many nerve endings. And they take a lot of time to heal. Until then, you have pain. I also took many sitz baths, with either baking soda or Aveeno added to the water. This did help.

But what helped the most? Time. Time truly was the best healer. They told me to walk and walk I did. It was painful, oh my gosh, very, very painful but I walked. First a loop inside my home, then outside (I walked the perimeter of our house about 5 times, several times a day). Eventually we bought a treadmill so I could stop it and use the bathroom if needed).

Ironically our Golden needed her anal glands removed about a year later. My Vet talked me into it and I agreed. Well, this poor thing whimpered in pain for 2 weeks. I kept a faithful schedule of her pain meds, so I would never miss a dose. I had to hand feed the poor girl in my hand, she couldn't bend over her food bowl, she had to sit on the carpet to eat. After her surgery, I had two experiences - this part of the human and canine body is very touchy and painful to have surgery on.

Based upon my experience, your pain sounds dare I say normal. My pain did eventually go away but it was there, 24/7. I would go to sleep praying it would ease and wake up with the same thought. It seemed to take about 30 days for it to begin subsiding.

Mary

Hi Bob-- My rectal wound started out at 10 cm long and over 7 cm deep--a cavern. We've been packing it with wet gauze since surgeon took the drains out. It has healed beautifully and so much faster than the surgeon planned. There is not much depth left and it's about 3 cm long--I hit 9 weeks from surgery today. The key for me was big time protein. My visiting nurse is a wound specialist and she really said get that protein down! They did not advocate sitz baths. I would ask your doc. When the wound was cavernous, it drained a lot of mucus and blood and it was difficult for the packing to stay in. I would sit sideways on the toilet to try to keep it in as I urinated or emptied the bag. I also wore 3 maxi pads--one up front and two in the back. Now, I'm down to two pantiliners that I don't always really need. i'm guessing you can do the same even though you're a guy--we won't tell.

YES at 3 weeks my back hurt like heck. I had the heating pad on constantly and I was walking hunched over. Does your insurance allow for physical therapy. Over the first 8 weeks, I had just 5 sessions but they were really helpful. I, too, had a difficult time sleeping and was sleeping sitting up for a while. Pillows to my left and right, between my legs (I was so swollen it hurt to keep my legs together) helped. Still, I am not sleeping through the night--I get up at least once maybe twice because I am uncomfortable, thirsty, or have to empty the bag. Don't worry about that. It will improve.

YES--the time has flown by and YES I still feel weird about it. I have this pile of books I thought I'd read and a ton of videos I thought I would have watched. But mostly, I concentrated on researching how to get well and spent a lot of time with my family. Even today, my brother visited and took me out to get a new comforter, pillows, can opener, etc.. I thought I'd be doing all this relaxing--well, I'm getting there.

My GI said that at once month, I'd feel a marked improvement and he was right. It wasn't total health but I started to feel more like me. Unfortunately, that's when I got food poisoning and lost bile for 4 days! HA!

Hang on ! Keep the MIL MIA and concentrate on hydration, protein, and you!

Im 10 days outta surgery and every now and then I get butt burn depending on how many times in a row i go..My surgeon told me to get Desitin which is for babies diaper rash but omg!! go buy it..my gma got it at dollar store for like $3 and its the best thing ive ever used! It doesnt burn or feel wierd on your butt like some do and you can use it as much as you want. Id highly recommend that =)