Total abdominal colectomy with ileorectal anastamosis

Hi I was just wondering how everyone is doing since their surgery. I'm having a  Total Colectomy with ileorectal anastamosis this friday the 29th and I'm filled with questions and concern. Do you normally have drainage tubes after having this surgery? How long do the surgery normally take? Im going to be in the hospital from 5 to 7 days and wondered what is the must haves to take to the hospital. Im just really not sure what to expect right after I come out of surgery and while Im in the hospital, and just getting a little worried even though I know its going to help.

Thanks everyone for any help you can give :)

If you look a little bit further down on this board there is a post almost exactly like this that might answer some questions for you!

I had a laparoscopic colectomy with ileorectal anastomosis surgery at the Mayo Clinic on January 18th for slow transit constipation. I was suppose to be in the hospital for 1 week and ended up there for 3 weeks. I formed an ileus.. the most pain I have ever felt in my entire life. I was on decompression tubes.. one in my nose/throat to my stomach and the other inserted in my rectum through the small intestine until my body could do things on it’s own. Before the tubes I was vomiting bile. I was on morphine drip and it still was not enough for the pain. It has been aweful. The surgeon told me that it happens to 10% of people and that the type I had was very rare. He also scared me when he said there was no guarantee it would not come back later on.

Now I am home and no more narcotics.. just Tylenol which to me does nothing but I understand that the narcotics are not good on the stomach and will slow down my process.

I am going more frequently (which is great from never going at all or feeling like your being ripped apart when you go) but because I am still on the liquid/soft food diet the bm’s are also liquid. From hearing other people’s stories I am surprised I do not got a million times a day. How much I go is pretty tolerable. I am behind as far as food.. I should be on week 4 introducing foods etc but instead I am only considered a week into things due to the ileus. It was like I had to start all over from the beginning.

Now its a matter of trying to deal with these pains and these cramps whenever my bowls decide to move things along. Do others experience these cramps? They are aweful. The doctors say its the small intestine trying to figure out what to do, moving things along etc. They also told me that if it’s making noises, gurggling and moving that is a good sign that they are still working. It might be a good sign but its painful and keeps me up at night. Before all I had was the noises and the movements but now I feel cramping. The other thing is they get worse when I lay down. So this makes going to sleep or taking a nap to get some energy very hard to do. I get them when I sit and stand up but they seem to be worse when I try to go to bed. and lay down. Because of that I am not getting much rest. I am using the heating pad, taking Tylenol PM at night to try to sleep and Tylenol during the day. None seems to really make it go away.

I also getting a random shooting pain whenever I pass anything that is not liquidy.. like if my bowl has any bit of substance to it I get this shooting pain in my lower right abdomen that shoots up. Anyone experience this? The surgeon says it's because my body is healing. It just makes me nervous as I really am scared of the ileus returning and have heard many horror stories about people having issues after this type of surgery. They told me as long as I am not vomiting again, that I am passing gas/bm and do not have a fever that I am ok.

Any input would be appreciated. The cramping that comes along with the gurggling/movement of the small intestine was so severe and last so long last night I am almost called the ambulance. I was up from 9pm - 5am fighting it and trying to sleep. It was not until 5am that it started to subside. It seems like when I pass gas or bowl (mine is all liquid tho) that is starts to feel better but it doesn't go away. It keeps happening over and over

any feedback on the cramping and pains for me who had the surgery already?

1. Yes I had drainage tubes after a similar colon resection surgery, one on each side of my hip. They were attached to two small plastic bottles with snap tops, then pinned to my gown (later my underwear). This was in 1999 so I'm sure by now they have different devices to collect drainage, but it's important they measure how much output you have each day. I was discharged with them after a 7 day stay and had them for about 10 or so days. I had to record the amount of drainage in each bottle, each day. They made wearing pants tricky, so I'd recommend wearing sweats one size up from what you normally wear - skip pants with zippers. They'll be useless for this recovery phase.

2. My surgery was 5 hours long. When you have surgery for this length of time, you are more groggy for the first 24-48 hours post-op.

3. What would I recommend you take to the hospital? Either slippers with good rubber soles on the bottom or skip slippers altogether and buy a pair of velcro gym shoes, with good gripping soles. You want substantial footwear. Also, if you have a generous robe, with a zipper, I found that was best, I am glad I didn't pack a tight fitting wrap robe with a sash, the zip one was perfect (I ended up losing weight after my surgery so it was a comfort not to wear a tight, constricting robe). Next I'd pack a small notebook or pad of paper and a pen. I'll explain why.

The shoes and robe are essential because when it is time to sit up, move to a chair and begin walking, you must do these things. You will have stabs of pain but trust someone who has had 2 abdominal intestinal surgeries, the sooner you begin putting one foot slowly in front of the other, you will beginning that path on your way to recovery. It is VITAL you walk each day. In fact, try to remain in your bed only for sleep at night and rest or short naps during the day. Force yourself to sit upright in a chair for part of your day, remaining lying prone in a bed isn't ideal - it slows down your bowels waking up and your entire recovery time.

The pad of paper and pen are what I used for my second surgery, I recorded each time I walked, I also recorded my hourly breathing exercises (the plastic device with a blue ball in a chamber, you'll blow into this and force the ball up to the top, 10x per hour), this exercise keeps your lungs clear. Very important. I also drank water each hour, and filled my pitcher several times per day.

When home, continue the walking, even in your home, and the breathing exercises, I filled a pitcher of water and kept it by my bedside to use all the time. Other times, I'd just go to the kitchen sink for another glass of water.

Stock your freezer with simple frozen meals, I prefer Stouffer's the size portions are ideal. Canned soups, etc. You'll be glad you have these grocery items on hand.

Good luck! If I had one word of advice to emphasize it is to - WALK!