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Seeking support for recovery from diverticulitis surgery

Posted by suziq52 @suziq52, Nov 8, 2022

I hope I am posting in the right section! I am almost four weeks in recovery from surgery to resection my colon because I have had so many diverticulitis flare ups. My last flare up started in June, 2022 and lasted until my surgery on Oct. 14. I had no choice but to have the surgery because I developed a stricture in my sigmoid colon. The surgery was supposed to be laparoscopic but ended up being open. It was seven hours. I was in the hospital for 11 days. Now home, I am still in some pain although the surgical site is healing well. My bowel function is a mess. Lots of gas too. I am getting no guidance on how to proceed or what to expect. I wonder how others have survived this. I am looking at a longer recovery because of the open surgery. I would love to avoid more problems in the future, and regain my health. I just turned 70. I don’t know anyone who has undergone this surgery and would like to talk to others who have!

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speedbird | @speedbird | Jun 21 8:14am
In reply to @graciek "I'm very confused. I need Diverticulitis surgery in July. Is it normal to have a colonoscopy..." + (show)
@graciek

I'm very confused. I need Diverticulitis surgery in July. Is it normal to have a colonoscopy the day before your surgery? Any advise would be apricated!! I have meet with two different surgeons and one wants to do a colonoscopy the day before surgery and the other doesn't.

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I had ct colonography (virtual colonoscopy) a few weeks prior to sigmoid colectomy. A stricture in my colon was discovered during a routine colonoscopy several weeks prior to surgeon requesting colonography. Surgeon wanted a 3D look at my colon before the actual surgery. Cannot answer if colonoscopy the day before surgery is normal or not but I presume your surgeon wants a recent updated picture of the diverticulosis/diverticulitis.

REPLY
patsz | @patsz | Jun 22 1:46pm

I've had two bowel resections in the past two years from ruptured diverticula. Two open surgeries. The first surgeon did not remove enough bowel. It can take months to get to a new normal. I am currently 2.5 months post surgery. I can have 2-3 BMs a day or 8. One day I will reach a normal 🤞🏻. Sometimes I have diarrhea. Please don't strain yourself or lift over ten pounds for several months. I take generic Benefiber (Costco) every morning in my coffee to stay regular. Don't expect too much too soon.

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patsz | @patsz | Jun 23 8:44am
In reply to @patsz "I've had two bowel resections in the past two years from ruptured diverticula. Two open surgeries...." + (show)
@patsz

I've had two bowel resections in the past two years from ruptured diverticula. Two open surgeries. The first surgeon did not remove enough bowel. It can take months to get to a new normal. I am currently 2.5 months post surgery. I can have 2-3 BMs a day or 8. One day I will reach a normal 🤞🏻. Sometimes I have diarrhea. Please don't strain yourself or lift over ten pounds for several months. I take generic Benefiber (Costco) every morning in my coffee to stay regular. Don't expect too much too soon.

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I also take magnesium glycinate capsule every night. I add a morning capsule if I haven't "gone". I've used magnesium citrate capsules too.

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