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Problems months after colon resection surgery: What Helps?
Colorectal Cancer | Last Active: 3 days ago | Replies (521)Comment receiving replies
Not yet, but I will ask when I next see him. I will say that I increased my water intake to the maximum amount I could tolerate, and that seemed to help (thanks for the tip!) . Also, nearly exactly at the three month mark, my stomach finally released the stiffness it had had since surgery, and I had a few days of it being soft and palpable. I immediately added in exercise probably too quickly, and noticed that on this fourth day it has stiffened again a little bit, but it’s still better than it was. So there’s one story for those searching about how quickly you can expect recovery. In terms of how far along my recovery is, I can walk about one or two miles flat right now (hills continue to slay me), I’m allowed to do five minutes on the bike, and my physiotherapy still looks mostly like stretches. But I’m feeling pretty good.
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Just a follow up a week later.. I took someone else's advice and even though my bowel movements are quite regular and of no concern, I decided to add LaxaDay back into my daily routine. I'm happy to say that between that and more water, the gallbladder area pain has reduced to a more tolerable place, so that's great advice for anyone else experiencing that.
This is indeed a new normal. It's very clear that I won't be "bouncing back" anytime soon - this will be a slow, gradual recovery. So glad to be able to read through everyone else's stories so it doesn't feel so lonely and unexpected.
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I too had a sigmoidectomy op - 20th November 2020 due to a severe stricture from UC... my recovery has been nothing like I was lead to believe. Prior to surgery I was reasonably fit and was as prepared as I could be for my surgery (in hindsight there was so much information I wasn’t told prior - that I should have been told - eg - nerve endings being damaged / urinary issues / pelvic pain - the list goes on). Follow up post op has been non existent and a joke.. a phone call 6 weeks after. I either have chronic runny stools or constipation, a bloated gut (I could pass for 7 months pregnant) revolting smelling gas which my poor family have to live with - they never complain . All wonderful different sorts of pain - mainly at the resection sight - the pain I have been experiencing the last week is constant and if I stretch or move the wrong way the pain is a 10/10 - takes my breath away. I never know how much pain I am supposed to deal with - what’s normal and what’s not. I have been back to my GP - a couple of times - had a CT scan about 3 weeks ago and everything looked normal - on the outside i suppose. Nothing feels normal - everyday I am anxious and stressed about what the day will bring -how much pain will I have to deal with / will I be near a public toilet / what happens if I need to pass wind (it’s like an explosion - nothing discreet about it) .. I have been walking for about 45 minutes a day - everything I’ve researched has advised to undertake physical activity...I just want my normal life back - none of this is what I expected... 🥲.. I just want a normal bowel motion once a day and to be pain free and not pain every time I am doubled over in pain...this is so frustrating - coming up to 9 weeks post surgery..