I went into what is probably way too much detail in my profile. So rather than re-do that here, I think you can view my history and current circumstances there. At 23 days I think it is way too soon to know if the sigmoidectomy helped. And to clear, my diverticulitis was "not that bad". I put quotes on that because it probably seem counter intuitive since I had surgery for it. What I mean is that my 11-12 flareups in as many years were, on average, not that bad:

- Fever and chills - yes but I got more proactive, maybe too proactive at times, about getting on antibiotics;
- Pain - yes, but even in my worst flareups there wasn't too much pain if I wasn't pressing on "the spot". When I'd go to the ER or Urgent care they of course always ask what your pain level is. My answer was usually something like - "Right now as I sit/lie here, it's not bad, maybe a dull ache level 1 or 2. But if you push on "the spot" I may involuntarily punch you". I hear of people having bend-over pain constantly during flareups so I always counted myself lucky that I didn't have that.
- Nausea & Diarrhea - never. Again, I hear others have different experiences so I counted myself lucky.
- Recovery - Easy and quick. Once on antibiotics it was 10-14 days later and I was good to go, back to normal.

So you may ask why have surgery? Well, first I'll note that I did get hospitalized once, early on at about episode 3, when I waited too long to go in. 2 or 3 nights on antibiotics via IV and a little longer recovery and I was good to go. But that was 1 of many. I remember a surgeon coming in my last day, with a bunch of med students in-tow; and saying well, this is your 3rd and it's 3 strikes-you're out. You should get surgery. And I was shocked. Obviously I put my head in the sand at that point and drove on for many more years like that. Second, my frequency was 14-16 months and with quick healing my plan was just to live with it, it's not bad enough to get surgery. But then I had a 2 month, low-grade, of what I'd call a smoldering episode, in early 2025 and also started a round of consults with GI docs and surgeons. That increased my knowledge of the disease and potential elevated risks of waiting for a surgery, and the fact that none of the docs were even close to saying you should wait and see. And finally, I had another 2-month smoldering episode in Nov-Dec - but that was when surgery was already scheduled. It wasn't part of the decision making process, but it definitely helped solidify my confidence in my decision and realization that I probably waited too long and was lucky to get it done electively.

I go through all of that for some perspective as I gauge how I'm going to consider if my sigmoidectomy "helped". Since my symptoms "weren't that bad", I don't think I have as high of an improvement bar to clear as many patients do because mine wasn't a horrible case to begin with. Now, I am confident that my improvement bar may have been raised if I waited for surgery for another 2, 3, 10 years because I may have and likely would have seen my symptoms and complications start to ramp up. I mean I already had 11-12 episodes, what happens when I reach 20?

That's the long answer, more than you likely wanted. But you never know who may read someone else's experience and learn from it. - Regards.