Prolapse bowel surgery: What was your recovery like?

Thank you so much for your reply. Yes I have another call in to the surgeon this morning. I’m afraid to restart the miralax for fear it will just add to the diarrhea.. but then I read somewhere it’s suppose to be add bulk to stools.. but the miralax package suggests the opposite. The only thing that makes since for me to do is drink lots of water and follow the BRAT diet. I’m most likely be impatient but it’s a very uncomfortable painful way to spend the day and night. Thanks again for responding!

Did they test you for c diff? I had a sigmoidectomy in June 2022. Before that time my surgeon told me that I would have diarrhea. two days after my surgery in the hospital I had diarrhea and they tested the diarrhea and I ended up having cdiff. It was from all the antibiotics that I was on to try to get rid of the problem before my surgery. It is pretty nasty so you wanna get it taken care of as much as possible. Good luck and I hope things go better for you.

Hello @tabithatwitch, Welcome to Connect. I am so sorry you have to go through recovery from the prolapse bowel surgery all alone. I'm wondering if the diarrhea may be a good thing early in your recovery. Especially since it's only been a week. I also had surgery last week for a bi-lateral inguinal hernia and the surgeons gave me a stool softener to take twice a day along with MiraLax to prevent constipation which could undo the surgery. The also sent me home with some pain medication but I've been able to control my pain with a couple of Tylenol capsules every 6 to 8 hours.

I think I would keep calling until they called me back. Have you tried calling the surgeon's office again to see if they have some suggestions for your pain and the diarrhea?

@johnbishop Sorry to hear about the surgery but in time, I hope you will feel better. Good O'Miralax, how well I know it. I am still living with my rectal prolapse after a year and a half. Since my Afib and heart problems, my surgery was canceled last April. I finally got a cardiac release for surgery. Now comes the problem, I need to see the doc again to schedule surgery, and the earliest appt. is Dec. 5th. He is now booking his surgeries for Jan. 2023. The office will not book a date till I see him and by that time surgery bookings will be in Feb. or March. They did offer I could another office for a sooner time. But my doc already performed the anterior and the posterior failed at that time. Now the wall has thickened and he can try again to fix it. I do not know how long I can stand it, some days it is in, and other days it stays out every time I stand up. Miralax every day to keep the flow going is good for your body. We may not like it but it helps.
Now trying to get answers back from the docs is hard. I waited three months to get a reply for my cardiac release to have the surgery. My PCP was to help speed it along, but no such luck. Now it is just a waiting game with a lot of pain from pressure and fluid retention. My vagus nerve is not helping at all causing me to be dizzy, and lightheaded, playing with my blood pressure, and trying to make me pass out. This is so much fun and I get to wait like this for months.
Needless to say, I do not get much done at home with all that going on. It really tires me out. The worst part of it all is the other half has 3 major and 3 minor heart blocks and needs open heart surgery. He is waiting for his surgery till I have mine then I will be more able to help him with his recovery. I think that is an excuse because he is not sure of the unknown. Here we are out on the farm and no family nearby. He is worried about his cows with calves and still Fall calving then comes Winter with hay to feed. Spring would be the best time with the cows out to pasture but that is a long way out. We are a pair and too old for this.
@tabithatwitch @mikaylar @callalloo @pml
It seems all over the country, everyone is having the same kind of problems ( no reply, questions not totally answered, waiting to see a doc, or where do you go next).
I wish you all well and stay healthy, so we can deal with all these things. Stay connected with your progress in the days to come. KLH

@johnbishop Thanks so much for your reply. All the support we can get is a warm welcome. Love the squirrel, did you feed him? KLH

@kilh I’m hoping some dates open up for both you and your husband so you both can have surgery and get on the road to recovery. Waiting is the pits, especially with Winter on our doorstep.

Hi @tabithatwitch, just checking in to see how you are doing.
I moved your discussion to the Digestive Health group (https://connect.mayoclinic.org/group/digestive-gastrointestinal-problems/) and updated the title to reflect your question. You got a lot of helpful responses from members.

How are you doing today?