Diverticulitis prevention

I think he told me to fast to see if I would stop pooping in my panties. I did fast yesterday, but by 6 pm, I was soooo hungry, I made 3 quesadillas with Cheddar cheese. I was fine all night and this morning. But an hour after an my cup of coffee and banana, I rushed to the bathroom. Feel alright, except for pain in my stomach, but so far, not on my right side. The MRI said: I had diverticulitis and that my scoliasis spine was touching my colon. I am a mess!!!! I'm going to take a shower, get dressed and walk my dog to the outdoor market a block away. I think the MRI told me a lot. Worth the long drive and expense to find out. Plus the new gastro gave me his email to send him the report and keep in touch. However, he now wants me to get a CT scan which I don't understand. The MRI said I had diverticulitis What will the CT say???? I was exhausted after the long car ride in the non air conditioned car in the 80 degree weather. Slept lots.

@hopeful33250 @maxine50
Teresa, thank you for inviting me into this very interesting discussion. I was told after my last colonoscopy that I have diverticulosis. Another worry.
To my knowledge a CT scan of abdomen is more useful when looking at the bowel- kind of gives a 3 dimensional picture.
MRI and CT can complement each other.
In my own experience at Mayo Clinic I would have both at the same visit.

Yes, radical surgery has been considered. However, the abscess was drained and three CT Scans later the surgeon has decided to wait. He is hoping I will get away with this, meaning that it doesn’t return.
Being left ‘up in the air’, so to speak means that I worry a lot about the abscess returning.

@marionclark I went through a similar colon abscess/diverticulitis in October, 2022, which resulted in a colon resection of the sigmoid colon. The abscess burst, perforating the colon causing "free particals" to enter my abdomen. I had diarrhea symptoms prior, but no pain, so not knowing of the infection raging in my body, I had a total hip replacement done in late September. 48 hours later, my colon ruptured and was in the emergency room. I could not have emergency colon surgery because of the just completed hip replacement....fear of infection in newly inserted hip, I had to wait ten weeks for my colon resection surgery. During the ten weeks I was on 1600 mg of augmentin daily and was very anxious that another abscess would occur. My diet was low fiber, which is gentle on the digestive system. I took 1.5 teaspoon of Metamucil daily, which kept my stools just the right firmess. I made it through the ten weeks, had the surgery, endured the recovery period (takes patience) and am living a normal digestive life, better than I've had in the last 10 years! Best wishes for your outcome. Low fiber diet (on internet), antibiotic and Metamucil daily worked for me during the waiting period.

@hopeful33250 - I would say 2-3 weeks of hard time recovery, meaning, surgery discomfort, bathroom frequency, fatigue, and very careful eating. Then I could see improvement with bathroom breaks close to normal, and eating became more adventurous, trial and error. I would say at 8-10 weeks, eating and bathroom breaks were very close to normal. My biggest issue at that point was building my strength and stamina back to normal. Remember, I had a year of hip/mobility issues to recover from as well as the colon resection and infections. Bodily functions were all good. To improve stamina, I started a gym routine four days a week, starting with simple weight training with 2 lb weights and walking 20 minutes. Each week I added a bit. I let my body tell me how far to push. I can say, I didn't push too fast. I'm at 4 lbs, eight weeks in, but started water walking and a "senior" boot camp last week! I don't worry about keeping up with everyone. I'm going to try and play my first 18 holes of Golf this Saturday.... wish me luck! I'm 70.

If the doctor wants another CT now he probably wants to compare findings
I also have the feeling I’ll glow in the dark with all these Ct scans.
Also remember- these tests go through an approval process at the insurance company. If they don’t find it’s necessary they will not approve it.

@maxine50

I can only guess at why the CT scan is necessary. I do know that each diagnostic test is used to track certain problems. MRIs are good to detect some things and CT scans are better to detect other things.

I'm going to tag another mentor, @astaingegerdm, as she has had a lot of gastro problems and she might have some more insight as to why the doctor is asking for a CT now.

Did you ask your doctor why the CT?