Sigmoid colon resection: What to expect for recovery?

Hi Glasslhalfull! Love your name. A year ago October (2019) I also had a colon resection (cancerous polyps). Lost 12-15” and 45 lymph nodes. In the sigmoid area also. I remember thinking “it’s been 4-6 weeks Shouldn’t I back to normal???” Colleen wrote in a chat that it was early days and it would be longer before I would be healed up. And it was. At times a roller coaster ride of trying different meds and diet, exercise, etc. Changing when it didn’t work or no longer worked. I was healing but it was slow going. I am an active person too. We are better off having been active prior. Fast forward one year later. October (2020), a clean colonoscopy and I’m feeling much more comfortable with how my life is moving forward. That pain, maybe it’s the scar tissue (from cutting and reattaching) inflamed w/healing. Along with the constipation there’s tendency to bear down. It can cause that while area to be achy and sting. Definitely, passing softer stool will help. That’s about drinking 8+ glasses of water each day and eating fibrous foods. A stool softener may help. In time, you might find the Metamucil more doable. I exercise daily. I walk for 1-2 hours. It’s enjoyable, so I don’t mind doing it. You can do whatever floats your boat. Just the movement helps your body move the digested food through your system. I don’t know if you ever find the “perfect” plan. It’s a process and i have found that my “new” normal is not my “old” normal, but very doable. Keep at it and keep asking. If that area is very painful, your best bet is to reach out to your doctor or surgeon. You are still in your post-op timeframe, so your surgeon is a good resource.. I drink ducolax every am, exercise, then drink metamucil in rhe afternoon before my main meal. This seems to be working for me. With the lose of colon length, I found it is very important to “poop” daily. Not as much storage as there was before my resection, Getting backed up can snow ball and then I have a problem. I hope this info will help. You’ll put all the pieces together and figure out works for you. I’m confident in that 😊virgo

I had a laparoscopic colon resection with removal of 12" of my sigmoid colon 4 weeks ago today for recurrent diverticulits, and I'm having lots of burning and stinging pain in the 6 areas where the colon was resected. The pain seems to be more severe when I'm constipated, so I've been trying a variety of measures to promote BMs, including Miralax, magnesium, colace, Linzess, and Metamucil. For some reason, the pain seems to be exacerbated when I take Metamucil, so I'm avoiding that now.

My bowels seem to be finding the new normal and I'm just glad everything seems to be working, albeit erratically at this point. Although my pain is less than it was several weeks ago, it hasn't really improved much since then. I'm taking Gabapentin, ibuprofen, and tylenol, none of which seems to help much. I was very active before the diverticulits started 3 months ago and had hoped to be back to my previous activity level, but the pain is preventing me from doing my usual exercise (biking, hiking, long walks, elliptical, etc.)

Does anyone have any idea how long can I expect this pain to continue?

sad .. as we sometimes dont know what is going on .and i feel then we are treated like fools
i know doctors x surgent know what they are doing . but it would be proper to learn bed side manner also
in there training ,it makes healing a little more faster when you kinda know what is going on in your body ....Sad god bless

Hi Kathy. Thanks for the shout out. Yeah, like you, some changes have occurred with the colon resection. I finally had a conversation with a doctor that made sense. Each am, I have a dose of powdered ducolax and later in the day, a glass of Metamucil. It might seem like over kill, but has made a huge difference (thank you Dr Shepard!). Back to living my life and focusing on activities and relationships. Best to you virgo

Hello Virgo.
I understand your frustration with lack of follow up after a resection. I’m 13 weeks out. Hang in there it does get better.
I’m pain free now (don’t want to jinx it though:). However bowel movements are certainly not back to normal. Frequency is still a problem and feeling like there isn it a total elimination. I suffer from hemorrhoids as well which just adds to the problem.
I found that the 4th or 5th week I really turned a corner with regard to pain.

I’m looking forward to getting back to normal. I take FibreOne every night. I’ve been doing this since the surgery (mine was from diverticulitis) so not sure what it would be like without it, the doctor was pretty strict about that.

Not sure if any of this helps. Sometimes it’s just helpful to know someone is in the same boat. I’m going to add a probiotic to the mix and see if that helps.

I hope things continue to heal nicely for you!
A fellow Virgo

troy, I know what you are saying, It is very hard to go through! I know a couple of years ago when my wife had a stroke and infection, one of my meetings with hospital administrators, I was told they were an "Acute" hospital, I believe the term he used. Anyway he said their job was to get you out of the bed ASAP.
Some many doctors have that attitude!
Really Sad!
Sundance(RB)

I understand what you are saying . as i was the same , i went in to have a polop removed , i was told its simple no big problem . keyhole surgery, did not go as planed Why i really dont know to date , almost one year , 30th jan 2020,,,i ended up with full surgery,..... polop on fold of bowel .. then infection ,, on vav machine for 7 weeks , , today still a bit uncomfortable , , stinging and sore when i lie on my sides in bed , But much better then past ii months , , still tummy bloating , and i must watch i eat now ,,,,, also scar tissue around wound belly button ...i dont think 🤔 it will ever be normal or then same again .... but it will get a bit easy for you .please god xxx good luck to you ,,

How are you feeling now? My husbands went from the colon to the liver also.

Prayers for you.! We find out today what they are going to do.

So what are they doing for your cancer ? They said this is the only thing they can do for him to survive . They are talking about rerouting the colon into the bag. We do not understand. I know his cancer is the BRAF type