Sigmoidectomy recovery physiological/nutrition phase tables, edema

Hey everyone, I’m in Week 5 of my Sigmoidectomy recovery and I’ve realized we don't talk enough about Internal Swelling (Edema). I’ve learned about the impact of edema in 2 sub-topics: 1) Bowel Movements and 2) Healing - Reconstruction.

1) Bowel Movements: Why your "Stage 3" BM might hurt more than it should (Hint: It’s not just fiber!)
We all focus on stool softeners, laxatives and/or fiber, but the actual tissue at our surgical connection is often swollen, which makes the 'exit' narrower than it used to be.
I learned the hard way that when that tissue is swollen, even a 'normal' stool can feel like a 2-inch stretch that causes major LLQ pressure and pain. Here are three things I’m doing to manage internal swelling that have changed my recovery:

A. Watch the Osmotic "Water Pull": High-sugar drinks (like sodas or heavy syrups) don't just cause loose stools; they pull water into the colon through the surgical site, which can increase localized swelling. Keeping it 'clean' keeps the swelling down.

B. Gravity Matters: If you feel a 'heavy' or 'pulsing' pressure in your lower left side, stop standing! Gravity pools fluid at the anastomosis. Lying in a V-shape (head and knees up) for 20 minutes can physically 'drain' that internal swelling.

C. The Zinc/Copper Balance: Our bodies use a ton of Zinc to build new tissue (construction), but too much Zinc without enough Copper can make that tissue less flexible. Timing your supplements to ensure your body actually absorbs both is key to a 'stretchy' vs. a 'stiff' connection. Try to gap your Zinc and Copper by at least 3-4 hours so they don't fight for the same 'gate' into your system.

Managing the swelling has been just as important for me as managing the stool consistency. Hope this helps someone else struggling with that 'narrow' feeling!"

2) Healing - Reconstruction: Why Managing "Internal Swelling" is the Key to Building a Strong Connection
I learned of this with the analogy of the surgical healing site as a construction zone. If that site is 'flooded' with swelling, the body can't lay down the 'rebar' (nutrients like Zinc and Copper) or 'cement' (Collagen) properly. Here’s why managing swelling (edema) is a game-changer for healing:

A. It Clears the Flood: When we reduce swelling—by resting in a V-shape or avoiding high-sugar 'osmotic' drinks—we're essentially 'pumping out the construction site.' This allows oxygen and nutrients to actually reach the cells doing the repair work.

B. It’s Not Just the Connection: This isn't just about where the colon was joined. It applies to our incisions and those mobilization sites where the colon was detached from the abdominal wall. All these raw areas are trying to heal at once!

C. The 'Pulse' Warning: If you feel a slow 'pulse' or heavy pressure in your side, that’s often your internal construction site being flooded. Lying down helps drain that fluid so the 'building' can continue.

By controlling the edema, we aren't just managing pain; we are creating the perfect environment for a stronger, more flexible recovery.

** A Note on Laxatives: Many of us use Miralax or Milk of Magnesia. These are 'osmotics'—they pull water out of your body to flood the colon. If your surgical site is already swollen (edema), this 'flooding' can actually increase the pressure and pain. I've found that staying with a gentle surfactant (like Docusate) and focusing on 'Construction Nutrients' (Collagen/Zinc) helps the tissue stay stretchy and strong without the added hydraulic stress of an osmotic flood.

For me, going very slow and mild for a little extra time helped…introduced new foods very carefully…small meals, and hydrating helped me. After surgery we need to gentle our gut .

Had my surgery yesterday. Due to recurrent diverticulitis and thickening of sigmoid colon was advised to do sigmoidectomy. What was supposed to be a 3 hour or less surgery turned into 7 hours. I had hernia surgery and apparently the mesh had stuck to my colon and had all sort of issues. Anyway, this morning decided to go online and research recovery. What amazes me is the doctors really don't give any information on what to expect besides, don't lift, eat small meals, low residue diet. Was so happy to find this site. Going to talk to my doctor when I go back in two weeks. Feel there needs to be a program that addresses after surgery. They're easy to operate but then sort of feel like they're done with you, did their job. Needs to be more input in follow up. Printed up your recovery sheets and going to be going over them. With the zinc/copper did you take supplements? Do I need to take extra supplements? Going to discuss this in two weeks with doctor. If I didn't say it, thank you for the information.

Glad it is useful.

I'm working on a more detailed, nutrient level product now. I've published a draft on a FB support group for input, although I'm having a hard time getting the spreadsheet converted to a clear to read product. And I'm working on a companion-document to that which has actual a food-nutrient matrix listing 100 foods and their levels for the 18 specific recovery nutrients. Stay tuned.

As for the zinc and copper. It's been a challenge. I bought 2mg copper supplements and was taking them for a couple of weeks. The challenge with supplements is it is easy to start see-sawing on them, especially when dealing with 2 that can compete with each other. I have been trying to do it via food intake recently. It's a lot of work and I haven't done it perfectly every day, but there are some great tools available these days to get close and reduce the workload. I mainly use Cronometer as my nutrient tracking app (the free version is pretty robust and detailed) and then Gemini AI to assess my intake and plan the rest of my intake for the day. I've figured out that I can highlight all of the data from my day's diary in Cronometer and paste it into Gemini. Although it looks like garbled data to me, Gemini can read it, then I use Gemini AI to recommend foods/ingredients that would help me get closer to my recovery nutrient targets for the rest of the day. I also used Gemin AI to set my nutrient targets in Cronometer when I started using it, since we need more of some nutrients during recovery vs when we're just a "healthy adult".

To give you an idea of what I'm working on I'll paste in the draft I posted on the FB group here - but it is a little blurry compared to my other products so my apologies. When I get the final product, plus the food-nutrient matrix, I'll publish it here too.

As for post-surgery support from surgeons... that's a tough topic. I don't want to talk negatively of surgeons but based on what I've heard from fellow patients, I think your assessment is not uncommon. However, I describe it as this: If I had to pick between a surgeon that was really good at the 'cutting part', and so-so on the post-surgery recovery/nutrition part, and a surgeon that was so-so at the 'cutting part', but really good at guidance on how to recover from a so-so surgery, I'd pick the former. I can get recovery info from other docs and on my own easier than I can get surgery from the same.

Good luck.

@carsok

yo tuve la misma experiencia con el cirujano, proporcionan muy poca informacion. Yo lo atribui a falta de tiempo, o concentracion en lo que es importante para ellos, que es la cirugia en si. Tuve mi control con el a los 3 meses-y no le presto atencion a los problemas con los que me encontraba debido a la cirugia. De cualquier manera, ahora pasaron 4 meses y llevo vida practicamente normal: hago gimnasia , hago caminatas de 3 horas a montanias, practico natacion, pero sigo cuidando mucho lo que consumo: sobre todo trato de consumir mucha fibra y probioticos, y comida liviana. El unico problema que continua y es consecuencia de la cirugia, es un dolor fuerte en el hombro izquierdo , que me cuesta movilizarlo en algunas direcciones. Estoy con fisioterapia. Ello se debio muy probablemente, a que la cirugia duro 5 horas (robotica) y durante la cirugia el cuerpo esta muy inclinado con la cabeza abajo y los pies en angulo hacia arriba. Pero en lo que respecta a la operacion en si, ya es practicamente solo un recuerdo. Mucha suerte con la recuperacion