Problems months after colon resection surgery: What Helps?

As it turns out it was her hiatal hernia that was being pinched or something. They were able to relieve the pain by messaging it into place and are setting her up with a surgery date to deal with the hernia. They now think the hernia was causing a lot of acid reflux which is probably what cause the benign polyps on her larynx that were removed last October. And it definitely got worse after her colon surgery, a reaction to surgery or coincidentally we have no idea.

My wife is going through a similar thing. She had open bowel resection surgery for colon cancer 7 weeks ago and was feeling pretty good considering the incision healing well, then yesterday she suddenly has very sharp pains in her upper abdomen. We are calling the doctor today and will let you know what they say. She thinks it might be her hiatal hernia which got a lot worse after surgery. She probably needs that dealt with next. She goes back and forth between constipated and diarrhea. She takes metamucil for fiber and uses either Ducolax or Imodium depending on which she needs. Not a fun recovery, we thought she was improving daily until yesterday.

Hi everyone,
I had a colon resection on 12/13/23 due to diverticulitis. I ended up dealing with hematoma and Seroma needing to have a tube to drain fluid in January. Tube was in for one week and was taken out because it stopped draining. CT shows I still have a little fluid but doctors say nothing to be alarmed about. Here I am still in pain and my CT and blood work show nothing major. My pain has been a 10 the entire time. The pain is in my pelvic area and has moved up to my belly button. There is a lot of pressure with sharp, achy and dull pain. It feels like I tore a muscle and some one is squeezing my muscle over and over causing more pain. It’s worse when I sleep.. walk.. sit. Doctor keeps telling me it’s because I’m not using the bathroom enough but this pain is what I first felt when I found out about the hematoma. I feel like my concerns are being pushed to the side. No medication works and he even sent me to pay management.

@ahar1956, I hope you saw the helpful posts from @martin77 and @phylicaf22. It takes time to heal.

Are you finding that the gluten-free diet has helped? How are you doing?

Eat some oatmeal more fiber, pear, prunes etc

Sounds familiar! Those experiences should steadily improve. Keep a healthy diet going.

Three months after colon resection I’m still experiencing gas diarrhea and some light pain discomfort whenever I eat anything and when I’m not eating. I changed to gluten-free diet I just want to know what else I can do. I’m taking probiotics. Could this be something other than recuperation.

I am four months post op. I am in my eighties. Because of constipation my surgeon suggested Metamucil. I take this morning and evening and it really helps. If I don’t I don’t “go”. Eat well fruit every day, prunes for brekky. Mind you Metamucil is fine ground psyllium orange flavoured. I do get lots of high tummy ache though.

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@jeff1957, you may wish to start a new discussion about nail issues related to chemotherapy. I'm sure others have experienced this as well.