Problems months after colon resection surgery: What Helps?

Hi, I am sorry this is harder for you. I only have one main 1 inch incision where the diseased colon was removed and 5 other little incisions that on the surface look good but sometimes hurt and my stomach is still distended. The colon massages my therapist has me doing help but sometimes my stomach feels sore. The massages are of the ascending, transverse and descending colon that runs in an upside down U, with the transverse colon running across right under the ribs and the two sides running up and down near the hips. It seems to help move things along. That and the Kegels and very deep breathing has helped. Have your doctor refer you to pelvic floor or rectum physical therapy and to a dietician to help you with what you can eat. Cream of wheat, applesauce, ground meats, canned green beans and canned fruits, white rice/mashed potatoes and lactose free drinks and foods seem to help me. And smaller, more frequent meals. The Culturelle probiotic and Benefiber help a lot and the enzymes from Whole Foods might help you with gas.
I had pain at the resection for a couple of months and it always went with gas and was told that even the pain right under my rib was from gas in the colon there. Felt like a heart attack once.

And don’t be depressed. The recovery from this fairly invasive surgery can take a long time, even a year or more. The internet makes you feel like you should be fine to go back to work in two weeks. NOT!

Hello, I had this surgery on my sigmoid colon on July 21st 2020. After, that, and 6 months of chemo I am coming upon a year. I have just about given up feeling normal again with all the bloating, gas, constipation, diarrhea, etc. Some of your testimonies have made me at least feel like I'm not alone. I know one of you said after two years you now feel normal. I don't know if I have another 13 months left in me. I'm 44, still out of work, off chemo just about 3 months. I don't know how to adjust to this with unpredictable embarrassing bowel issues that will certainly interfere with my work. I will say this is the first place where I have found others like me talking about this. Thank you.

Hello. Although I didnt have same surgery as you nor chemo I did have radiation internal and external in 1985 for cancer of cervix stage 2 and eventually started my journey of late stage radiation damage to pelvis.... radiation damage to bladder etc. and the dreaded awful diarrhea... its been around 20 years and then C.Diff 2018 and fecal incontinence since... unless someone goes through this unpredictable, yes embarrassing, smelly, messy, PAINFUL, almost daily issue its hard for them to understand how life-altering it is.
Yes, you are so right that its a bit of a relief to be able to come on this site and discuss this and often others will offer some of their ways to cope. I am now 77 and only thing that helps is Imodium..sometimes, and my diet is plain and I could go on .
But this is about you: I hope that your body heals more as time goes by, even to the point of hopefully going back to work (I hope you have alternate income on which to live in the meantime as $$ stress doesn't help on top of it) and that one day there will not only be a "cure" for cancer but treatments that, unfortunately, keep us alive but so affect our quality of life. Take care. (p.s. I always keep with me a bag with toiletries in it no matter where I go so at least when have accident can clean up and keep going - although travel is now out of the question). J.

Thanks for your reply, Lacy. I am able to sustain my life fortunately. I miss everything else about it though. I felt fine one day, then in a matter of hours my life changed. They tell me it will get better, but I think that's just what people say.

Hello @brian77 and welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. I am so glad you have found this group to normalize your feelings and realize you are not alone in your journey post colon surgery. Reaching out for support when recovery doesn't go like you may have thought is actually a really big step so bravo on that note.

What are the main pain points of this process that you would like to connect with other members on to support you?

I would like to know if it actually does get better after the surgery or am I stuck in some uncomfortable, and unreliable shell of my former self. Because i have been cleared of cancer, but do not feel as celebratory as I should. I feel poorly altered.

JMO as any life changing event, good or bad, we are altered physically, mentally, emotionally…. And as Amanda says, this site is a step in the right direction when we need support especially from others who have “been there.” It honestly amazes me the number of posters who somehow have or are overcoming their “challenges.” As an older adult (much older) and having had cancer (as has most of my family and spouse and his family)… illnesses have become a daily part of my life.
Looking back, and I did receive some help in dealing with the emotional site of physical illnesses several years later…. for me it was not enough and the doctors are so busy treating, caring for, directing patients through the various channels, sometimes do not recognize or have time for the emotional side of their patients’ lives… may I urge you to find some help sooner rather than later in coping with the changes in your life.
Unfortunately during COVID a lot of peer support groups and such have closed here in Ontario Canada, but I found one “warm line” phone in organization and while it will not mend a broken body or heart, it has helped me … and discussion on here has helped too: might have to try several organizations/groups etc.
I hope your body continues to heal, and want you to know, as many on here will comment, it IS a challenge… and like many others, your life might not be the same but it is amazing what the human body/mind can get through … best of luck. (Me too, I feel I ought to be more grateful for living through cancer/radiation many years ago, while others did not… you have been through a lot and it will take time….). J.

I heard the pain and discomfort cld be associated with something called adhesion and laser treatment is prefered.
I wondered why is abdominal surgery so full of drastic aftermath for everyone😱

I’ve finally got a date for my surgery 7/14/21! In Texas! A precancer polyp in appendix (the appendeceal orifice , going up into colon. So if no cancer cells then I’m free to go home in a couple days! But if reeection then a long recovery.. I’m 83I’ve written in here before. Thank you and others for your experience! It’s very scary... at my age. But so many thanks!!!!