Hemicolectomy after-effects

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CindyO
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Joined: Mon Feb 18, 2008 7:58 am

Hemicolectomy after-effects

Postby CindyO » Mon Feb 18, 2008 8:04 am

I've been recently diagnosed with polyposis - up to 100 polyps on colonoscopy. The treatment of choice is a right hemicolectomy. I can't find anything on the Internet, and my doctor is not very informative, on what I can expect long-term afterwards, i.e. weight loss, problems keeping weight on, diarrhea problems, vitamin deficiencies, etc. Any information is greatly appreciated.

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Joanna
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Postby Joanna » Mon Feb 18, 2008 9:39 am

I had a right hemi-colectomy on Oct. 29th and my surgeon told me that my stools might be a little watery for a while, but that essentially I would get back to 'normal' in time. He didn't seem to think there should be any long-term change in my weight or digestion or anything. While things feel different in there, I'm amazed that things do seem to function rather well. I'm more aware of things moving through my bowels than I used to be, but on the whole, there haven't been huge changes. I don't know if you are getting chemo, but chemo is now causing me more changes in digestion and weight fluctuations than anything else.
age: 42
DX: Oct. 2007: stage 3 cc, 2 of 8 lymph nodes
hemi-colectomy: Oct. 2007
finished chemo: July 2008 - 6 months FOLFOX
Back to work and doing well!

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CBR600319
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Location: Winnipeg, Manitoba

Postby CBR600319 » Mon Feb 18, 2008 11:02 am

Hello Cindy,

My wife had a rt. hemicolectomy in April of '07. She was in the hospital for about 6 days after the surgery and was told not to lift anything over 20 lbs. for 6 weeks. After the initial two weeks, she was feeling pretty good (all things considered). Now, 10 months later it's pretty much a distant memory. There doesn't seem to be any noticeable issues with it now, don't know if that helps or not.. but hope it does.

Take care,
AL
Wife dx April/07 at age 28
R/T hemi-col. April/07
Stage IV, liver mets, T3,N2,M1
Folfox, 18 treaments
lymphadenectomy surgery, rt hemi col, liver biopsy Jul/08
Liver resection Sept 9th/08
Back on adjuvent Folfox Oct '08, 23 rounds total
Done chemo Feb 09

CindyO
Posts: 4
Joined: Mon Feb 18, 2008 7:58 am

Hemicolectomy

Postby CindyO » Mon Feb 18, 2008 1:00 pm

AL and Joanna - thanks so much for your input. I got the feeling there were few after-effects because I couldn't find anything on the Internet, and now you've confirmed it. Thanks again!

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CBR600319
Posts: 171
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Location: Winnipeg, Manitoba

Postby CBR600319 » Mon Feb 18, 2008 3:15 pm

No problem at all Cindy, I always hate how non-commital our "care team" is. I know they can't give us a definitive answer, but come on.. this isn't the first time they've dealt with this right ?

Something I had thought of was that we all have a whole heck of a lot of intestine inside, having 16 inches, or a couple feet removed for that matter shouldn't have a dramatic effect ? Might not be as true for the large intestine, but I'd guess there's a lot of small to go around ! My wife had 8" of small and 8" of large removed, it doesn't seem to bother her at all.

Take care,
AL
Wife dx April/07 at age 28
R/T hemi-col. April/07
Stage IV, liver mets, T3,N2,M1
Folfox, 18 treaments
lymphadenectomy surgery, rt hemi col, liver biopsy Jul/08
Liver resection Sept 9th/08
Back on adjuvent Folfox Oct '08, 23 rounds total
Done chemo Feb 09

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Joanna
Posts: 205
Joined: Sat Dec 08, 2007 9:20 pm

Postby Joanna » Mon Feb 18, 2008 5:02 pm

Hi Cindy,

To be more specific about short term effects I felt, I couldn't dive into a regular diet right away. I'd had a lot of problems with throwing up in the hospital after my surgery, but even so, you're supposed to take eating very slowly for a while to prevent springing a leak at the surgery site. Stick with soft foods, small meals and especially non-gas producing foods for at least a few weeks. It would take me 45 minutes to get through an egg and a piece of toast, but I enjoyed every mouthful. Within 5 or 6 weeks I was back to eating normally again.

Also, I did find my bowels felt kind of numb for a couple weeks. I often wasn't aware that I needed to have a b.m. until I actually sat on the toilet, but feeling seems to have returned down there once again. And sometimes I swear I can feel food moving through my upper left intestine. It actually seems swollen and a wee bit achey. I think it takes time for your body to realize that the path has changed, but it does adjust quite well in my experience.
age: 42
DX: Oct. 2007: stage 3 cc, 2 of 8 lymph nodes
hemi-colectomy: Oct. 2007
finished chemo: July 2008 - 6 months FOLFOX
Back to work and doing well!

CindyO
Posts: 4
Joined: Mon Feb 18, 2008 7:58 am

Hemicolectomy

Postby CindyO » Mon Feb 18, 2008 7:24 pm

AL and Joanna -

Thanks for the info - very helpful. Joanna - when you say it took you 45 minutes to get through an egg and toast, why was that?

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Joanna
Posts: 205
Joined: Sat Dec 08, 2007 9:20 pm

Postby Joanna » Mon Feb 18, 2008 11:27 pm

It was my first solid food after coming out of the hospital. My stomach wouldn't accept even a tiny sip of water without me getting sick for some reason, so I had to take drinking and eating realllllly slow. They listen for 'bowel sounds' in your tummy with a stethoscope after the surgery to see if things are getting back to normal and it took a long time for bowel sounds to start for me.

Everything felt very delicate in my stomach and bowels and my stomach had also shrunk a lot. I lost somewhere around 15 lbs. while in hospital (which I have now gained back). I chewed everything really well to give my intestines less work to do at first. You really do feel the food moving past the sore parts that have been surgically altered for a little while, so soft things felt best. For me, it was 11 days in the hospital, so when I could finally eat, I cried for joy and didn't mind taking a long time to savour everything.

They gave me a list of gaseous foods to avoid for a while including broccoli, beans, green peppers, etc. Having gas when things are still healing can be painful. But I gradually re-introduced all that stuff.
age: 42
DX: Oct. 2007: stage 3 cc, 2 of 8 lymph nodes
hemi-colectomy: Oct. 2007
finished chemo: July 2008 - 6 months FOLFOX
Back to work and doing well!

CindyO
Posts: 4
Joined: Mon Feb 18, 2008 7:58 am

Hemicolectomy

Postby CindyO » Tue Feb 19, 2008 7:54 am

Thanks, Joanna. That's all good information to have - I don't like surprises, especially medical ones. Haven't scheduled my surgery yet, probably will be the end of March, but now I feel I know more what to expect and, as far as I'm concerned, that's half the battle. Thanks again, and good luck with your chemotherapy. I had it 25 years ago for Hodgkin's Disease, so I know a bit about how difficult it can be. Hang in there.

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garbovatwin
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Re: Hemicolectomy after-effects

Postby garbovatwin » Thu Jul 31, 2008 4:45 am

CindyO wrote:I've been recently diagnosed with polyposis - up to 100 polyps on colonoscopy. The treatment of choice is a right hemicolectomy. Any information is greatly appreciated.


here you go.
http://www.websurg.com/ref/Laparoscopic ... en1879.htm
create a login and watch some interesting videos and surgeon commentary.

jamiana
OUR world is worth saving
Question everything. Become your own Advocate.
When we find a cure for one cancer it will lead to a cure for ALL cancer
Crohn's Colitis
Rectal Mucosa Resection - Oct 2010
Rectal Surgery - Sep 2011
Stroke Sep 2012

tom c
Posts: 37
Joined: Thu Jan 17, 2008 11:10 am
Location: Brighton, MA

Re: Hemicolectomy after-effects

Postby tom c » Thu Jul 31, 2008 6:44 am

Weight loss?? I wish! Well not really, but after surgery and during chemo I actually put on about 15 lbs and am the heaviest I've ever been. The only effects I've noticed are that I generally need to go a little earlier in the day and in general it may be a bit looser (though I also had to go really high fiber during chemo so it's hard to tell). My surgeon says that after time the end of the small intestine will take over some of the function that the right colon normally performs so initial side effects can improve over time.

Tom
Stage IIIb colon cancer
Diagnosed November, 2007 (age 34)
Right Colectomy 12/17/07
1/46 lymph nodes positive
FOLOFOX + Cetuximab through 7/15/08

Adam

Re: Hemicolectomy after-effects

Postby Adam » Fri Aug 08, 2008 11:02 pm

I had a right hemicolectomy only 33 days ago. 13 inches of my colon and 9 inches of my small intestine were removed. I was fortunate. No spread to the lymph nodes or any other organs, although distant metastasis couldn't be determined. I'll just have to be very watchful for any symptoms of a recurrance anywhere in my body. Since the surgery, I've had much diarreaha, which I was told to expect, but what I didn't expect was that it led to a potassium deficiency - hypokalemia. The symptoms developed over the course of 3-4 days, during which I experienced increasing numbness in my arms and legs, particularly when elevated or crossed. I didn't think much of it at first, but when my face and scalp went numb, it frightened me. I thought I was having an impending stroke or heart attack, so I reported to the Emergency Room. The ER doc mentioned that it might be a potassium deficiency, and began talking about how something affecting the cranial nerves could cause the same symptoms. They sent my blood work to the lab and me to radiology for a CT of my head. I sat in the ER for two hours waiting for the doc to come back in and tell me I had a brain tumor! It made perfect sense to me, since I had just been cured of one tumor (my second...the first was laryngeal cancer six years earlier.) You can imagine my relief when he told me it was a potassium deficiency. He gave me potassium supplements and something to slow my bowels down, allowing my small intestine more time to absorb nutrients from my food. That night, I ate a helluva lot of bananas (just kidding). I don't mean to make light of it. Hypokalemia can have very serious consequences. If you're experiencing any of the symptoms, be seen by a doctor immediately. I just hope your surgeon takes a bit more time than my own (grrrrrrrr) to provide a little information as to the possible side effects of the surgery.

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garbovatwin
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Re: Hemicolectomy after-effects

Postby garbovatwin » Sun Aug 10, 2008 4:17 am

CindyO wrote:I've been recently diagnosed with polyposis - up to 100 polyps on colonoscopy. The treatment of choice is a right hemicolectomy. I can't find anything on the Internet, and my doctor is not very informative, on what I can expect long-term afterwards, i.e. weight loss, problems keeping weight on, diarrhea problems, vitamin deficiencies, etc. Any information is greatly appreciated.



Hello Cindy

How did your right hemicolectomy surgery turn out?

jamiana
OUR world is worth saving
Question everything. Become your own Advocate.
When we find a cure for one cancer it will lead to a cure for ALL cancer
Crohn's Colitis
Rectal Mucosa Resection - Oct 2010
Rectal Surgery - Sep 2011
Stroke Sep 2012

Nicksmom

Re: Hemicolectomy after-effects

Postby Nicksmom » Sun Aug 10, 2008 1:10 pm

I had a right hemicolectomy Feb. 05 done laproscopically hand assisted. I was only in the hospital 2 days, came home and ate scrambled eggs and toast. I didn't have any digestion problems, vitamin deficiencies or bowel problems. Everything returned to normal quite soon after surgery and was only told not to eat any popcorn and stay away from mushrooms (they don't digest very well and my surgeon has done surgery for blockages on 2 people who ate mushrooms). I did have to be hospitalized twice for blockages when I was on chemo and ate too many raw vegetables (carrots, cauliflower, and broccoli).
Good Luck with your surgery.
Kandy

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garbovatwin
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Re: Hemicolectomy after-effects

Postby garbovatwin » Mon Aug 11, 2008 4:40 am

Nicksmom wrote:I had a right hemicolectomy Feb. 05 done laproscopically hand assisted. I was only in the hospital 2 days, came home and ate scrambled eggs and toast. I didn't have any digestion problems, vitamin deficiencies or bowel problems. Everything returned to normal quite soon after surgery and was only told not to eat any popcorn and stay away from mushrooms (they don't digest very well and my surgeon has done surgery for blockages on 2 people who ate mushrooms). I did have to be hospitalized twice for blockages when I was on chemo and ate too many raw vegetables (carrots, cauliflower, and broccoli).
Good Luck with your surgery.
Kandy


Wow. That is an amazing recovery.
No more vegetables? Oh no, what am I going to eat? I've been a vegetarian for the past 10 years. What if they are steamed veggies? Wah!

Thank you Kandy

jamiana
OUR world is worth saving
Question everything. Become your own Advocate.
When we find a cure for one cancer it will lead to a cure for ALL cancer
Crohn's Colitis
Rectal Mucosa Resection - Oct 2010
Rectal Surgery - Sep 2011
Stroke Sep 2012


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