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Re: Having open colorectal surgery 11/09/2017

Posted: Wed Nov 08, 2017 6:45 am
by NHMike
AlexMichelle wrote:Lee, any suggestions on what you consumed on the liquid diet and the low residue diet? Food is not all that important to me so I will have no problem at all following that. Would love to hear what you consumed the most on both diets. Also did you lose much weight during that time you were in the hospital? Do you remember how much you lost from prep day until you recovered? I can only afford to lose about five or six pounds without people starting to think that I look sick. I am already on the thin side. For the low residue diet that I am on right now, I'm drinking several Ensure Plus per day so that I will not lose weight. Would love some insight from you.

I have another question for anybody who wants to answer it. Isn't it embarrassing when you have visitors or your roommate has visitors and you start passing gas? How is that handled? It is certainly too bad that patients with this condition do not get to have their own room. I just cannot imagine going through this with other people in the room? Do I just have to get over it? Oh geeze. :(


I had toast and broth the day after surgery. Around 200 calories. The next day I had 400 calories. And then I experimented with more normal foods after that, about 1,000 calories per day. I was eight pounds lighter on the second day after surgery than the week before. So yes, I lost a decent amount of weight but I also expected to given the accounts of several others that recently went through this. I don't have data points from prep day until recovery or discharge. I'd like to know what I weigh right now as I suspect that I've lost some more weight since coming home. There are some foods that aren't processed by the small intestine and I can see the bits in the bag. So I'm not getting the nutritional value of some of the foods that I'm eating. It takes some time and experimentation to find out what works and what doesn't.

I put on twelve pounds on a vacation early October so I have it to lose. Some added weight was intentional but I didn't intend to put on that much. I have a lot of muscle mass and some decent fat mass and my body can eat some of that if needed. I think that packing on calories before the surgery (unless already overweight) is a good idea.

I have a bag and there's a charcoal filter on the gas outlet so there's no odor. The ventilation system in the hospital was so strong that odors weren't a problem in general. There's also a fair amount of noise in a hospital room. You have IV pumps clicking away, people pushing things in the corridor, equipment running out on the floor and you do have a curtain for separation. If you're worried about the sound of gas, you could just cover yourself with a blanket. I often did that because the rooms were on the chilly side. I also wore a pad. They provided mesh underwear after surgery (they must have put it on after surgery and before I woke up) and it had a pad in it so that will muffle any sound too. They also provided some thin, cloth underwear when I was in the room and they provided pads (quite big pads too).

My roommate was in his 80s so he's seen, heard and smelled it all. At some age, human functioning doesn't bother you. He was also hard of hearing.

Re: Having open colorectal surgery 11/09/2017

Posted: Wed Nov 08, 2017 6:49 am
by PGLGreg
AlexMichelle wrote: I felt like I was in the way and I also hated walking the hallways because you could see and hear all of the sad and sick people. It was very depressing. Where did you all walk? Is there someplace else besides the hallway outside of your room? Are we able to leave our floor of the hospital and walk other places?

Walking is standard therapy. A nurse will tell you to walk and will be pleased when you do. And will be happy to suggest places to do it. I had to pull along my little wheeled stand festooned with plastic bags for intravenous feeding, and also a (separate) bag for urine from my catheter. I felt ghost-like doing it -- nurses and other patients hardly seem to notice me. That's just what patients do in hospital: walk, walk, walk,

Re: Having open colorectal surgery 11/09/2017

Posted: Wed Nov 08, 2017 7:50 am
by Maggie Nell
One time when I was in hospital, a smal private hospital, I was walking around the wards and
could hear this terrible moaning and groaning getting louder and louder like someone was being
tortured. I asked the nurse what on earth was the matter and she said it was a woman in labour
and about to give birth......bloody miracle I ever had sex again. :shock:

Scared the bejebus out of me. Sick and sad people don't faze me.

Re: Having open colorectal surgery 11/09/2017

Posted: Wed Nov 08, 2017 9:22 am
by Robino1
I walked very slowly in the halls of the floor I was on. I let my body decide how fast I walked. I had laparoscopic surgery not open. I also held a pillow on my abdomen in case I had to cough or I ran into someone that would make me laugh.

Back and forth, back and forth.

My surgeon told me to eat the bad stuff, greasy foods, no fiber etc until the swelling went away. Once the swelling is gone, flip it and go healthy, greens, fiber etc.

Pain meds also slow the waking up of the colon. Just thought I would throw that out here.

Wishing you well on your upcoming surgery.

Re: Having open colorectal surgery 11/09/2017

Posted: Wed Nov 08, 2017 9:26 am
by Robino1
Maggie Nell wrote:One time when I was in hospital, a smal private hospital, I was walking around the wards and
could hear this terrible moaning and groaning getting louder and louder like someone was being
tortured. I asked the nurse what on earth was the matter and she said it was a woman in labour
and about to give birth......bloody miracle I ever had sex again. :shock:

Scared the bejebus out of me. Sick and sad people don't faze me.



LOL! After my resection, they didn't have a room for me on the normal floors. I was put up in the maternity ward. Best experience and room. After the lady that had her surgery for breast cancer left, I had the room to myself. They couldn't put a new mom with me. ;)

I was walking the halls the same as those women that had c-sections. We looked the same....except I was much older than them! LOL

Re: Having open colorectal surgery 11/09/2017

Posted: Wed Nov 08, 2017 10:06 am
by DarknessEmbraced
I hope your surgery goes well!*hugs* I had an open LAR in 2014. I had half of my sigmoid and half of my rectum removed. I had an epidural put in while in the OR which helped with pain while it was in. After that I was given iv dilaudid.(I can't have morphine because it gives me chest pain). Walk around as much as possible following surgery because it helps with gas and to get the bowels moving. Hug a pillow when you cough or sneeze so it doesn't pull on the incision as much. The nurses gave me a warm sheets to put on my stomach to help with cramping. At home I had everything put down where I could reach it without bending. I napped a lot and found showers tiring for a while. My surgeon said to eat what I wanted following surgery but I found that there were foods that bother my digestive system causing cramping. It's different for everyone. I still can't eat broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, onions, popcorn, beans, lentils, peanuts, seeds, ice cream and some others. I keep a food/symptom diary to pinpoint problem foods. It took me a few months to regain my stamina. I don't remember how long I used pain medication but I don't think it was that long. I had to wear loose fitting pants because they put too much pressure on my incision especially on the staples. I slept with pillows on either side so that I wouldn't roll over onto my stomach which was very painful.

Re: Having open colorectal surgery 11/09/2017

Posted: Wed Nov 08, 2017 2:54 pm
by AlexMichelle
Everyone's posts are so helpful. NHMike, I also keep track of my steps and calories with a Fitbit. Since diagnosis my steps have gone way down which I know is depression, plus my stomach just bothers me so much. Normally I get about 15,000 steps per day and the last couple weeks I've only been getting about 5000 to 8000 steps. Good to know not to expect very many those first days.

Darkness Embraced, that was really helpful because it sounds like I am having exact same procedure as you..... Open surgery like you and same area of colon. I hope I have the same outcome as you. Your journey gives me hope.

Re: Having open colorectal surgery 11/09/2017

Posted: Wed Nov 08, 2017 8:24 pm
by NHMike
Best wishes for a great surgery and we'll see you on the other side. Please don't feel that you have to post as your recovery is far more important. I imagine that you're getting some rest before a very early morning.

Re: Having open colorectal surgery 11/09/2017

Posted: Thu Nov 09, 2017 12:08 pm
by TXLiz
Good luck today, AlexM!

Had open surgery, in the hospital many days.

I didn’t eat much of anything while in the hospital, had zero appetite. The last 2 days I drank broth and felt a bit better.

My large incision was uncomfortable and moving sucked, but ya gotta walk.

Re: Having open colorectal surgery 11/09/2017

Posted: Fri Nov 17, 2017 1:00 pm
by AlexMichelle
NH Mike and TXLiz, thank you for the well wishes the morning of surgery last week. I appreciate it. I'm so pleased that I am alive and doing well. Much better outcome than expected.

Re: Having open colorectal surgery 11/09/2017

Posted: Fri Nov 17, 2017 6:45 pm
by NHMike
AlexMichelle wrote:NH Mike and TXLiz, thank you for the well wishes the morning of surgery last week. I appreciate it. I'm so pleased that I am alive and doing well. Much better outcome than expected.


We all need a little support and cheerleading and I certainly received more than my fair share. You are definitely welcome and I'm certainly glad that you're alive and doing well.