Colon Surgery Twice/Recover Slow for husband

[Bobbie]

Hello! I am looking for answers about what my husband has been going through and hope someone here can help. He had colon surgery on 10/16 to remove a large polyp that a biopsy tested benign during the colonospy. During the colonospy two small polpys were removed and they too were begin. Five days after the surgery he was off all IVs, had a soft meal, and was walking pretty well. But then he had alot of trapped gas not going out of his body and he spent a uncomfortable week in the hospital with a tube down his throat again, IVs for nutrition, antibotics and back with the cathiter. I was with him during these two weeks he had a rough time. Not in pain after the first few days but very uncomfortable with the trapped gas and all he was hooked up with. Then Sunday I was home to prepare to open our business after being closed two weeks and his weekend doctor phoned saying he needed surgery in 30 minutes as he was leaking. Here he had phoned me that morning saying he had gone BMs which we thought was great news. But his colon wasn't healed enough (his surgery was very low in the colon which was difficult for the doctors to do surgery) and so now he needed emmergency surgery. So he was in the hospital another week and came home very weak. He lost 32 pounds. He has been home nearly 3 weeks, lack of appetite, lack of thirst (and he needs to be drinking alot of liquids, esp. water) and is still weak but slowly, very slowly, getting a little stronger and walking from one corner to another. For not having cancer, he has gone through so much! He is upset with having to wear a colonospy bag and continues to wear a cathiter. Doctor said the nerves are damaged and takes time to heal. He goes this Wednesday to the doctor and hopefully the nerves are working again...So my question is, how long does it take to recover from colon surgery? Is it normal not to have your taste buds working like they should? Anyone have problems like this? Thank you for your help.
Bobbie

[Hannah]

Hi Bobbie,

Sorry for the delay in responding. I'm so sorry your husband is having such problems. The great news is that he got the polyps BEFORE they became cancer - YEAH!!!

I am very concerned about the things you are describing - although it is not completely uncommon to have complications after colon surgery, these seem pretty severe for anyone, cancer or not. Again, the good news is that they can be dealt with, and will get better and better with time.

So now I am going to ask a whole bunch of questions that you might not know the answers to! Sorry for all the questions - if you have time just jot down what you know, it might help explain what is going on. If these things weren't explained to you or you can't remember, you might want to go over them with your husband's doctor.

- I am guessing that they did the surgery because the polyp was too large to take out during a colonoscopy, and the big one was in his rectum (the bottom part of his colon)?
- So they cut his abdomen open and removed the polyp that way, leaving a scar on his belly?
- Do you know if the surgery was done by a colon/rectal specialist or was it done by a general surgeon?
- I am guessing that he got the ostomy (the "bag") after the second surgery - but just want to make sure that it was after the second?
- Do you know if they connected the bag to the large intestine (same thing as the colon) or to the small intestine?
- You say that he has a catheter also? Did they explain why he needs a catheter if it is his colon that is injured? What is wrong with his ureter or bladder that he needs a catheter? Did this happen after the first or second surgery?
- Lastly, and I think most importantly at this point - what kind of nerve damage are the doctors talking about?? Most colon surgery, even rectal surgery, when done by a qualified surgeon, does NOT cause nerve damage. It may cause muscle damage (which may actually be what they are talking about) but it shouldn't damage the nerves, and it shouldn't cause damage to the ureter. The doctors need to explain this to you more clearly. I don't want to raise unnecessary flags, but it is possible that the surgeon damaged your husband without meaning to during the surgery. Again, these complications do happen sometimes, but you should be told exactly what happened.

What happened at the doctor’s appointment on Wednesday? Has there been any improvement? I hope so!

One last thing is that I haven't heard of taste buds going bad after surgery - anyone else?

Bobbie, take a deep breath and please remember to take care of yourself too. Your husband will make it through this, gain his weight back, get rid of the bag and catheter, be back to work, and be back to “normal” again!

Hannah

[PGLGreg]

- You say that he has a catheter also? Did they explain why he needs a catheter if it is his colon that is injured? What is wrong with his ureter or bladder that he needs a catheter?

I kept a catheter in for 9 days after my resection. As I understood it, the little balloon that is blown up to anchor the top of the catheter in the bladder was actually still in my ureter when the balloon was blown up, damaging the ureter. The urologist who was called in said the appropriate treatment was just to leave the catheter in for an extra long time.

Maybe it was something like that.

[shylo]

I had a nerve injury to my femoral nerve during surgery. It was caused by my legs being in stirups for 7 hours, probably in a awkward position and the surgeon's assistants didn't notice it. I did have a colon rectal surgeon and he is highly recommened in Colorado - one of the bests. The doctor said this is not a common complication but has been known to happen. I had numbness down the entire front of my leg and my quad muscle doesn't work. The neurologist said the type of damage I have could take 6months to a year to heal. It's seems like forever and I had the surgery Oct 2006, I have noticed some improvement but it is extremely slow.....I am not as numb, I am walking without a walker or cane, now I just have a slight limp, but if I put full pressure on that leg, I fall. Did you see a neurologist?