justjessica wrote:So I had my first bm yesterday. It was very painful. Lots of stabbing pains,I could barely stand to get to the bathroom. It was softish with a fair amount of blood. I had two other bm later in the day that were liquid mostly and not as painful. All night and early morning,its3am right now,I have had a lot of gas pains,I can feel stuff moving in my intestines. Every movement inside feeling like a knife. My stomach is swollen and hurts from the slightest touch. I also feel as if I can't empty my bladder. That pain you get when you really gotta go or you've held it to long,that's constant. I've had a slight fever, adegree or two above average the last two days with it breaking while I sleep,covered in sweat. I'm just wondering if this amount of pain and discomfort is normal after a colon resection? Do I just tough it out?
Hi Jessica, what your feeling is normal. My husband had his resection two days before you and had horrible stabbing pains/bloating/watery stools....everything you described when he came home fromt he hospital (day 6 after surgery). It was so awful to watch him be so miserable. He also had a slight fever as well. Everytime he ate anything..just a few bites of something it would get so much worse. This is what helped him recover VERY fast (he is now one week home from the hospital and eating very normal again and feeling great)
1. eating a low residue diet. Please refer to
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/low-fiber-diet/my00744The minute we started feeding him like this, he was like a new person and his appetite got back to normal very quickly.
2. Taking his pain pills. His surgeon had given him pain pills but he refused to take them at first (because he does not like pills) but he started taking them because I suggested they may actually help the pain in his colon...and they certainly did! He took just one, not two (Loratab) every 4-6 hours for a few days and now he is just down to one when he needs it (which is not that often). I think the colon is inflamed/in pain from the surgery and the pain meds took the edge off quite a bit but CAUTION, take them with food (he would eat two saltines or something like that) or you can get quite nauseated.
3. Gas X (chewable gas medication you can get at any pharmacy, contains SIMETHICONE). Really helped take the edge off of all of the gassy air in his stomach. He took that for just a few days but now no longer needs it
4. lots of walking and lots of water. As much as both of these you can take
5. I made a special smoothie for him that is low residue. It has anti-inflamatory properties,probiotics, and electrolytes. It has seemed to REALLY help and also stimulate his appetite again. The basic recipe is:
1/2 cup of fat free organic greek yogurt
11 oz. of coconut water (I use vitacoco, you can read about it here if you dont know what it is
http://vitacoco.com/)
2 TBSP of Flax seed oil (helps with inflamation inside the colon and is very soothing)
Protien powder-vanilla flavor (I use this one
http://plantfusion.net/ and I got it at whole foods but you can also buy it online, I also think just any good quality whey protien powder with a vanilla flavor will work as well)
handful of ice
I give him two of these a day and his energy level has gone through the roof, his appetite has gone up, and pain level gone down quite bit! I would try it if you can.
He is like a new person right now and you will be too! Good luck!