Question for anyone who has had bowel surgery

[bcipam]

Can I ask how your husband is now doing? Was the overall experience for him OK? What was his disability period like?

I do have an appointment next week to meet again with the attending physician to ask all my questions. The following week with the surgeon. I guess my surgery will be by the first week in October. Doesn't appear to be any hurry on the doctor's parts. Next day surgery - now that's scary! I pray everything was and is now OK.

[emily_in_nc]

Pam,

You will be in my thoughts. My husband's best friend is battling colorectal cancer (in his 40s - so young!!) that wasn't found until it was stage four (he put off screening due to insurance issues, which is very maddening!!), and yes, it has metastasized. It is the worst possible type of this cancer, and we are all very scared for him, but he has an amazing spirit and goes into each round of chemo, radiation, etc. with the most positive attitude. If anyone can beat it, he can. And you will too! Lean on us here - we can be a virtual support group.

Glad you've found some possible doctors and hope you can get the surgery behind you soon and start recovering and living again. Your bike will wait patiently until you are able to ride again - and you will. We hiked with our friend this spring, and he was amazing - never tired at all!

Sending you lots of hope,

Emily

[Bikingmomof3]

((((((((Pam)))))))))

I am keeping you in my prayers. We are here to listen, comfort, and do whatever we can. I wish I was closer and could be there for you.

[crazycanuck]

Hey Pam,

I'm sending you my wishes, luck, smiles, hugs, a nice teddy bear and another smile your way.

Take care & we'll be here for you when you need us.



c

[Dogmama]

Can I ask how your husband is now doing? Was the overall experience for him OK? What was his disability period like?

He is doing great. It had metastisized and he had his spleen, part of pancreas and some lymph nodes removed. He also was overweight, smoked, etc., and was the worst candidate for surgery. He did have complications. A lot of them were due to his horrible lifestyle going into surgery. He did chemo for six months. Since then, he has been cancer free. He gets blood checked every three months and a CT scan once a year. His oncologist said that 90% of these come back in three years and we are four months away. Oh, and he had another colonoscopy one year post surgery.

My recommendations are that you be sure you are well hydrated before surgery. It will make finding veins much easier. Get your nutrition right and keep up your exercise. Post surgery, get up & walk as soon as you can to minimize the chances of blood clot formation.

There have been studies showing that red meat, anything with nitrates (e.g., lunch meat, hot dogs) and anything grilled are carcinogens that lead to colon ca. Also, calcium in the form of carbonate, the cheapest kind, has been shown to help. Attitude and most importantly, prayers, are extremely important. I hope you will let everybody know when you are going in for surgery. I believe the power of prayer and energy is invaluable. His oncologist is still amazed at his progress.

Also, try to not listen to all the people who will tell you horror stories. I got so tired of people telling me about their friends & relatives who had bad outcomes. Everybody is different and you have a huge advantage because you are healthy.

BTW, he doesn't smoke anymore, started riding a bike (think Pee Wee Herman, but still...) and works out in a gym which is amazing for him. I told him if he ever picked up another cigarette, he'd need a colonoscopy to extract the pack.

Again, he was NOT in good shape when he went in. His bowel was almost completely blocked, thus emergency surgery. He had been ignoring symptoms for a long time. This doesn't sound like you at all. I'm assuming that the PET scan showed the ca was localized to the colon, correct?

[bcipam]

Well, like your husband I had symptoms as well before I went in. This last March I started having cramping and what I thought were stomach issues. My bowel habits changed (from once a day to 2 - 3) and by April/May I noticed noticing bright red blood after I wiped. OK ladies I know this is gross sounding but I want you to know what happened to me so it doesn't happen to any of you. I thought the blood was from hemorroids (sp?) 'cause I was going to the bathroom and straining so much.

In May I went to my GP and he immediately ordered a colonoscopy and referred me to Dr. Debian. Now I wasn't particularly concerned. I had chalked all my problems up to stress. In March alot of bad emotional things had happened to me (yes, involving a man - what else) and I was very depressed and upset over them, I thought that caused my stomach problems. Anyway, the colonoscopy was scheduled for June; I prepared for it, was in the hospital, IV hooked up and everything but due to an earlier patient problem, left without having the scope and rescheduled.

I got the first appointment of the day so I wouldn't have the same problem that occurred in June and had to wait until August 28 for that. Again I thought no problem, it's just stress and it will go away. But it didn't. Symptoms remained the same and now after doing some research realized I have all (not just some - ALL) of the colon/rectum symptoms. I put off what I should have done in April and basically I put off what my GP has been asking me to do since I turned 50.

If anyone is having "stomach" distress - please check out websites on colon cancer and see if you have some of the symptoms. If so - get thee to a doctor and have it scoped. If I had gone to the doctor early - it could have been removed during the scope and would never have progressed into the mass I'm dealing with today.

I also don't mind hearing the horror stories. It lets me know what can happen, what might occur. I need to learn to be prepared for the worst. Than if it's not the worst, I can let out a sigh of relief.

Ladies... I thank you so much for this opportunity and forum to discuss my concerns. Makes me feel so comfortable knowing I have some way of letting out and dealing with someof this stress. Your good thoughts, warm wishes and prayers are more appreciated than you know. Thank you, thank you all soooooooooo much.

[tprevost]

Pam,

I am so glad that you are working out the issues w/doctors and insurance. I just wanted to add that you are in my thoughts and prayers every day and my wish for you is an uncomplicated procedure and a speedy recovery. You are healthy and fit so I'm sure that will be the case.

Also, thank you for sharing your experience and symptoms as I'm sure I would have come to the same conclusion if I saw bright blood in my stool.

Please let us know (PM me too please because I have not been able to hang on the boards very much lately) when your procedure is scheduled. And again, if there is anything at all I can do, please let me know.

Lots of hugs and prayers going your way!!!!

Tracy

[betagirl]

Hey Pam

Sorry to hear about your troubles. I have not had abdominal surgery, but know a slew of people who have. Like Duck said, it depends on how they have to do the surgery. The less invasive the incision, the better you'll be for recovery.

With that, the recovery will be long. It's in an area that gets a lot of use, so just being able to get up and move around will be a challenge in the beginning. I do recommend trying to walk as soon as possible. People seemed to have done better getting moving when it was allowed, even if taking only a few steps. If they do the long cut, it's going to be pretty gross to look at. So try to arrange for someone to help change your dressings for you once you get home. Again if you have it done laproscopically, that will be less of an issue. You're probably going to be on a bland diet for a while too, and perhaps stool softeners while that heals down there. I had surgery for a fistula (I have crohn's) and was on those for about a week. I was afraid to eat anything anyway, so I relied a lot on jello and broth. My incision was closer to the end of the pipe

A lot of the people I know who've had surgeries have crohn's or ulcerative colitis. They all have described it as being painful, but have rebounded well. Some are marathon runners, and have gotten back into their sports just fine. One is a cyclist and we chatted about his recent surgery. He said it took him about 8 months to really get back to where he was on the bike.

I know this is all anecdotal, but hopefully it helps give you some perspective. Thankfully they found it and you can be treated. I also can't stress enough getting stomach issues checked, especially if you have red flag symptoms. I didn't have colon cancer, but I did find out I have crohn's. Of course these are rare conditions, but best to be preventative.

Good luck Pam!

[bikerz]

Hang in there Pam! Lean on your friends and community - they will be honored to help you in anyway they can, as will we!

[Lise]

Thinking of you, Pam, and sending best wishes for strength, faith, and healing. Lise

[Jones]

I will add your name to my church's prayer circle and of course keep you in my prayers. Jones

[Duck on Wheels]

... I do recommend trying to walk as soon as possible. People seemed to have done better getting moving when it was allowed, even if taking only a few steps. If they do the long cut, it's going to be pretty gross to look at. So try to arrange for someone to help change your dressings for you once you get home ...

I gather things are not handled the same in the US as here (Norway). That whole insurance situation again. Don't get me started. Or do. The US uses so much more money per capita on health than anywhere else in the world, yet millions are uninsured and even the insured find that they're forced to cut corners to save the insurers money!

But back to my point ... Here, at any rate, the recovery phase is pretty standardized. Depending on what type of incision, you may have anywhere from hours to a few days in the ICU. Already as soon as I was awake, there was a PT by my side, helping me to cough, massaging out leg cramps, and having me sit up, then stand beside the bed, then take a few steps, and so on. I think the program took a total of 2 weeks with daily events to celebrate (off the morphine pump, various drains and tubes removed, first shower, first flight of stairs, first no-foods-barred meal). I was asked about my home situation (any stairs? anybody to help with this and that?) and not sent home until I could handle it (in my case stairs training and instruction on bandages etc. before I went home). I went home with an exercize program (starting with daily walks, then moving gradually to situps and other core muscle exercizes), a schedule of follow-up outpatient appointments, PT appointments, and so on. I don't remember it all, but I do remember that I found it all relevant and helpful.

Well, let's hope that things are handled as caringly over there! On the bright side, US hospitals DO have great cancer cure rates and are quick to use the latest medications and therapies. All in all, don't worry about the recovery time. It'll take the time it takes, but you WILL recover. And however long it takes, there will be milestones all along the way to keep your spirits up.

[betagirl]

Hey Duck, I think the average hospital stay for bowel surgery here is 10 days. At least in the Chicago area. I can't comment on CA, but I'd guess it's similar. I don't know about the PT though. So if there isn't that available Pam, try to arrange for people to come by every day to motivate you to get moving.

My surgery was done outpatient, but was on my butt and not my abdomen I did have to be off work for 2 weeks though. At first I thought that was exaggerated and unnecessary. I soon figured out that it certainly wasn't. Pam, it'll become a balancing act of taking the time to recover and making progress in doing the things you could before. Frustration will most likely come along with that. Try not to expect too much too soon or be too hard on yourself. At least for me, that can sometimes be difficult to balance.

I'll be thinking of you.

[Bruno28]

Pam -

I'm really sorry to hear of your diagnosis. I will be thinking of you and sending you good thoughts.

I echo your message to others about getting things checked out especially for over 50s. In Scotland we are just introducing national screening for everyone over 50 because of the prevalence of bowel cancer here.