8 months Post-Resection Check in/ Compare notes please :)

You probably should read up on white flour. In the 1800s people did not have colon problems but then the flour mills converted week to white flour which is in a lot of bake goods like donuts. I haven’t had surgery yet and I don’t know if I’ll need it but I am recovering from an abscess and I had repercussions three weeks after it wad drained. my doctor told me to stay on a low fiber diet till I saw her in a month and that was a bad recommendation. This time the doctor told me to go on high fiber after two weeks and it’s difficult to get enough fiber in because not all vegetables have a lot of fiber so it in cereal, Artichokes and Chia seeds in the highest capacity but apples avocados pairs I’ll add up and have fiber. I have been a bad heater and normally skip meals and now I am eating three meals a day healthy and monitoring my bowel movements so I don’t get constipated. I’m new at this Be careful with your diet so you don’t have problems with your Colon again. do you research in addition to what the doctor suggests because they’re not always right. I suggest scholarly articles not just .com articles. hope that helps. also I don’t think you want to gain weight unless you’re doing with proper exercise and weight gain programs.

You should definitely abstain from eating the junk you ate before you became sick and quit loading up on so much red meat, it takes your body quite awhile to digest animal protein.

I had my laproscopic resection 5 months ago. I am happy to hear you talk about the twinges along the surgery line, b/c I have experienced that on and off several times. Scares me at first, but then it goes away, and I am learning that it is not the div that I fear coming back. I do have bouts of constipation and loose stools - but I have had that for years from ibs, so think that is the cause. I take a magnesium citrate capsule everyday and that helps some. Discovered that garlic and some spicy food causes a lot of gas, and too much coffee does the same, along with the loose stools.

Hello there, I am just North of you in MN, had a colostomy reversal in October after barely surviving sepsis and a 9 hour emergency surgery but I am thankfully doing ok myself. I definitely feel tightness whenever I work out where the colostomy bag was, though its admittedly been awhile since I've done much working out since my gym has closed from covid emerged.

So glad I got my reversal like right before that hit, I couldn't imagine dealing with colostomy bag / skin issues during all this, I'm able to stomach beer and hard liquor again but have only drank once.

I occasionally get very slight discomfort in my pelvic area when using the toilet, which is probably nothing, but just scares the daylight out of me as that was the last sign of a micro perf that almost killed me was sitting down to poop and felt like a grenade went off in my crotch.

However back to eating what I like, and hopefully it will be feasible to get back to the gym soon, I honestly don't have the drive to push a workout without the environment and equipment.

Glad your still alive and well!

I haven't had surgery (yet) but I have had several bouts of DD flare-ups. My understanding about DD is that while the sigmoid colon bears the brunt of DD, the remaining proximal sections are also affected to some degree. So, resection of the sigmoid helps a great deal, but it is still advisable to practice vigilance with diet vs. resuming the diet eaten before DD. We have to continue to protect the remaining colon. Pork and beef and insoluble fiber are the hardest foods to digest and pass and make the colon work the hardest. I try to stick with soluble fibers and softer meats (fish, chicken) and drink plenty of water. Taking a stool softener reduces workload for the colon as well. If I ever do have the surgery, I'll continue this diet. It's doable and definitely helps.

My sigmoidectomy was done Feburary 12tg, 2020 (2.5 months ago). I had the robotic Divinci Xi surgery with six small incisions. Even though the surgery went smoothly the recovery for me was not. I only say this because I was terrified by the amount of blood during the first week post-OP. The aches and pain that accompanied the recovery kept me on opiates for two months. The afternoons were the worst, also going down stairs was far harder than going up. I'm in my mid 40's and honestly cannot imagine doing this as an older bloke.

My poo patterns (sorry to be graphic) are all over the place, and depend upon what one eats. The first six weeks post op I only are mushy foods with cooked veggies. Lots of mashed potatoes and homemade egg white waffles, cooked spinach and green beans. As time went by I tried my favourite foods. Here's where one learns what they can, and cannot handle. I miss eating chips and salsa above anything else. However, corn chips do NOT fully digest. It's a massive no fly zone for me. Plus, they cause constipation. Red meat is another only once in a blue moon meal. Red meat although delicious is extremely hard on even a healthy person's GI tract, so I'm choosing to mostly avoid. Mores the pity really. Rice, potatoes, cooked veggies, small salads, fish, poultry is the way to go. Bread that is dense will constipate quickly. Only eat these in moderation.

The twinges, pulls, and occasional sharp pains are NORMAL. Do remember you just had surgery. My resection was sorted with a circular stapler, which means one needs to keep things soft for 6 weeks or so post op. You don't want hard clumpy food passing over the resection area too quickly. For those that haven't researched their surgical method, I'd suggest you do so, if for no other reason it's good to know what's being done to you whilst you're asleep. When they attach your two ends back together they remove a medical device called the anvil rectally which I'm assuming causes extra trama to ones anus. Hence why one might bleed a bit more rectally post op. As I said previously, I wasn't prepared for a bog roll full of blood after surgery. * This is NORMAL. This is the most important thing I can tell you lot before you have your surgery. Please don't freak out, as this is normal.

I still feel occasional pain in the surgically area at times. It comes and goes quickly, and I mostly ignore it now. I'm absolutely over the moon at having this done prior to this Covid19 nightmare. For those currently waiting to get their surgeries i sympathize with you. The waiting is the worst part. Another piece of advice, research your surgeon!!!!! These physicians along with cardiologists and neurologists are extremely arrogant and at times flat out rude. I visited with six colorectal surgeons prior to settling on one. They assume most people are daft and avoid going into too much detail about your surgery. Ask loads of questions, if your met with attitude move on to the next surgeon. Empathy is massively important.

A couple more tidbits I might offer...I'm on miralax daily so my poo stays soft. I'm not sure I'll ever have a normally formed poo again. That's a bit odd, but as long as things are moving I'm okay with that to be honest. Drink loads of water every day. Oh, I know the value of fiber, but I have yet to implement Metamucil into my diet. That's the next step for me. In my opinion it almost impossible to eat 35 grams of fiber per day naturally. Absolutely boll**ks to think otherwise. I'm a runner, and have always had a mostly healthy diet with loads of fruit and veggies, but I know I've never eaten that amount of fiber per day. I'm not a big breakfast person, so trying to ingest that amount of fiber in two meals is impossible. Another thing you lot might think about is taking one 300-400 tablet of Magnesium before you have your tea or morning coffee, along with miralax the night before it really, really helps. I had a burger last night (second red meat meal I've had post op) and I'm at the moment constipated. The bread along with the dense red meat had slowed things down. With meals like this miralax and magnesium don't do much other than cause lots of angry tummy gurgling. As I mentioned earlier ONLY eat meals like this once in a blue moon.

Lastly, the largest incision I have is what you ladies would refer to as a bikini line scar. This is where they removed my rubbish sigmoid colon. I developed a seroma whilst healing. All this is, is a pocket of sterile fluid build-up. A hot pad every day for about 2.5 weeks sorts the matter. All and all I'm pleased so far with the surgery. I'm an AML Leukeamia survivor so I wasn't going to wait to take any chance with riding out my diverticulitis pain. One biopsy said in the next 5 years I might have stage 2 colon cancer. That's all I needed to know. Surgery was an easy choice, plus I had chronic diverticulitis. After my first attack I had two smaller attacks within a two month period. The daily aches and pains were too much. I do still have some odd feelings like needing to go poo even when I know there's nothing in me to get out. Odd this. In short I'm happy thus far. I hope this will help anyone whose had the surgery or, contemplating having it. Cheers, Jacob.

PS: Expat living in America. Stay safe, and please stay at home.