Every 6 months an attack should I do surgery?

May I ask the reasoning they are talking about taking it out if you don't have pain between episodes? I have pretty much constant pain and ct shows narrowing and that is why I have been told to have a resection. I am interested to see what others post.

I get about 2 flare ups a year.  I’m in US.  Doctor does not recommend surgery at this time.  Said keep yourself open and avoid what bothers you.  No seeds, no nuts and watch raw veggies and hard to digest meats. I sometimes cheat a little on all but really try tone careful.

I was diagnosed two years ago in sept. Had repetitive episodes, sept, nov, dec and may. When I had the May episode my GI doc said surgery was my only option. I declined and have been doing everything I can to control this and am happy to say that I have just passed a year with no flare ups. I watch what I eat, take a probiotic every day and benfiber and so far so good. 

I was averaging 1 attack a month. Actually had a reprieve last summer where I lasted 7 months attack free. Did have to go to the doctors a couple times because I could feel an attack coming. Diverticulitis affects everyone different and will regulate your life. After my 14+ attack my doctors finally referred me for sigmoid colectomy surgery.  I'm 2 weeks out and am thankful I made the decision to get it done.  Yes I won't lie the surgery is excruciating but now I will never worry if the next attack would kill me (in my case, yes), I can now travel and not have to be close to a hospital, eat whatever I  want, & most of all not have to live with the constant nausea and pain.  I'm only 2 weeks out of surgery  (eating soft diet because I'm still afraid to eat anything else until my 6 week mark) even though my surgeon said I could eat anything I wanted.  All the Diverticulitis nausea and pain is gone.

This is so helpful both sides of the spectrum. I am seeing my GI in two weeks. I'll keep reading comments then hopefully have an informed decision.

Hi,

As you can see everyone’s story is different. I have had 6 attacks in 2 yrs with months of trying to recover! I finally had surgery 6 weeks ago and feel pretty good. My surgery was done robotically , was up walking the same day . I was released 48 hours later.  I would do it again!

It was explained to me that with each flare your risk goes up for another attack! I didn’t realize how sick I was! I’m finally getting an appetite back  and the pain and nausea are gone.

Good luck with your decision

Kate

I’ve pretty much learned that they don’t do bags for this kind of surgery any more unless in rare cases. If you can “stomach” it, watch a video of laparoscopic colon resection on YouTube. It’s amazing. They poke this thing up your butt and the other side in the end of the colon, and then they screw them together. It binds the colon back together with a sort of “stapley” mechanism, and then later, the “stapley thing” harmlessly comes out in your poo. It’s amazing. They also do a test of blowing air into your ass and colon before they close you up to make sure there’s no air leaks (ie. a badly sealed colon).

So they really have this stuff down to precision it seems. I’d still rather not get it done, but it seems that if you do, you generally don’t have to count on getting “a bag” any more.