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Surgery or not?

Posted , 6 users are following.

ben70579
ben70579

Good afternoon everyone.

My first bout of Diverticulitis occurred mid 2012 on the weekend of my 35th birthday, hospitalised for 10 days I was uncertain of how to approach this illness. At first the thoughts of surgery were very grim and having heard the stories of the discomfort following the procedure I became happy that ge consultant elected non invasive treatment  of the condition.

Since December 14 I have had three flare ups of which the current bout started last Saturday and here I lie a week later still in pain and now considering surgery as a viable option.

Has anyone found the surgery successful and if so was it reversed after a period of time?

 I Would also be very interested in the dietary advice forum members have as thus far all I've had has been contradictory.

kind regards

ben

 

0 likes, 6 replies

6 Replies

  • appendectomy
    appendectomy ben70579

    Posted

    Hi Ben. All I can tell you is what I been told. Through research and from surgeons themselves. They are very reluctant to operate unless there is a direct complication such as abcess, perforation or fistula. This would cause a bacterial infection with fever and raised inflammatory markers in bloodtest There's a reason for this. Diverticulas can form in the rest of the colon causing same symptoms post op. Operation would then be pretty pointless and pose more risk than advantage to patient. In every surgical intervention you have to outweigh risks to the gains. Once they remove a bit of your intestine, its gone forever. This is also something to consider. Colon absorps water. With reduced colon you may start having frequent diarrhoea.

    Have you looked into other areas of treatment? I followed a anti inflammatory diet plus took over counter meds for IBS. Its not an overnight cure. Takes about a !month to kick in. But when it works, it works. I believe from reading a lot on the subject diverticlar disease can leave you with low grade chronic inflammation in the guts. Research supports this thesis too. Whenever I had a flare my blood works are fine but I always have leucocytes in my urine! Sign of inflammation. Antibiotics will not work on inflammation. I did have one initial episode of acute diverticulitis with raised inflammatory markers and fever. Unfortunately this went undiagnosed and they took my appendix out instead. In all reality I had peritonitis and thankfully they gave me enough intravenous antibiotics to curb the infection preventing sepsis. I was 38 at the time. Sometimes antibiotics are lifesaving too. But only if used correctly.

    I have found a alternative remedy called boswellia seratta. Its used in Chinese medicine and brought to Jesus Christ by the three wise men too! Its suitable for gastro intestine inflammation. Do not use ibuprofen or aspirin as it can cause bleeding. I would also suggest Chinese medicine for consultation. Surgery should be last option. I understand you must be feeling pretty low and rubbish right now. Been there myself. Try liquid diet, cut out all sugar and introduce solids in a day or two. Make sure you go toilet frequently, no backing up.Hopefully you feel better soon. I assume that you been to doctors? If not you should go as you may still need antibiotics. But keep in mind they will only work on infection. All the best Ben

    • ben70579
      ben70579 appendectomy

      Posted

      Hi there, thank you so much for your reply so soon!! i am gleaning more info from this site than any other. My consultant back in 2012 said that the operation indeed should only be as a last resort which i initially thought was the right decision, but post three bouts in six months ive started thinking otherwise. I am currently waiting for the results of the Colonoscopy i had six weeks ago before i can move forward with any reasonable course of action. is there any hard and fast ruling on diet, I find there is so many conflicting data out there. For the last two days all ive eaten is soft skinless fruit, manuka honey and tomato soup with the obvious Metro tablet chaser. Is this as good as its going to get? Can you get the Anti biotics on repeat prescription with this condition ? 

      Thanks again for the reply 

      Ben

    • laura77764
      laura77764 appendectomy

      Posted

      Thank you for your very interesting story.  I keep finding lots of different information the hardest of which is to find information on diet - what to eat once over an episode.  I see that you mention to cut out all sugar (which I have heard from someone else).  Do you mean whilst recuperating from an episode or completely forever?  I've been told no gluton, wine, tea, coffee, strawberries, bananas, all dairy and read no onions and I've cut out broccoli as well.  For someone who is veggie this will impact quite a bit and am hoping that I don't have to cut out everything.

       

  • appendectomy
    appendectomy ben70579

    Posted

    I Mean cutting out sugar forever really. Or keep it to very moderate intake. Just as a diabetic would. Of course the occasional splurge is allowed once you were to become symptom free. But consistently high sugar intake is off limits.
    • laura77764
      laura77764 appendectomy

      Posted

      Thanks for clearing about the sugar, I usually don't have a sweet tooth though occasionally do crave sugar but try to eat dark, plain chocolate and keep away from any processed sweets etc as much as possible
  • appendectomy
    appendectomy ben70579

    Posted

    I just found an article describing sub acute diverticulitis and smouldering. Diverticulitis. Very interesting. Smouldering div can carry on for 6-12 months with no clinical signs apart from pain. Ie normal blood values and no fever. 70% of those patients have had surgery with good outcome resolving the pain issue
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