Post Surgery Questions

Hi everybody --I'm new to this site.  I was diagnosed with colon cancer in mid-March and had surgery this past Tuesday, where they took the tumor, 31 lymph nodes and re-structured my colon so that I have no rectum.  I just came home from the hospital yesterday.

Got the news on Friday evening that the cancer had spread to a few lymph nodes and is in the fatty portion of my colon, so they diagnosed me with Stage 3B colon cancer.  After I recover from surgery, I'll start chemo.

I have an embarassing question, though.  I was on a liquid diet for days after my surgery, with one day on a soft food diet.  I have had no bowel movement in over a week.  With no rectum, I'm concerned with how my bowels will move.  Can anybody let me know their experiences with this?  Also, how long should I wait before I get really concerned with the lack of bowel movement? (no rumblings, no gas, nada).   Right now, I'm uncomfortable in my abdomen not just because of the surgery, but because I really need to poop.

Any shared experiences will help.  Also, how long after surgery should I expect to be able to go back to work?  I thought I'd be back working tomorrow, but I don't see how that's going to happen.

Any replies are appreciated!

Kelly

Hmmm... it was called some kind of reconstruction.  There's so much of last week that's a fuzzy memory.  I'll ask when I go back for my post-surgery check.

Spoke with my surgeon on the phone this morning, and he stated I have a colo-anal reconstruction, which is different than a J-pouch.

Thank God my bowels finally moved last night --I thought I was going to explode. 

I'm now reading everybody's past posts about chemo, and I'm sure I'll have more questions then.  Lots of stuff to absorb out there.  I guess mine will start in the next few weeks --I don't even have an oncologist yet.