Recovery after surgery

I had colon cancer and had a large section of my colon removed, my rectum and 55% of my liver removed. The first surgery was in January of 2008. I came out of the surgery with a temporary bag that I wore for 4 months. In April I had the bag reversed. When I came home from the hospital I was in the bathroom 20 to 30 times a day and many times not making it to the bathroom. It was very humbling. I talked to the colon surgeon and he said to increase my fiber with a fiber supplement and it got worse.

I did heavy chemo until October of 2008 that I think was the main cause of the urgency to go to the bathroom. It is now September of 2009 and most of the time I have the same urgency but better control.

I would say on average I still am in the bathroom 7 to 10 times a day which I can deal with. The main problem is the soreness. I am hoping that someone can give me some advise on what they do to stop the soreness.

I have tried every different type of food to see if things are different. It seems when you think you may have found a diet that works it turns into the same situation as it was.

I want to be clear to everyone that I have been truely blessed with additional time on this earth with my family and please do not think the message above is a complaint message. I am just trying to get some additional relief.

I also want everyone to know that I am here to talk to anyone that would like some support with the same type of surgery that I had.

I look forward to your responses.

Thanks

 HI

  Glad you are doing ok apart from sorness, Have you thought of mashing your food IE veg together so its easier to pass through colon, other thing is try not to eat pork as it takes ages to digest and can put strain on body, also watch your red meat intake  that is if you do eat  red meat,

 Drink lots and lots of water every day to help food get through colon, and  do not uses  tisuues  use  wipes,, wich much better.

  Hope this a Help to You.. God Bless ..

I had the same problem as you following my colon surgery in June of 2004.Mine did not seem to be quite as bad as your, but I understand how you feel.  First of all, I found cottonelle wipes to be a God sent for this problem. Secondly, I have a cousin who is an MD, but has been doing homeopathic medicine for 35 yrs.  He suggested I have my stool tested for gluten and dairy intolerance.  I did that about 2 and 1/2 yrs ago and the test came back that I was over the charts positive to gluten and dairy. I then stoped eating all gluten an dairy and the diarrhea stopped!!!!! Have I cheated sometimes, yes, and have had diarrhea coming charging back. I don't know if this is what is causing your problem or not, but what the heck, you have tried everything else!!  If you decide to try this, you must read ALL labels on the food you eat.  There is gluten in bottled salad dressing, root beer soda, can soups, and oh so many other things along with the ususal bread, pastry,cookies, pretzles, cereals.  It is hard at first, but it was salvation for me.  I use a gluten free cereal with soy milk, rice pasta, gluten free bread, cookies, pretzels  I am awaiting the test result for soy milk, eggs and yeast for other reasons.Good luck and I hope this helps you. Barbara 119 

On 10/1/2009 nanaregi wrote:

I use a lidoderm cream specifically designed for rectal use. It doesn't completely eliminate pain but reduces it significantly.

Is the lidoderm cream something that is available over the counter?