diverculitis- no prior signs- then emergency surgery only 40

shazza1906 · Newbie Joined: 02 Mar 2006 Posts: 1

Hi, My husband was taken by ambulance to hospital 2 weeks ago after having 1 day of severe abdominal pains, within 3 hrs he was having emergency surgery, no diagnosis or anything about diverculitis before hand- we didn't even know what it was. He had 25cm cut from his colon and now has a bag, or should I say, he had a colostomy, but we hope this will be reversed within a few months. Can anyone let me know what to expect, how long he will be off work, everything up to now has been very vague, Thank You

Mark · Silver Member Joined: 23 Jul 2005 Posts: 227

My father was 10 days in hospital after colostomy. They gave him to eat about 3 days after the surgery. We were also very afraid for my father, so we asked all the necessary questions at the hospital about his condition, when he will come home, when he will be ok, etc

The doc told us that the recovery may take up to two months if everything goes as planned and that most of these surgeries are successful. They also told us that they will probably reconnect the colon, which was quite a relief but of course that he had to put up with stoma first.

He was in pain after the surgery and was taking some painkillers and stool softeners as well. He didn’t have any problems with eating and digestion.
As for the work, it depends upon what kind of line of work your husband is. His doc will probably advise him what to do and say when he can return to work. My father was already retired, so we didn’t have to worry about that.
Your husband will probably get help with his stoma and he will just have to learn to both deal with it and take care of it.
When his colon heals, I suppose they will do another surgery and rejoin the colon.
I think you need to demand some answers from either nurses but even better doctor who operated on your husband. The recovery is individualized and you have the right to know what is going on, and what is expected. Demand some answers!

oboeplayer · Newbie Joined: 03 Apr 2007 Posts: 1

Hi, I had the same situation almost a year ago. I had a long recovery, due to lung complications, but you can probably expect your husband to be up and around in a few weeks, maybe less. Go to your local Ostomy Support group, so you can learn about all the different kinds of appliances and brands. I left the hospital with one box of the wrong type of bags and 15 minutes of instruction from the ostomy nurse. Fortunately, the major manufactures have hotlines! Expect to have problems getting the flange to stay stuck at first until the stoma heals and shrinks. I once had to flee a resturant without paying when the flange suddenly popped off! I called the manager from my cell phone and he was very nice... his wife had had a colostomy! Another thing to expect is depression..I seem to get most depressed when I change a flange. Most of the time I feel OK about the whole thing, but it took several weeks. Try lots of different products from different manufacturers...more expensive is not necessarily the best for him.

diverculitis- no prior signs- then emergency surgery only 40

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