APPROPRIATE FOOD TO EAT AFTER COLON RESECTION SURGERY

I just had my surgury 4/27/11, total colon removal with just enough colon remaining to attach to my rectum. Beside not being able to figure out what I am doing as far as eating, I have sometimes unbearable pain in my incision, my rectum itches like crazy after every bowel movement which is very watery. On top of everything I am all alone and have fell into a deep depression of despair. I want to get out but I just don't feel like it. And OMG when I sit in a normal way like a chair or couch my incision hurts sooo bad I find myself having to lay down or or stretch my body out or stand up. Can anyone send me some encouragement or advice cause I don't kn whats going on with my body now. Hungry but I can't seem to eat or maybe I'm just too scared of what happens next. Can someone give me some encouragement or advice? I need it! PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

Here is your encouragement.

It does take time, too much actually BUT non the less it does get a great deal better. It has been 8 months for me, I am almost 100%. (even better)
I finally am able to eat most everything. I do find that my food has less time to digest therefore my stools are full of my last meal. Small price to pay. I had 18" of my lover intestine removed and had the large incision which was, to me, awful. The staples pulled and were so painful for 3 weeks before they were removed.  Laying on the floor is a great idea have something close and sturdy to use to get up.  The incision is annoying, it will get better, just take time.  I used vitamin E oil over the staples, approved by my surgeon after they were removed to keep the scare/incision area soft I used Aquaphor Healing ointment. I also use, my choice, Mederma scar gel..cause I want to.

The pain will lessen, promise. I can't comment on the amount of lower intestine (colon) you had removed mine I 'm not a Dr. Recovery is a slow and tedious process. Be kind to yourself, allow yourself time to heal most of all don't lift anything until your Dr approves it. I waited 8-10 weeks before I even thought about it.  I did over do once and really really set myself back.

Chew your food A LOT, almost liquefy it if you can. It is best for digestion and gas.  Drink water for constipation, if you have that come up.

Eat small amounts of food every 3 hrs.  Stay positive....

Keep writing on this site, there are some great people out there that will add to your request for help.

I have found this site very useful, my husband is about to go in for a low anterior resection and i am worried to death as you can imagine, you all must have gone through the same thing. I wanted to have a look at what foods he could eat after his surgery and this has been very helpful. Healthy eating has always been a chore anyway so he won't miss fruit and veg that much, it's more his sweeties and chips that he will pine for! But at the end of the day it is a small price to pay for your life.

I had my colon removed last Oct. 5 in were left.  A foot of small intestine removed also.  Stayed 7 days in the hospital did not want food just ice chips for 7 days o I really lost wt. came home at 120.  Real pains I am not going to say it went with no pain.  At this point I am so much better. but have learned what I can eat and when. Morning are the worst with bms. At first carrots and mashed pots.  Activea is great for what is left in my body. Please feel free to ask me anything since I have been thru som imbaress moments. You will do fine it takes times do not be hard on yourself. good luck

 

Thank you so much, it is great to talk with someone who has been through this, so good to hear you are feeling much better now, in some post's people say they wish they hadn't had this op but for my husband there is no choice, he has cancer( a tumour in his bowel) so he has to have this or the tumour will regrow and he will die. My husband has lost a lot of weight and i expect he will lose more after his op when he can't eat very well, luckily he had plenty of weight to lose, he is on medication for schitzophrenia and this put weight on him. I am his full time carer as well as his wife so we are fortunet that i don't have to worry about keeping a job as well as looking after him.  When you say activea, you do mean the yogurts? if so which flavours are okay? prunes for instance ? Are small meals more often a good idea? I was training to be a chef before my husband became ill with his mental health problems so i did nutrition at college which i am going to find very useful i would think. Do fatty things like butter have to be out altogether or can you have a small amount? Also did you have a temporary stoma after your op, if so did you find it difficult to cope with? and has it been put back now? I'm sorry if some of my questions seem a little personal but bottoms are rather embarrassing subjects to talk about anyway. One of my daughters neighbours had a similar op and had a stoma for a while she found most problems after it was put back but seems to be getting better with time. I suppose you get more used to how your body works now and find out which foods upset you and what to avoid.

I have several postings as A Guest, I had forgotten my password and was too lazy to find it.

I wrote as my subject : Encouragement

I have found that small meals and often are the only way to always feel good after eating. No cheese, no fried foods included potato chips is best to feel good.  Some veggies cause awful gas so be careful of this, raw:Cauliflower, cucumbers, broccoli and BEANS to name a few. I eat plain fat free organic yogurt as a rule with honey. Not sure about Activa, that too has been proven to be just a yogurt now and advertised as such.
Nuts and popcorn are tough, I can eat them but they don't totally digest. So wait on those until much later.
I drink V8 to get my veggie and V8 with the fruit mixture. I also take vitamin suppliments just in case.

I wish you well and an easy recovery for your husband most of all that the removal of his cancer a complete success.  Remember to remain positive every day/month gets better. After about 8-9 weeks I was able to say "wow, I feel noticeably better today."  Now, after 8 months I am really great. I hate the incision still, it is ugly and light red. But, I also know that this too will take time to fade. I am not being unrealistic I know it will be there but my life was saved by this surgery.

I find walking is terrific it helps digestion and so does simple stretching. Laying on the floor putting your arms over your head and relaxing.

After surgery for weeks I placed a hot/warm hot water bottle on my stomach this soothed the pain and discomfort.

I had my third colonoscopy, CT, blood work up and all is good, no signs at all of of cancer or polyps.  Next follow up  this month, not looking forward to that. My surgeon is not very gentle I have to share.  

I am running again and enjoying physical fitness and healthy food again.

Reminder: Please be patient, take it slow, relax read a book and wait for your body to recover from MAJOR surgery.

Stay in touch.

Thank you very much for sharing your experience, it is so good to hear from people who have had this op and are getting better. Brilliant that the cancer has gone, hope your follow up this month goes well. When i first found out that my husband had bowel cancer i cried for a week thinking that it was a death sentence so it has helped greatly to see online people who have recovered, it gives me hope that we will get through this. My husband cannot read and write very well and refuses to use the PC so i have to pass on to him what i find out online. However i watched a video of an operation, the one my husband is going to have and wish i hadn't now ! I'm glad he hasn't seen it, the consultant scared him enough telling him the risks of surgery, i know they have to by law but he would have been better not knowing, it's not as if he has any real choice about having it. Like you this op will save his life.  Thank you also for the diet tips they will be very useful when he first comes home from hospital. Look forward to hearing from you again, let me know how your follow up went.

This forum is so helpful to me.  I had colon resection four weeks ago today and it seems like forever.  I am not a very patient person and thought I would be like new in four weeks, big surprise.  I can eat basically nothing.  The tried and true egg beaters, I can't stand real eggs, mashed potatoes and toast are my constants.  These are the only things I have been able to eat with the least amount of discomfort.  Before this forum I had absolutely no idea of what to eat.  My drs gave me absolutely nothing to go on other than a "bland" diet and that doesn't work for me.  As I stated, there are three foods I can tolerate, and I do mean tolerate.  I do have discomfort with those foods but less than with anything new and I have tried different "bland" foods and it simply isn't worth the pain it causes.  I have lost a tremendous amount of weight and know my body has to be deficient as I am on no vitamins or supplements at all.  I have an appt with my PCP Tuesday of next week and anxiously await this appt.  She will take blood and I can only imagine how bad it is going to be.  I have so much trouble with "dumping" up to sixteen times daily.  Just started Welchol this week and that has helped some, thank God but I don't know how long this will last.  I also tried the shots "sandostatin" and they did absolutely nothing for me, except break the bank as they were almost $500.00 per injection.  One could get depressed really easily if you dwell on the down side, which I try not to do.  Thank you to all who have posted both the good and the bad.  At least I now have some idea of what to expect.  I can't believe the GI nor the surgeons nor the internest give no information, but in my case they gave me nothing.  Sad but true.  Thanks to anyone that may offer any information and good luck to all of us!

I am so glad that I found this site.  I have been reading all the posts as I am scheduled to have my sigmoid colon removed on July 18th because of a malignant polyp.  On the day of my consult with the surgeon, I told him that I had been planning a trip to Italy with my 2 children on September the 15th and I wanted to know if he thought I should cancel it.  I guess he wanted me to stay positive because he told me that I should be ok to go on the trip.  Now that I read all these posts I am beginning to wonder if the trip will be possible at all.  It is certainly depressing to think that it may be years if I ever get back to normal and on top of that, I have been recently diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes so many of the foods that are mentioned to be tolerable are not on my list of acceptable diabetic friendly carbs!  I had been doing so well with a high fiber, low glycemic index carb, higher protein diet along with the gym 5 times a week and I can see that this is going to be a problem.  I know that this surgery has to be done, colon cancer is not something to play around with.  But I really do want to take the planned trip  and at the risk of sounding like a spoiled brat...it is not fair!!  Is there anyone out there that did recover nicely and can anyone say if they went on a vacation after and did not have too many problems?

Message to Sally S regarding your trip to Italy.  You are right it isn't fair!  But,

I am pleased to hear your Dr is trying to keep you positive, I want to reply with my experience. If you have the long incision, mine was approx 8", I want to strongly suggest you reschedule your trip.  The care of the incision and real caution needed during the healing process doesn't lighten for months, for me 4-5 months. The ability for you to be able to sit for such a long flight, bent in 1/2 will be extreemly difficult and uncomfortable.  The bathroom visits on the aircraft too could be an issue.  Walking in Italy will require a great deal of resting throughout the day, some days where you may not want to get up at all. I have been to Milan, Florence and Sienna the cobblestones were beautiful but, very uneven. If you were to jar yourself while walking it could set you back, making the trip home even worse.

The high fiber diet after surgery, in my experience is a no no. Remaining on mushy over cooked foods will be the best. Over cooked carrots with honey was really a treat.  Soda crackers, cream of rice cereal was also good with sugar (substitute) and cinnamon. Jello, pudding and sauted' apples in butter and cinnamon comforted me.  I drink organic soy milk which is terrific. I would suggest no apples, banana, raw veggies, these were a huge negative. No beans of any kind, includes hummus.  Definitely no cheese.  Wheat noodles with olive oil, salt and pepper was a dinner.  The food in Italy shouldn't cause you an issue but ,the trip, the visit while these and the return home, let alone if there are complications concern me personally.  If your bowel became an issue i.e. stopped up, bring a laxative of some kind which then will be another bathroom issue.

I ate a couple prunes every day after 3 weeks, Dr's request to keep things moving gently. That suggestion, I can only assume worked.

Next month, August will be one year since I had 18" of my Sigmoid removed, after a polyp was removed with 75% cancer. I still can not have cheese, uncooked brocolli, cauliflower, beans (in excess) popcorn and a few other things, yet! I remain positive and encouraged with each day.

I lost 15 pounds at first and wish I could have kept it off but, with only able to eat foods that work i.e. carbs, the pounds came back. I walk and lift smalllight weights everyday now to get my muscle back after months of light work. PLEASE DON'T LIFT ANYTHING FOR 6-8 WEEKS.  I can run again which was a blessing for me.

It is a long process, don't rush it. Don't go to the gym for at least 3-4 months, when you do go it will be the tread mill only. I did some very light leg weight lifting although, some still stress the stomach muscles. Reminder: this is MAJOR surgery and requires the time to heal inside and out properly! Be patient.

I must say I was very glad to find this. I'm only four days post op for sigmoid colon resection and bladder repair. My surgery was planned and I had three months to prepare with a lot of diet and exercise. The operation went fine and intestinal functions fully returned in under three days. There was a lot of painful gas on day two, but walking a lot and changing positions until I could pass gas helped a lot. 

Hi, I had a Sigmoid Resection just over a year ago, I am a 55 year old Male.  My resection was carried out because my Sigmoid colon was enlarged and would often twist, causing excruciating pain, the surgeon who did the operation informed me that there were no nasty things going on in my colon, it was just too large and unless some of it was removed it would continue to twist and eventually rupture.
The sugeon removed 1 Metre from my colon by laparoscopy, I recovered remarkably quickly, went into hospital on Monday and was home at 1900hrs on Wednesday the SAME week! The surgeon put this down to the fact that I was relatively healthy, none smoker, non drinker, just a few stone overweight. I ate whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted, don't get me wrong... my bowels were not the same as they were pre op, and I obviously did not expect them to be! I was going to empty my bowel much more frequently, at least 5 or six times a day! There was no discomfort or pain either, now just over a year on my bowel is just as it was before, going once a day regular as clockwork. (no complaints about bowel at all)!
This now leads me to explain my reply to this forum, since my operation my sexual desire and erections seem to have suffered and upon looking at forums like this I find that they are "side effects" of this sort of surgery, as a man I will openly admit that I am highly embarrased to go to the doctors and explain my symptoms, but my wife is now becoming suspicious and thinks that I may be having an affair (IF ONLY!!!)
Has anyone else had these symptoms? Has anyone else had successfull treatment? Is there any treatment?

Frank,   I am one week post-op sigmoid colon resection.   I found two excellent pieces of on-line info for low-residue (low-fiber) diet.  One is from the Mayo Clinic, the other from "WebMD."   Just google "Low-residue diet" to access these.
Basically, allowed food list is as follows:  Enriched white bread or rolls without seeds, White rice, plain white pasta, noodles and macaroni, crackers. refined cereals such as Cream of Wheat, Pancakes or waffles made from white refined flour, Most canned or cooked friuits without skins, seeds, or membranes. Fruit and vegetable juice with little or no pulp, fruit-flavored drinks and flavored waters, Canned or well-cooked vegetables without seeds, hulls or skins, such as carrots, potatoes, and tomatoes (leave out the seeds!), Tender meat, poultry and fish, Eggs, Tofu, Creamy peanut butter- up to two tablespoons a day, Butter, margarine, oils, and salad dressings without seeds. 
Mayo clinic info also includes helpful typical menu for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.   My own personal favorites going down well at this point are:  Toast with margarine and applesauce,   one veggie pattie for lunch,  and  white rice mixed with Wolfgang Puck's canned "Old Fashioned Potato Soup for dinner.  Best of luck to you.

I had resection about three years ago, I eat anything but steer clear of lots of hard vegetables or loads of vegetable soup etc. I find I need a fair bit of carbohydrates. It does get better and you need to eat a variety of stuff to stay healthy. Chilli can effect me but I put up with effects ! Eat what is appropriate for what you are about to do, don't eat a huge Chinese if you are about to go out all day. I also take a half imodium morning and night (liquid). I wouldn't be afraid of taking these where necessary but I reduced the dose as much as was practical. Hope this helps take care.

Have gotten a great medication. It is call levisin. My ins. does not pay for it since it is not on thr3er formaly. At walmart is ruins $84.00 for 120 pills. it is well worth it. Am alot better. Oct 20 1yr. July was 1yr since gallbladder surgery. Then colnectomy end of Oct. Our bodies are stronger than we think. you will get better in time. Still need to watch what I eat.  Have a great day.