Coping With Colon Resection

I am a 68 year old physician who practiced urology for over 20 years and who had inflammatory bowel disease for 40 years. Finally last year the colonoscopy showed the colon to be turning bad, maybe even precancerous. So I underwent a total colectomy. At my age I did not want to have any fancy “pouch” attached to the anus which could continue to make me a bathroom cripple again if any complications. So out with the anus! It has been less than a year, but it was the right decision.

The surgery was to be done laparoscopically, but there was so much scarring that the surgeon opened me up, the whole procedure was over 7 hours. Now being a urologic surgeon I discovered that if we could prevent any pain for 24 to 48 hours, that the subsequent pain would be much less. So I opted for what is called “Cepidural analgesia.” A catheter is placed in the epidural space like a spinal tap and similar to a women’s anesthesia giving birth. It is placed on the operating table. The anesthesiologist then injects something like morphine through the catheter and some local which then interferes with the nerves going to the abdomen without the systemic effects of the drugs. Using this I needed no narcotics by day 3 and was discharged on day 4.

Now part of this miraculous recovery was due in part to good surgery, a patient who could not stand hospitals and to preparation. For one week prior to the surgery I drank protein drinks every day. These were obtained from the vitamin stores and made up of proteins, amino acids and the like. I also did not care about the calories. This placed me in what us surgeons refer to as “positive nitrogen balance”. I kept this up when I got home for another 4 weeks and tried to eat as much meats as possible. I was back at work within 3 weeks.

Nothing is totally pain free. Removal of the intra abdominal catheter was like a horror movie but took only a minute (felt like an hour). And of course the urinary catheter. Well, let’s not go there.

As has been mentioned, walk a lot every day and recovery will be better. I had one peculiar response. When I was discharged I had this horrible smell. I thought my body was disintegrating the ostomy paste. I called in the nurses, the nurses aides, the ostomy nurse and they all smelled me and said they could not smell anything. It was horrible. In my son’s car on the way home, the air conditioner smelled the same. He got me some nasal sniffing stuff and it helped. It lasted about 48 hours, and was obviously all in my olfactory cortex of the brain. But why, who knows?

Overall, I should have had this operation 30 years ago. I can now plan on my activities without having to have a bathroom attached to me. And veges? Who needs fiber! Hooray.