Coping With Colon Resection

Having had a Colonoscopy in September 2009 it was found that the Diverticulitis had not got any worse during the past year but a Polyp was present and proved to be a stubborn little character not wishing to be removed, I think the intrusion was the reason it started to go from a benign state to what turned out to be pre Cancerous.

My surgeon advised that I have the diseased part of my Colon removed and along with it the Polyp, surgery took place on the morning of 2nd Nov 2009,2-3 hours in theatre and all went according to plan,I had no pain,thanks largely to the Epidural,which I had for 48 hours,was up walking morning of 3rd day before removal of Epidural. I had been warned by my surgeon that I may have a temporary Colostomy bag depending on what he found during surgery,so mentally I had prepared myself for this,so it didn’t come as a total shock when I discovered I had one. Initally I did not know how I would cope with the bag at work (London Taxi Driver) what with bag emptying and the lack of public toilet facilities with parking. Anyway it proved not to be a problem, as did the bag generally the only real problem I had was clothing,needed to wear baggy stuff because the Stoma was right on my waistline so needed clothes where I could have the bag over the waistline of tracksuit bottoms.

The closure of the Ileostomy took place 18th January 2010, I was pre-warned by the stoma nurses that I may experience very loose stools to begin with so should eat only stodgy food,chips (fries) mashed potato,rice pasta, minced red meat,chicken, peas and carrots,stay away from high fiber foods for a while. It is now 4 weeks since the reversal and I started playing golf last week just three weeks after the second operation, I asked for guidance on this matter and my surgeon basically told me if you feel ok try it,your body will tell you if you have done too much to soon,thankfully mine has not complained. I am now eating pretty much normally,after following the advice given(important) the nurses have seen many cases and know what they are talking about,listen to them.

During this 3 month period I coped with everything far better than I expected, in fact got quite comfortable with the Colostomy and due to the many doom and gloom articles I came across nearly cancelled the reversal,so so glad I didn’t.
To anyone who may be faced with the prospect of the above operations my advice is try not to worry too much about it,your surgeon knows what they are doing,it seems daunting at first but the human body does a great job of repairing itself.