Diverticulitis & weeks of antibiotics

[Barney56]

Wondering if anyone else has been through this experience. Am on w&w, 3 years after treatment. Diverticulitis came on hard; 10 days augmentin, 4 days cypro & flagyl, 5 days IV antibiotics, now finishing up the Cipro & flagyl. My oncologist requested my gastro ent. put me in the hospital. Got to come home yesterday without a drain but looking at resection soon. I have never been in so much pain for so long. Night sweats have started again, hard & heavy. My head hurts! Will see my gastro ent in 2 days, oncologist the end of October.

Any thoughts?

[noeagaman]

Hi, I had a resection about a year before I started FCR. I had diverticulitus 4 times before that. I had been on W&W for about a year before the resection. My surgery went fine. They hospitalized me for about a week after the resection. My platelets were ok at that time. How are your platelets? They wanted mine to be at least above 50 for the surgery.

Chris

[Barney56 in reply to noeagaman]

27

[Barney56 in reply to Barney56]

Thank you for your response. Gives me hope❣️

[LovecuresCLL]

Sometimes they have to remove the diseased tissue. The outpounching can get inflamed and even rupture. It can feel as bad as an appendicitis. My friend had a resection 30 years ago and it never came back. He does avoid seeds. He eats a lot of fiber now.

I think it is unrelated to CLL . How high is you WBC now?

[Barney56 in reply to LovecuresCLL]

15

[Barney56 in reply to Barney56]

Your response is encouraging!

[LovecuresCLL in reply to Barney56]

Hi Barney, 15 is not too high for CLLers. But there are certainly more cells around to add to the -itis in the diverticulitis.

If you have to get a resection, try not to worry. Most general surgeon have to do thousands of these in their careers. Just find someone who has done a lot of these. The recovery can be a bit uncomfortable, my friend told me, but it’s a lot better than the pain you have now because you will be healing and improving. So that’s the good news.

Let us know how you make out, if they have to remove the colon tissue.

Hope you are feeling a bit better today,

John

[Barney56 in reply to LovecuresCLL]

Thank you. Encouraging news! I will find out tomorrow what is to happen next.

[JerrysGirl3 in reply to Barney56]

I had whole sigmoid colon removed. Don’t feel any different. Just want s half price deal on my next colonoscopy lol!!

[Ironj]

I’ve have 4 attacks over a 6-7 month period and was on Cipro & Flagyl each time for 10 days. I was sick as a dog for those 6-7 months that’s how my SLL was diagnosed from all the CT Scans. Is this your first attack ? I also became lactose intolerant from the diverticulitis. As far as your night sweats maybe your body is still fighting of the infection. And if your going to need a resection it must be a pretty bad case so again the infection may still be hanging on. I would tell your oncologist your running night sweats. Are you running a fever? My last course of antibiotic that they put me on just to make sure the infection was gone is an extended 10 days on Flagyl. Best wishes John

[Barney56]

Thank you. Fever is low grade. Not my first diverticulitis but 100% the worst.

Your response is encouraging.

[maggie214]

Barney,

So sorry to hear. I was hospitalized for three weeks with diverticulitis while still in treatment. I also had six weeks of antibiotic treatment with the same drugs they used on you. I followed it three months later with surgery turn remove my sigmoid colon. Everything went really well and my surgeon took extensive care to protect my immune system from the vulnerabilities of being both in surgery And in the hospital.

I hope you have the same excellent experience going forward. Just make sure everybody that comes into your room washes their hands!

[Barney56]

Thank you! Such encouraging news.

[Gman2]

Hi, I had diverticulitis and needed a resection this past Feb. The hospital only kept me 2 days and then discharged me. Two weeks later my wife and I drove to Houston for admission to MD Anderson for testing to determine the course of treatment for my cll. When I was there I did experience some night sweats and the ordeal was not easy as it was test after test after test. Even after the resection I experienced diverticulitis symptoms this past May. I was treated for the symptoms with the usual antibiotics. I improved. I contacted the surgeon and he assured me that he didn't think t was the diverticulitis but the cll. I felt very sick and it took me about a month to recover. Our immune system is compromised aest nd recovery is more difficult and longer. Best wishes. Gerry

[JerrysGirl3]

Barney back exactly 4 years ago tonight (2015) on my then 61st birthday I woke up around 4 am with severe abdominal pain that made late labor contractions seem like a mosquito bite! Went to ER (I had history of diverticulitis - first time I was in hospital on total IV diet and eventually it passed.) this time not so lucky. Doc came in after reviewing scan and said probably colostomy would have to be done as the situation did not look good. So husband and I decided better to bear the “bag” then die. So I had surgery. Removed my sigmoid colon and flushed out my innards and put in colostomy bag. And a wound vac. It was during this surgery they discovered my CLL! I was just looking over surgical notes recently and saw I had lots of “unknown” infections and was given all sorts of meds and I do believe one said I had a collapsed lung and another fibrosis in my lung !!!!!!! I was on pain meds I guess but thinking back on it I’m not sure if I was in pain after surgery. Right after surgery when I was in ICU the fricking resident literally dug into my stomach where the wound was and I was screaming and screaming at him to stop. I must have had meds quite often. I was definitely aware but def being given pain meds. Was in hospital 3 weeks!! The resect was three months later done too soon and doc didn’t even realize I was highly anemic, and then turned out I was allergic to iron infusion. Had blood and platelet transfusions during surgery. That was a horror and to this day I have an inch long hole in my colostomy scar that never healed and periodically leaks. What it leaks no one knows. And he left me with an 11” hernia which I just had fixed by a NYC specialist last year. Stomach has never been comfortable since.

Just wondering if you might still have an infection going on with CLL and high WBC counts it’s hard to diagnose infection. They found a secondary infection in me but they almost didn’t do the scan that found it because of the CLL and I would have died. The night sweats and headaches reminds me of someone with a high fever (headache) that then comes down (thus night sweats). Doesn’t sound right to me. Being in so much pain. I don’t think a resect is done sooner than three months but in your case I don’t think they’d do it until they find out why you are still in so much pain with the headache and night sweats. I would see another doctor with my hospital reports, especially scans, and see what really happened. My doctor really screwed up. You really need a specialist and not a general surgeon like i did, although I really didn’t have a choice coming in thru ER.

Good luck to you and get it checked out sooner rather then later. I can’t talk about being on any CLL meds as I’m still in w and w.

[Barney56]

Wow! I am so sad to hear your story. I appreciate you sharing it with me. I am concerned & confused. one thing in my favor is the relationship between my oncologist and gastro enterologist. I plan on being persistent, getting all information out in the open. I am determined to have all my ducks in a row, & theirs too.

Thank you for sharing your story. I will make sure to get all of the facts.