Bowel surgery

[Chezzerl]

Hi I’m due to have excision surgery for severe endo in 10 weeks time and after any advice please for coping after with food etc as I’m having excision done on Bowel and bit nervous what I’m going to be able to eat straight after etc and what foods to get in before hand ready . cheers for any help xx

[Hidden]

On returning home you would usually be able to eat a normal diet but try to make sure you eat plenty of fresh fruit & veg, high fibre foods to avoid constipation. Prunes and prune juice worked well for me. I also took dulcoease stool softener. Walking a little & often as soon as you feel able keeps things moving too! Best wishes xxx

[fishee1204]

Hello

I had endo excision and a bowel disc resection and shaving of bowel 5 weeks ago.

I was on quite a strict diet before and whilst in hospital expected to be on a certain diet, however I was surprised they allowed me to eat normally.

I've come home with many laxatives and still find I need them, mainly because I'm aware of the affect the surgery has had on passing movements rather than anything but it's improving week by week. Eating whatever I want, which is lovely but kept a food diary to begin with to See how what I ate affected my habits along with how much of which laxative suited me.

I hope I haven't confused you. Good luck. I have found this surgery recovery much easier than my laparoscopies with the laser treatment.

Good luck xx

[Chezzerl in reply to fishee1204]

Many thanks for your reply really appreciate all the info , hope you continue to recover well x

[Hidden]

I had this operation in February but didn’t actually know I had endo I was diagnosed once they opened me up as I was in agony and they had no clue what was wrong with me. As soon as I was awake I started eating loads of solid foods straight away. Big mistake. Your bowels need time to heal and start working slowly again so I was in agony and the hospital kept giving me codeine which bloats you up and constipates you. The food made me physically sick cos I’d eaten solids and maybe so much too quick after my op. Even the anti sickness tablets they gave me didn’t work the only thing that just about did was morphine that’s how bad the pain was. From eating it also made me have really bad trapped wind. I then just lived off fluids and yoghurts for a few days and then was allowed home which so bandages and this was in February and I’m okay now. So I advice you not to start eating too much straight away and take small slow mouthfuls of more liquid stuff

Hope this helps

[Chezzerl in reply to Hidden]

Hi sorry to hear you had such a rough time by the sounds of it xxx really appreciate your helpful advice certainly gives me a good plan of what to avoid etc much appreciated x glad your doing ok now , how long did you have to have off work and exercise etc plz ?

[Hidden in reply to Chezzerl]

I suppose everyone’s body’s different when it comes to healing and different doctors give different advice but I’ve only just healed and feel comfortbale stretching etc. I’m just signing up to the gym now but have been told by doctor to take it easy still and not go too intense.

I started walking the day after around the hospital cos you feel okay but the next day I was in agony and bled so try not to do that but as I said everyone is different and I’m not currently working

All the best x

[Starry]

Hey big hugs are you having a bowel shave or resection do you know xx Beforehand you may need to go on a low fibre diet for a few days and have a bowel prep like picolax to clear. If so they will send you the instructions a couple weeks in advance.

Afterwards your bowel can be sleepy and slow to move and painkillers can contribute to constipation and gastric upsets so try to get of them as early as possible anx be wary of ibuprofen. I had a bowel shave so it might be different if its a resection but I wasnt given any specific instructions and left to muddle through. Do ask for advice in case your case is different and there are specific things you should eat or avoid.

Low fat healthy proteins and plenty of fresh veg with fibre and things like licorice and prunes and remembering to drink enough water can be helpful, and may be worth getting in some movicol or lactulolose if you need to. I found that avoiding higher fodmap veg which are gassy in the intestine also helped me minimise discomfort. I also found beige processed stodgy carbs bunged me up which was painful in the early days. Orange veg like sweet potatoes and carrots have vitamin A which is good for healing and turmeric and ginger are anti inflammatory which may be helpful. After a while I took probiotics as it took a while for my gut to settle I left it a good while and did ask first.

Hope these ramblings are of some use. Xxx

[Chezzerl in reply to Starry]

Hi Starry all a great help many thanks for all the advice and kind words xx

Just hoping the surgery helps , they are going to try shaving but may have to do resection if too deep infiltrated so we shall see x will keep u posted many thanks 👍

[Starry in reply to Chezzerl]

That was the same as me. Xx I got away with a deep shave fortunately i remember that they told it was unusual to have to resort to resection, but they have to warn of worst case scenario. The surgery did help my back pain and bladder issues a great deal and my bowel is now more or less normal too (no more random fainting on the loo episodes) . My other symptoms havent massively changed, my dyspareunia is only now showing small signs of improvement, but the nodule had grown through the vagina wall so the damage there was quite bad. Also I unfortunately developed meningitis right after surgery, which left me with extra complications and residual issues which most people dont have, otherwide I would be in pretty good shape by now.

Take care and let me know how you get on xx

[EKP31 in reply to Chezzerl]

Hi just wondering how you got on with your op as I have mine booked for 2 weeks and am petrified of the complications. Really hope it went well x

[Chezzerl in reply to EKP31]

Hi

Really upsetting but had to postpone my op as two of my staff went off sick so now scheduled for 4 weeks time, bit like yourself am feeling fairly nervous but just really hoping it makes a difference x would you let me know how you get on , will be thinking of you stay strong and think positive xx good luck xx

[EKP31 in reply to Chezzerl]

Really sorry to hear that. My op was scheduled for 28th Aug but got cancelled on the day as it was booked in a private hospital and they refused to take such a major case on in a private hospital in case of complications. It’s the waiting that makes it even harder as I’m now beginning to scary myself about the complications. Best of luck with your op and will definitely keep you posted xx

[Ash24601]

Hey, I had the same last year. I struggle with fibre but somethings I found handy to have in were soups, potatoes (microwave for ten mins), dairy free yogurt, smoothies and protein shakes.

I tried to keep my protein up to promote healing so if I was up for it I would make a shake but I keep trek bars handy if I’m exhausted.

Crackers are also handy to snack on especially if you feel nauseous, they can be a good alternative to bread to dip into soups too.

And lots of herbal tea helps with the shoulder gas!

[Chezzerl in reply to Ash24601]

Thanks Ash sorry just found your reply xx finally had my op and I ended up with small bowel resection which my surgeon tells me is quite rare he managed to shave all off the large bowel but have to remove 5/6 cms of small bowel and rejoin it , I’m doing ok just pretty sore but keeping me in until bowel is working ok again x the surgeon tells me he removed a lot of endo off my Pod , uterosacral ligaments and pelvic area but ovaries and uterus ok 👍