What do I need to know and ask? Basically a pre-cancerous polyp has to be removed with surgery because it’s flat and attached to the colon muscle, apparently rather deeply. I don’t know if they will simply re-section and re-attach the colon or if they will remove only the polyp and surrounding area. It’s on the transverse colon rather high. I was told it involved 4 to 5 days in the hospital.
All the questions you have in your original post, of course!
Will it be done laparoscopically or open? (Makes a huge difference in recovery time with the ab muscles)
How many procedures like this has the surgeon done? Is this a colorectal specialist?
Will your GI system need to be temporarily modified for healing? (Will you need an ostomy for some period of time?)
What should you expect for pain/discomfort, and options for pain management?
What should you expect as far as diet in the immediate aftercare, and while healing?
What is the significance of the polyp being in a muscle layer as opposed to on the colon wall?
What does the surgeon expect to find, and what MIGHT the surgeon find once the procedure is underway?
What bowel function should you expect immediately post surgery? (As with horses, gut sounds are a good thing!)
Will you need to be on antibiotics?
When will you have results from pathology report?
When can you expect to return to daily routine (expect to have lifting restrictions)?
What goals do you need to meet before being released?
These are just a few things that came to mind. You might have other questions such as “is it normal if…” and the like, once you are through the surgery.
Best of luck, I hope it is a simple procedure! Jingles!!
It may make sense to go to a university hospital with a med school and get one of the big gurus to do the surgery. They may be able to do it with laparoscopy and have you out of the hospital quickly. Look into going to Johns Hopkins or another big name center.
ditto AKB you need a good experienced surgeon, over 40 under 55 yr of age.Ask don’t be shy, you are hiring them, they are not God. So ask how many have you done and what the complications . Ask Ask Ask.
One thing is be careful of at teaching hospitals you should insist that the surgeon you consult NOT a resident do your surgery. do not be a teaching example.You don’t want them learning on your body.
Make sure you know who will follow you after the surgery so many surgeons cut and run.
That said depending where you live there are good surgeons that are not part of teaching hospitals and then you won’t have students taking care of you.
Also check Gov web reports on hospitals they have a site that rates hospitals by surgery, even the most famous hospitals are only good at certain surgeries.
Unfortunately I know this to well
I had a bowel resection in 2003 at Children’s Hospital Boston. Had an epidural for pain after the fact, then a morphine pump, then just pills. Was in the hospital for about 7 days. I think it took me another… 4-6 weeks, maybe, before I was allowed to sit on a horse? I had an amazing surgeon who did a very small incision and took the bowel loops out, operated outside, and then shoved it all back in. Totally wild and very rare, but it saved my stomach cosmetically (which is very important to a teenage girl, as I was at the time).
Laughing and sneezing were super painful but I remember being able to get around (slowly) almost as soon as the epidural was removed.
I think a teaching hospital can be a good thing. Instead of waiting around all hours of the day for the dead tired surgeon to finally make his rounds you have 2-5 people checking on you,looking at your labs,checking the vitals,taking the calls from nurses and basically making sure the tiniest detail doesn’t get missed. Yes,the hands on person may be a resident but I guarantee the larger,trickier surgeries are taken only by more senior residents and fellows.
I hope all goes well for you.
My husband had a partial colon resection almost four years ago. Based on our experience, I would agree with the suggestion to find a surgeon who specializes in colorectal surgery.
Laparascopic is nice, but be prepared for a bigger incision if it is necessary. Hopefully, with the surgery being elective, there will not be much chance of your needing a colostomy. Also, they will have you prep (like for a colonoscopy) and then take heavy duty antibiotics to sterilize your gut. Much lower chance of complications with that.
Good luck. It is no fun but you can get through it.
A couple of other thoughts –
Be careful with your diet after surgery. I was amazed at the food the hospital brought my husband. You need to really be easy on your gut after surgery (they brought him green beans and corn!)
And, rest, rest, rest. Take anti-inflammatories. You need to let everything heal.
VineyRidge, I hope you got some answers. Do you have surgery scheduled yet?
I recently had a resection of my bowel due to a VERY nasty case of appendicitis. In my case, they ended up removing a section of my colon a few inches long that included the portion my appendix was attached to. The original plan was to remove it laproscopically, however when the surgeon opened me up the amount of infection was too great, so he ended up doing a mini c-section essentially. Apparently when you struggle along with appendicitis for six weeks, your gut gets really infected! Who knew?! :lol:
In regards to post surgery, I had a fairly easy recovery. For pain control they had me hooked up to a morphine drip for two days, then switched over to some oral pain meds. Initially moving was rather painful, you don’t realize how much you use your abdominal muscles for pretty much everything! But using a pillow to support my stomach during movement/coughing/laughing was a life saver. For a while I would sleep with an extra folded up blanket over my incision as the steady pressure made me more comfortable. They sent me home from the hospital 4 days post surgery. I was restricted from lifting over 10lbs for 4 weeks, and told not to ride for 4-6 weeks. I just started riding again last week, and am really feeling my abdominal weakness. Most of my pain is in my lower back rather than my abs, which my doctor tells me is perfectly normal and will go away as my muscles strengthen again.
In regards to diet, I had no restrictions once I left the hospital. So far I have had no GI issues, except the normal upset tummy due to antibiotic usage. They put me on a stool softener and probiotics for 2 weeks post surgery. My only advice is feel free to adjust the dosage to what works best for your system with those!
I hope your surgery has as straightforward and easy healing process as mine did. Sending good thoughts your way!
I just had my meeting with the colorectal surgeon who does dozens of colon resections. He wants to do pretty much the same surgery he would do if the finding was cancer, not pre-cancer. That means losing most, if not all of my transverse colon–which is probably close to eight or nine inches–, as well as all of the blood vessels that feed it. The pre-op testing and preparation is intense. He wants a CAT of my entire innards to make sure everything is where it’s supposed to be, since nobody has ever looked inside. That happens Tuesday. Then I need a real physical with EKG and stress test and lung function, and I forget what else.
He says I’ll feel afterwards as if my horses had been galloping in my belly. And apparently living alone is a MAJOR added complication. He mentioned the possibility of needing to send me to a rehab facility or a nursing home for 4 to six weeks after the surgery if there are any complications–and I’ll be in the hospital for 4-6 days after the surgery. Given that my shoulder was rebuilt in an outpatient facility and when they replaced my ACL I had one night in the hospital, this must be considered serious surgery.
My core muscles are weak, so if they have to do a full midline incision, I might not be able to get myself out of bed. But he says they will have me walking almost immediately afterwards.
Jingles for you with a smooth recovery.
All the best to you and jingles for a fast recovery!!
Jingles, Viney. I hope you are back on your feet as soon as you want to be.
hugs to you, and I had a serious neck injury and the nurses had me out of bed anyway. I think I had to roll on my side and push as I moved my legs over.
don’t really remember.
I’m sorry to hear you need such serious surgery. Have you gotten a second opinion?
Darn. Best wishes Viney! Oh, they get you up and walking to avoid clots, really important.
And docs may also order the leg cuffs with air inflation to help prevent clots, while you are in hospital.
(Bring ear plugs. Machines and monitors are noisy, and it is hard enough to try to sleep and really rest!)
I talked to my cousin who is a plastic surgeon far away today and am much, much comforted. It turns out that my aunt (her mother) had the same surgery at my cousin’s hospital when she was 85 and came through it like a champ. I never even knew she had had it. So my fears have been much reduced because if an 85 year old can do it without problems, so, by God, can I.
Sounds like you’re in very good hands Viney. Glad your surgeon is not going to allow you to take any chances post surgery. You’ll get the assistance you’ll need and be back on your feet in no time.
