Hemicolectomy - what to expect

Hi Maggie 

Welcome to the (Missing Group) group.

This link from University Hospitals Birmingham may tell you more of what to expect and answer many of your questions.

Please feel free to come to us at anytime and ask questions the members of this group are very friendly whilst being supportive towards each other and are very knowledgeable and will eagerly share with you their experiences.

Hope this helps, if not come back and we'll try to address your further concerns.

Ian

By clicking on the green text above will open up a new page for you.

Hi there  ,

Thanks for that Ian! I read the information in the link and it's extremely helpful.

I hope to get some advice from people who have been through this operation as I'm sure they'll help and reassure me too - forewarned is forearmed and all that! : )

All the best x

Hi . If you type hemicolectomy in the search box at the top of the page then it will bring up a list of all the previous posts with that word in and you can click on the title of the post to see all the replies. You can also click on the name of anyone who’s posted and add them as a friend so you can chat privately or tag them into this post by putting @ in front of their name. 

I think had a hemicolectomy and also maggiel who will hopefully be along shortly to give you some advice.

Hope this helps

Take care

Karen x

Thank you Kareno62!

All the best x

Hi ,

My mum had one but not via keyhole and also had a liver resection at the same time so probably can’t  do a direct comparison in terms of recovery . However she was able to start a soft diet quite quickly. Her bowels started to work again quickly too and to be honest she has not had too many problems with them at all . 

Six weeks later she was on holiday and able to kayak . 

She had a large wound so was sore but had an epidural post surgery then transferred onto oral meds . The transition to oral meds was probably the hardest part in terms of pain but once they were up and running she was able to get up and start moving around a little .

Her results after surgery gave her more information on the cell type and if there was any lymph node involvement.

Long term her bowels have returned to relatively normal function and certainly don’t impact her daily life .

All the best . Hope the surgery goes smoothly .

take care ,

Court 

Hi 

I had this op but not keyhole just 12 weeks ago now. They do tske your appendix as well only to make things easier to reconnect I think! Despite not keyhole I was out of hospital in 2 days and doing gentle yoga after 1 week, back to driving and teaching 4 yoga classes a week. Plus just getting on with life. 

I had results of biopsy after the colonoscopy and then a full report after surgery they were the same although I was pleased that no lymph nodes were involved. 

I had little pain after the op but I do have quite a high pain threshold I found that the gentle stretching from yoga helped a lot.

Eating was difficult immediately after the op as you are on a low residue diet great if you are into mash and meat very difficult when you are a vegetarian!!! No fruit and veg! However I found within a couple of weeks I was back to eating most things as usual.  I had no problems and certainly exercise wise no provs either.  

I am on a belts and braces chemo follow up nowand that has caused more problens than the op. However I am resilient and determined to get there so I will!

Good luck and please don't worry about the op if you have any other questions I will do my best to answer x

Hi Maggiemee, 

I had a right hemicolectomy by keyhole at St James Hospital Leeds in February. I have made a full recovery and am now back to normal. 

My operation wounds comprised of a vertical cut through my navel approx 8cms long and 3 small incisions approx 1 cm long on my midriff, left side of my abdomen and just above my pubic area. Post op was not very painful  as I was on intravenous pain relief at first and then oral pain relief. I had a catheter which was removed the following day and could start walking about and going to the toilet once that was removed dragging my drip trolley with me. 

I recovered quickly and was eating and moving about (albeit carefully) on day 2. Starting off with yoghurt, mashed potato, banana and other mushy foods. Bowels started working again somewhat explosively on day 3. Try and drink plenty of water.

I had a slight setback as I developed a chest infection so had introvenous antibiotics which quickly cleared this and I was discharged from hospital on the evening of day 5

You will need to take things steady for a few weeks as the operation involves cutting through muscle on the right hand side so no heavy lifting or vigorous excercise till this is healed. The unexpected pain twinges on the right side of my abdomen caught me by surprise.

I was able to drive short distances after a couple of weeks. You will know when the time is right for you.

I eat as normal but try to include more fruit and veg, nuts etc.I am a fit 69 year who enjoys walking and swimming but dont really.do other excercise. 

Unfortunately the post surgery biopsy of my removed bowel showed microscopic cancer cells in 1 lymph node from 20 removed so a course of chemotherapy was recommended as belt and braces. My next follow up is in February.

I now feel completely back to normal after this. Scars are practically invisible. It was all much easier and less traumatic than expected. 

Hope this helps put your mind at rest. If there is anything else I can help with dont hesitate to ask. 

Good luck and try not to worry. We Maggies are made of strong stuff.

Maggiel x

Oh my goodness what stars you all are! Thanks!

court thanks for that and the good wishes. I’m glad to hear your mum didn’t have too many problems and it sounds like she’s doing really well x

@ Thanks! Wow you sound like Wonderwoman – 2 days! Glad to hear that you are taking it all in your stride and you’ll see the Chemo will be over before you know it. Exercise after a week sounds incredible, I hope to be active as soon as possible as I tend to get a bit stir crazy. Good luck to you too x 

maggiel Thanks so much for the detailed information and for being so reassuring. It’s good to know scar wise what to expect too. I’m glad you have got back to normal, I suppose it’s baby steps initially then things will fall into place. I’m not worrying, past experience has made me realise what a waste of good time it is!

We Maggies are made of strong stuff me smile!!! x

I’ve found all this massively helpful. MASSIVE ! Thanks everyone for sharing. I feel more positive already. 

Hi Roger, Welcome to the club no-one wants to be a member of.

You seem to be doing everything you can to try and prepare for the surgery. From my experience it was nowhere near as bad as I had prepared myself for. After the surgery just listen to your body and dont push yourself too far is my advice. I feel I am now fully recovered from both the surgery and the belt and braces 3 rounds of chemotherapy which followed. I am off on holiday for the next 2 weeks so you will probably be recovering by the time I return. You can do this so try not to worry. 

Regards Maggiel