2 weeks after bowel resection

NellyB

Hello and welcome to the forum.  I’m sorry to hear that your feeling down - but I think that is quite normal for many of us after surgery and it must be even more so during Covid.  

I had my surgery in 2011 and went through exactly the same things that you are going through.  Our bowel has had a big shock by the surgery and it does take a long time to get back to normal.  It is very early days for you and my Specialist Nurse told me to eat small amounts of food whenever I felt hungry rather than having three meals a day.  She said “Eat what you fancy - even if it’s chocolate - you can worry about your diet later”.

I was given medication for both constipation and diarrhoea and I it was  like a yo-yo for quite a while, but it gradually got better but I then found that I had to adjust my diet to find what foods were best to avoid.

You have probably been told to have a low fibre diet for a while, and this can make you constipated so if  you are vey uncomfortable with constipation I would suggest that you speak to your nurse again or your GP to see if he will give you a gentle laxative - as it is very important that your bowels start working again.

Take care,

Sending you a hug

VickiLynne 

Hi Vicki,

I sent you a reply but it seems to of disappeared  or can you see it and I can’t . Not very good at this technology stuff X

Hi NellyB

I haven’t received that reply. I’m afraid.

There are one of two issues with the Macmillan forum sites at the moment.  I have found that sometimes if I’m typing a reply and it just disappears i can go back to my email, find the post I was replying to, hit the reply button (or link) again and it will take me back to the post, and when I hit the reply button again (under that post) it takes me back into my unfinished reply.  Hopefully things will be sorted soon.

If you have time, try typing it out again and resending - I know this is a pain but unfortunately we’re stuck with these issues at the moment but the Tech team are trying to resolve them.

Take care,

VickiLynne

Thank you , and thank you for your first response , it was very reassuring to read it . Yes , I’m on a low fibre diet which is so hard . I’ve been high fibre for so long it doesn’t seem right . I spoke to the nurse this morning and she said the same as you . It takes time and my stomach has probably shrunk so it will make me feel sick . Little and often is best . I think my main problem is all my life I’ve struggled with anxiety and depression and it’s all come back since I had my cancer diagnoses . Thank you again ( hope this sends this time

Hi NellyB,

I had sigmoid resection 5 weeks ago and feel very  lucky with my progress so far, i concentrated on eating food that helped my body heal so fish,scrambled eggs and salmon, then all the green vegetables but if you get diarrhoea don't over do it with veg, then when constipation kicks in have veg and plenty of fruit, i personally went for high calorie food, eggs and salmon with mash potato to give you energy, having said this i'm only just getting over the tiredness from the opp,

Good luck

TG

Hi , thanks for the reply . I’m getting slightly better but now have boughts of loose stools . I’m not eating much fruit and still mashing veg as worried about consequences . I guess it’s trial and error I’m just trying to eat anything that stops me loosing weight as my appetite is still not good .it’s been 3 weeks today and I’m slowly doing more walking although still scared to be too far from loo

Hi NellyB,

I would suggest you try scrambled eggs with grated cheese or smoked salmon on top, i'm sure it will help, also jacket potatoes but don'y eat the skin will help with energy, i also purchased some of the body building protein power shakes which are also good to build strength, have a look at the my protein website, i usually order Impact whey protein in mint chocolate or Natural Strawberry flavour, you will also need a large shaker bottle for mixing, i usually use full fat milk to help with energy

All the best

TG

I’ve had complan a few times but I think it gives me terrible diarrhea , I actually think it’s the full fat milk . I might try a protein shake with soya and see if that helps . Thank you for info  

HI NellyB

I sent you a message yesterday that also seems to have dropped into a “black hole” on this new site.

I would suggest you be careful with what you are having by way of shakes and protein energy drinks.  Talk it through with your Specialist Nurse or Consultant.  You can get protein from foods like cheese and other dairy foods which are much better for you than all the chemicals that many protein drinks contain.

Please don’t worry too much the lack of fibre in your diet at the moment.  We are usually advised to have a low fibre diet and this is to give your bowel time to adjust to the surgery.  I lost quite a lot of weight after my surgery, but put it back on gradually over time.  Your body has had a shock and it needs to recover and by eating light low fibre meals (little and often is what many of us are told) so better not to overload with high fibre food or shakes.

If you go onto the Bowel Cancer UK website they give lots of  info on diet, but make sure you look for info on colon cancer.

Take care,

VickiLynne

Thank you , I will look into it . I’ve been told I need 3 months of chemo in a few weeks . Mentally I feel like I’m unraveling . I need to eat to keep my strength up but I feel like I’m forcing myself , don’t enjoy anything as anxiety has taken over . I’ve spoken to the nurse and she’s going to phone back on Monday for a talk .

again , thank you for the reply XX