Facing surgery but not chemotherapy or radiotherapy

Hi Clickoff and a warm welcome to the board. I’m sorry you’ve lost your husband so recently - this must be such a difficult year for you. 
I think I will probably have had a different operation to you - I had a Low Anterior Resection after chemoradiotherapy - so if you know the name of your operation then we may be able to tag in someone who’s had the same operation?

Ive attached a link to a booklet about the operation in general. From my experience I was taken to a recovery room straight from theatre then to the ward once I’d come round a bit. There was very little pain as the nurses monitor you very closely and will offer pain relief as and when needed. Initially there will be a few tubes and lines but these are removed over the first few days. 
Initially your bowel may be a bit temperamental as it doesn’t like being manhandled but will settle down over time.

https://bowelcancerorguk.s3.amazonaws.com/Publications/YourOperation_BowelCancerUK.pdf

You'll be encouraged to get up and about while in hospital and take short walks up and down the ward. Once home you’re not to lift anything heavier than a kettle of water with 1 cup of water in and no driving for 6 weeks. As you have had abdominal surgery then you can be at risk of a hernia so no heavy lifting and it can help to hold a cushion over your tummy if you want to cough or sneeze. Recovery generally takes about 5 weeks.

Hope this helps but please feel free to ask anything you like and remember that the support desk is there every day from 8-8 if you’d like to chat to someone in person

Take care

Karen x

Hi Clickoff, Sorry to hear about your husband and your condition. 

In answer to your question, yes I've had surgery recently. Everyone's different, but here's my experience. 

Like you, a colonoscopy in July following a positive routine FIT test showed I had a cancerous tumour in my sigmoid colon. 

I had a CT scan and the MDT booked me in for surgery - a left hemicolonoctomy. Prior to that I was invited to a pre-op assessment where they run a series of tests such as ECG, blood pressure, height, weight ,blood tests etc and run through the potential risks from being under a general anaesthetic. I was sent an information pack called 'Fitter Better Sooner' telling how I could prepare myself best for surgery (keep walking, deep breathing exercises etc). 

Preparation for the surgery itself was similar to that for the colonscopy (a lot of time on the toilet again!) , with the addition of two final not unpleasant 'pre-load' drinks to help you recover from the operation better. 

I was told to turn up on surgery day at 7;30, and taken to the prep room I think around 9am. I was given a canular and a spinal anaesthetic and that's the last I remember until I came to in a recovery ward in the early evening - the op apaprently took around 7 hours. I was warned that there might be a possibility that I could wake up with a stoma, but didn;t need one. I was a bit woozy but not in any pain, and the next day I felt fine for most of the next day - I even managed to have a light omelette and yoghurt to eat. 

Now I'll be honest - the following twenty four hours or so weren't pleasant. At around 8pm in the evening I was given one of those little yoghurt drink bottles and I immediately threw up and then just couldn't stop for what felt like half the night - in the end they had to put a tube down my nose to help ease the spasms. They got a doctor up from A&E who said they couldn't hear any noises in my bowel and reckoned that my bowel had 'frozen' - apparently something that can quite often happen after surgery and will usually wear off in a day or two. After this really disturbed night I was put on 'nil by mouth' and a drip and just wanted to sleep throughout the day , although not really in any pain.  

By the following day I was feeling much better, and the day after that my bowels started gradually working again. I did have a couple of 'accidents' while I was in the hospital over the next few days as I was rather taken by surprise each time.   

I was discharged seven days after surgery. By this time I was still only on a 'sloppy solids' diet so my bowel movements were still a bit infrequent - I didn't have much of an appetite so was trying to eat frequent small portions of light food. However after a few more days I started to regain my appetite, eat larger meals and have regular bowel movements. I've never had a problem with diarrhoea, as I was warned I might. 

I think i have quite a high pain threshold but can honestly say that I was never really in any pain apart from that one evening/night when I was very sick. They had prescribed a morphine drip for me the day after surgery if it was needed, and I was offered paracetamol twice daily throughout my stay in hospital but didn't need either. They encourage you to walk as soon after the op as possible (difficult in my case as I had a catheter which wasn't removed until he day before I was discharged) and if you have stairs at home the physios will check that you can manage them before they discharge you.      

I did tire quite quickly in the days following discharge, although resisted the temptation to have an afternoon nap. Stairs took it out of me and you are to avoid stretching ,twisting or carrying heavy items. My bed is quite high (the physio in hospital had asked me the height) and so they'd arranged for a grab rail to be delivered to for to the side of the bed undder the mattress to help me get in and out (I also used a step stool along it). I had a number of tablets to take in the days following my discharge, and had to inject myself with a blood thinner for about 21 days. 

I tried to keep moving, going for slow walks etc with the help of a stick , and gradually over the next few weeks my mobilty has improved. It's now around ten weeks since my op and I can honestly say that I feel as good now as I did before I took that FIT test - I sincerely hope that you will be able to say the same after your surgery and wil lbe thinking of you.  

That’s a great reply P00hsticks So much better to have a recent experience update so Thankyou for that x

I forgot to say that my operation was done robotically, so I'm left with just five small horizontal scars about 2cm long across my abdomen (one was for a post-op drain ) and a slightly longer vertical scar at the top of my belly button. 

Thank you,  that is so helpful. 

Thank you for detailing the journey. It has really helped calm my nerves