Post Surgery and Colostomy

cowman
cowman Member Posts: 61
edited March 2014 in Colorectal Cancer #1
My hubby had his resection done on Wednesday and he ended up with the permanent colostomy since the cancer was so low and they took the entire rectum. A disappointment since we were told it could go either way. I know many of you have done this and have made it through so I appreciate all of your encouraging words to others and your good attitudes.

We are on the 4th day after surgery and he is having servere stomach pains along with gas. Still on ice chips only. Is it normal to have pain when everything starts waking up and moving through? He is on the epidural still..... The hospital is short-handed and problems make me nervous. Has fever off and on they think due to lungs not expanding enough. He uses a CPAP machine every time he rests.

Thanks to all of you. This discussion board has helped me along this journey!

Comments

  • Shayenne
    Shayenne Member Posts: 2,342
    #2
    Hospitals....
    ....always seem short-handed on the weekends, abd you'll rarely see a doctor on a Sunday unless a nurse calls.

    Yes, after my colostomy, there was abit of gas moving, some aches and pains,you will need to walk alot, hold a pillow to the tummy area, to give that incision some support, and then just as walk as much as your body can take it, it will wake up the bowels faster, once you "go" it will feel alot better.

    Colostomies aren't so bad, you'll get used to them, like another addition to the family lol..I have a temporary one, and not bothered by it, just another part of my showering process. I dont ever shower with the bag on, I take it off, and then put it on when all cleaned and dried off :)

    Hope he has a speedy recovery, I Know you'll rest better once you get home!


    Hugsss!
    ~Donna
  • Annabelle41415
    Annabelle41415 Member Posts: 6,742 Member
    #3
    Seems very normal
    I remember having the worst pain where I was in tears even with the pain pump hooked up. I walked and walked and walked and it still hurt, but walking is the best thing for you. Only 4 days out of surgery he is going to hurt. That was a major operation and will take quite some time to heal. I have a temporary ileostomy and other than changing your appliance and some food modifications, it will become a new "normal" for him. Hope for him to have a speedy recovery.

    Kim
  • Fight for my love
    Fight for my love Member Posts: 1,522 Member
    #4
    Hi there,if your husband
    Hi there,if your husband still has fever,then they won't feed him anything until they found what caused the fever and have fever under control.It's normal that he is still on epidural,it's only the 4th day.I am sure your husband is still on antibiotics,I hope this will keep him away from fever very soon.

    My hubby has a permanent colostomy too, he has it for a little over three weeks already after the surgery.At the beginning,it's more mentally than physically with the bag,he was not happy with it at the beginning;but now he is getting better with it and he started to change all the supplies by himself after a couple times of stoma nurse visiting.With the nurses' education and encouragement,with my suppot and the support from internet,he starts to accept it.So life moves on.Anyway best luck to your husband,hope everything will get better soon and he has a speedy recovery.Take care.
  • Sundanceh
    Sundanceh Member Posts: 4,392 Member
    #5
    HI Cowman
    Hi there

    I'm sorry things did not go the way that you had hoped - I was in a similar position, but the surgeon had just enough room for a resect so I missed a colostomy by mm's literally. Of course, there were problems, but another time for that.

    I remember being in the hospital for that operation for about 12 days and in the worst pain I've ever been in my life - that's one of the most major surgeries that they can do to you.

    I was on ice chips for the first 8-9 days...they told me it takes about 8 days for the bowel to even begin to wake up or for a bowel movement to occur - a BM was one of the prerequisites for me being allowed to leave the hospital.

    Keep your husband ice chipped - believe me, it tastes like "steak" to him right now.

    I can't speak from the colostomy so it has its own set of challenges - leaving me re-routed but with severe radiation damamge had its own set of challenges as well.

    I'm so glad though that he made it - these first 2 weeks will be a little rough, but TIME is the great healer in these cases.

    Thanks for your post!
    -Craig
  • mommyof2kds
    mommyof2kds Member Posts: 519
    #6
    Sundanceh said:

    HI Cowman
    Hi there

    I'm sorry things did not go the way that you had hoped - I was in a similar position, but the surgeon had just enough room for a resect so I missed a colostomy by mm's literally. Of course, there were problems, but another time for that.

    I remember being in the hospital for that operation for about 12 days and in the worst pain I've ever been in my life - that's one of the most major surgeries that they can do to you.

    I was on ice chips for the first 8-9 days...they told me it takes about 8 days for the bowel to even begin to wake up or for a bowel movement to occur - a BM was one of the prerequisites for me being allowed to leave the hospital.

    Keep your husband ice chipped - believe me, it tastes like "steak" to him right now.

    I can't speak from the colostomy so it has its own set of challenges - leaving me re-routed but with severe radiation damamge had its own set of challenges as well.

    I'm so glad though that he made it - these first 2 weeks will be a little rough, but TIME is the great healer in these cases.

    Thanks for your post!
    -Craig

    recovery from this surgery is no walk in the park, but he will get through it as many of us have. Each day will get a little better. I would be getting him up more to walk, don't want to end up with pneumonia if the lungs are not expanding and splint the incision and deep breath and cough. The incentive spirometer should be helping expand his lungs, not sure if that is what it is called there... Hang in there, you both are doing great.. Petrina
  • KFen725
    KFen725 Member Posts: 108 Member
    #7
    My mom's experience
    Hello! My mom went through the same thing (minus the colostomy) 3 months ago, and I remember well how stressful & hard those days in the hospital are - for them AND for us family!!

    It took my mom a good 4-5 days if I remember right before she passed any gas. They were starting to get worried but then it happened. Also, she was in quite a bit of pain as well. I think this is quite normal. Oh, and she also had a low grade fever pretty much for about the first 5-6 days after surgery. Eventually it left, and a big part of that was she was up & moving more. The breathing exercises do help, too.

    Best wishes to you & your hubby. May God bless you during this journey.
  • cowman
    cowman Member Posts: 61
    #8
    Complications for Cowman
    Thanks for all of your support for my husband. He was transferred to ICU five days out due to lung problems - pneumonia, blood clots; Very scary but I think they are on top of it. His colostomy was just starting to work some but his stomach has alot of distension.

    Craig, I think you are right that the ice chips taste like steak!!

    I'm sure we will have colostomy questions when we return home altho home health will be visiting to help some. Support from you guys who have been through this means the most.

    Diane
  • Buzzard
    Buzzard Member Posts: 3,043 Member
    #9
    cowman said:

    Complications for Cowman
    Thanks for all of your support for my husband. He was transferred to ICU five days out due to lung problems - pneumonia, blood clots; Very scary but I think they are on top of it. His colostomy was just starting to work some but his stomach has alot of distension.

    Craig, I think you are right that the ice chips taste like steak!!

    I'm sure we will have colostomy questions when we return home altho home health will be visiting to help some. Support from you guys who have been through this means the most.

    Diane

    Colostomy...........
    I take it he didn't have laproscopic surgery. I had the same as him with my tumor being to low so the rectum was removed to obtain clear margins...Colostomy, just another walk in the park. The laproscopic surgery allowed me to come home in 3 days and wasn't hard at all. There were 5 holes in my belly and 2 incisions made on each side of my rectum and thats where everything was taken so the abdominal muscle had very little tissue surgically involved. I was off morphine after the first night, catheter out the second morning and the second night at 1:00 am I was wakened by what seemed to be a nest of bumblebees buzzing out of my stomach (my stoma and bowel started gassing)..Scared me to death, something I had never witnessed or felt. Now, right after surgery it felt like they had sewn a pair of socks up inside me. I am assuming that is where the tissue was folded back and then sewn shut. It still feels somewhat different but Im alive and it is just another part of my life now. Again the ostomy is nothing after you get the mental attitude that your alive, so what if every once in a while you poop in your shirt pocket. Thats what makes us special....learn to laugh and make fun of it, let others around you know what you have. It has helped me to tell everyone that asks me about my cancer about my ostomy. That way, if it ever sounds off unexpectedly, you've covered yourself and they simply act as if nothings happened. Ostomies are a mental thing to get through, there is nothing about them physically to make them unbearable. The other great thing about an ostomy, the next colonoscopy you have, There won't be a raw butt to go with it ......hang in there, the worse is over for you, its simply a matter of cleanup now....Holler if ya'll need anything at all........Your friend, Clift
  • karguy
    karguy Member Posts: 1,020 Member
    #10
    Ostomy
    I have a permanant colostomy,and it is no big deal.At first I was really disappointed,but then I decided if that was the worse thing that happened I could live with it.I was in the hospital 10 days,it was 8 days before I could even think about eating.I had to take a stool softener even after I got out of the hospital for cramps,I still take a gas pill every day,but still get gas.The best thing that helped me was walking as much as I could,I had to start with a walker,then a cane ,then by myself.Best wishes,and good luck!!!!

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