Surgery ?

I had colon, not rectal cancer but
two friends of mine had rectal cancer and started eating a very short time after surgery. It does depend on your stage and what type of surgery.

I am sure if you provide more information, others on the board can comment. With a colonectomy - I went three days on liquids - 7 days on soft foods and then - it was whatever with discretion.

Pam

Annabelle41415 said:

Surgery
So surprised you got a date so soon. Thought mine forgot about me. I am one day ahead of you. Good luck!

Kim

Here ya go qwe.....
Surgery 7/15/08 at 7;30am
out of surgery at 1;30 pm.
Laproscopic surgery. tumor was in one spot and no nodes involved.
Got clear margins but lost my rectum and anus and now have an ostomy in my sigmoid colon.
I went completely off pain meds (morphine) Thursday and ate 5 cups of jello to make my ostomy work . I also had my catheter removed at 0800am Thursday morning and urinated 400 centimeters at 10am. I was dismissed from the hospital to go home at 11;30 am Friday morning.
I stopped at McDonalds and ate a fish sandwich on the way home but no fries....I have had no problems at all with my ostomy.
The intestine has no nerves so the only pain you should feel is (if you have a colostomy) is the stitches around the intestine where it is sewn to the stomach. That still isn't much pain at all.
I had my rectum sewn shut, that is where most all of my pain came from. There tends to be a little fluid buildup on the backside after surgery and I had pain with that but I squatted down one morning to pick up something and it was like I peed in my pants, it was the scar draining off and it was an immediate relief. It did this a couple of times then I guess the body started to absorb it again. It was however a slow process in my ability to sit down and be comfortable enough to stay sat down. It felt as though a pair of socks had been sewn up in there with everything else.
After about 5 weeks it all started to come together and I have no more difficulty sitting or standing. It will be tender for a while and you will find yourself protecting the tender areas but all in all it was a rest between treatments, and a welcomed one at that. It gives you time to take a breath and get ready for the last path. The post op chemo regimen....Good luck to you qwe and God Bless......

Buzzard said:

Here ya go qwe.....
Surgery 7/15/08 at 7;30am
out of surgery at 1;30 pm.
Laproscopic surgery. tumor was in one spot and no nodes involved.
Got clear margins but lost my rectum and anus and now have an ostomy in my sigmoid colon.
I went completely off pain meds (morphine) Thursday and ate 5 cups of jello to make my ostomy work . I also had my catheter removed at 0800am Thursday morning and urinated 400 centimeters at 10am. I was dismissed from the hospital to go home at 11;30 am Friday morning.
I stopped at McDonalds and ate a fish sandwich on the way home but no fries....I have had no problems at all with my ostomy.
The intestine has no nerves so the only pain you should feel is (if you have a colostomy) is the stitches around the intestine where it is sewn to the stomach. That still isn't much pain at all.
I had my rectum sewn shut, that is where most all of my pain came from. There tends to be a little fluid buildup on the backside after surgery and I had pain with that but I squatted down one morning to pick up something and it was like I peed in my pants, it was the scar draining off and it was an immediate relief. It did this a couple of times then I guess the body started to absorb it again. It was however a slow process in my ability to sit down and be comfortable enough to stay sat down. It felt as though a pair of socks had been sewn up in there with everything else.
After about 5 weeks it all started to come together and I have no more difficulty sitting or standing. It will be tender for a while and you will find yourself protecting the tender areas but all in all it was a rest between treatments, and a welcomed one at that. It gives you time to take a breath and get ready for the last path. The post op chemo regimen....Good luck to you qwe and God Bless......

ostomy
Just wondered did you know before surgery that you would have your ostomy. How are you doing managing yours? I had no idea that I would wake up with mine. I had an ileostomy and learned to manage mine very easily. Mentally it was hard to accept, but mine was temporary. I had my reversal but had no idea how hard it was going to be, and how painful it was. God bless.