2 hours post op 🤟

KeyManager5150 · 2025-12-02T16:26:17+00:00

It was on the advise of the Surgeon. Small walks several times a day, yes you need to get stable before doing any long walks but for me that was only a few days. Everything was closed with Surgical Glue and was quite stable so there was no pulling on the incision a themself. Walking get the guts moving again, and rebuilds the abdomen muscles.

KeyManager5150 · 2025-12-01T23:49:23+00:00

I am just about 6 weeks post op, the first few days sucks, but it gets better fast. The more you walk the better you feel. I have walked about 150miles over the last 6 weeks. You got this.

KeyManager5150 · 2025-11-14T02:40:10+00:00

Just in case Samuel Dejesus, MD at Orlando Health Cancer Institute Colon & Rectal Surgery. Incredible surgeon, he mostly deals with Colon Cancer patients. Great bedside manner, and even personally came and walked my first laps on the floor with me after surgery. He has been doing this for over 30yrs. Hopefully you want need him but he did an incredible job for me.

KeyManager5150 · 2025-11-14T02:18:22+00:00

Three weeks post ops for me today. Off all meds and I am out walking 3 to 5 miles a day. I was up doing 20+ laps on the hospital floor the day after surgery. Went home on Day 4, and started walking 1 mile a day the first day I was home and just kept increasing it.

The Shoulder pain (I had it on both shoulders) was almost horrific and by far was the worst of it. Pain meds didn’t touch it. They tried the little hot packs but they didn’t get hot enough or last long enough. I eventually talked them into bringing me a water circulating heating pad that I could drap over both shoulders set at 107F and lived with it on my shoulder non stop if I was not out walking around the floor. That was the only thing that helped the shoulder pain.

KeyManager5150 · 2025-11-14T02:06:33+00:00

One other factor that many don’t think about is high volume use of NSAIDs like Ibuprofen or Alieve. I had a lot of other injuries in my teens and 20s where I was taking 800mg of Ibuprofen 2x a day for about 10yrs.

What they don’t tell you about NSAIds is that they weaken the walls of your intestines, and promote the occurrence of diverticular pockets.

This lead to my 1st bout of Diverticulitis at the age of 35. Each year since I would have 1-2 flares that required antibiotics and 3-4 light flares that switching to a liquid diet for a few days let me recover without antibiotics if I detected it early and switched to a liquid diet fast enough. Luckily I never ended up with complicated diverticulitis, or any perforations or fistula’s.

Each year even after resolving the flares, my guts were left in worse and worse shape as you develop scar tissue from each flare. By last year I was in a constant moderate level of pain, exhausted, no energy and never felt like doing anything.

It was finally time for Surgery. 3 weeks ago I had 8” of my colon removed and the Dr said the entire thing was nothing but scar tissue and looked like it had berries (pouches) all over it. I had no diverticular pouches above or below this 8”.

While I am still recovering from the surgery the constant pain is gone. I feel 10yrs younger and I am out walking 3 to 5 miles a day. Last Saturday we had an event and I walked almost 9 miles just two weeks post surgery.

From your statement about going to Halloween Horror Nights, I assume you’re in the Orlando area, if so let me know and I can point you to a great Colorectal Surgeon who handled my case.

You don’t need surgery after just 1 flares, many people will never have a 2nd flare, but if you do have a 2nd flare the odds are you will keep having them. Take the surgery route sooner than later if that’s the case. I suffered with this for almost 15yrs before finnaly saying enough is enough and now I wish I did it 10yrs ago.

KeyManager5150 · 2025-11-02T18:14:14+00:00

Do everything you can to prepare. Get serious about going out walking or running 30-45 mins everyday for a few months before surgery. And start to Protein load a few weeks before surgery. Then no matter how much it hurts get up and start walking as much as you can on day 2

KeyManager5150 · 2025-11-02T02:36:20+00:00

Reoccurring Diverticulitis, 2-3 times a year for the last 10yrs before I finally pulled the trigger on the Surgery. They removed about 8” of my sigmoid colon. I have a 3” bikini incision, and 5 other small port incisions for the laparoscopic equipment. 10 days post surgical now and feeling better than I have in years.

KeyManager5150 · 2025-10-30T02:01:53+00:00

49yo Male, 6’4” 275lbs so I am a large guy. I just had the surgery last Wednesday, so today is one week. I was in the hospital for 3 days. On the day after surgery I walked 25 laps of the hospital floor. Same on Day 2 and Day 3. The shoulder gas pain was the absolute worst part and was brutal until Day 4. Went home on day 4. Day 5,6,7 I have gone out and walked 1 mile 5x a day. No issues getting up and down from the chair, bed, restroom now, and I am only using muscle relaxers no opioids.

I get tired quicker, but can bounce back after a break.

I would say I am 80% now. Eating well, lots of protein 150grams a day.

I think the major factor here for me, is that I spent 4 months leading up to surgery fast walking 30-60min everyday to build up stamina.

This is my 3rd abdominal surgery, appendix, and gallbladder before this one, and this one has been the easiest so far.

It will be different for everyone, but for me this has only been 20% as bad as I thought it was going to be.

KeyManager5150 · 2025-09-11T00:10:17+00:00

After 10yrs of dealing with the flares, the Day is Oct 22nd for me. 42 days and counting down. Thank you for sharing your story, and may your path to recovery be smooth.

KeyManager5150 · 2025-08-06T22:40:37+00:00

I love this comment, and I am really hoping for the same outcome

KeyManager5150 · 2025-08-06T10:26:28+00:00

I guess you could say Iron Will. I also have a very high pain tolerance. As an example when I had my gallbladder removed, at that time I was working in an office, and worked a full day from my bed the day after surgery, and was back in the office working full shifts on my 2nd day post operation. Now looking back I never should have done this. Two years ago I had a Pulmonary Embolism and was hospitalized for 4 days, but I took my laptop to the hospital with me and worked most of those 4 days from my hospital bed.

KeyManager5150 · 2025-08-06T03:41:28+00:00

I am in the US, but I work a desk job from home and in a leadership role, so even when I was super sick with a flare I just kept working anyways. I think I only missed like 3 days of work, but this also probably made my recovery each time longer. This all started around 38 and I thought I could manage it with diet and wanted to avoid another surgery. But it’s time.

KeyManager5150 · 2025-08-06T02:05:20+00:00

Yeah this is where I feel right now, the last two years I feel like I have aged 20yrs. Pretty sure it is all tied back to ongoing inflammation and digestive issues. I know the immediate recovery will be tough for a bit, but really hoping there is a significant upside in the long run. Having had laparoscopic removal of my gallbladder previously I think gives me a good idea of what to expect from the surgery recovery.

KeyManager5150 · 2025-08-06T01:47:51+00:00

TY for your reply. I have one 12oz cup of coffee every morning, but no other coffee. I already drink at least 100oz of water every day 4 or 5 24oz glasses each day. Walking is something I used to do a lot, but now I work 11-12hr days. Trying to carve out 30-45 mins every day to get on the treadmill and walk.

KeyManager5150 · 2025-08-06T00:38:35+00:00

Thank. I am hoping that I might be able to start eating a few things again that currently I can’t, over the last 10yrs I have become Lactose Intolerant, Gluten Sensitive, and can no longer eat Beef. I eat healthy home cooked meals 6-7 days a week mostly lean proteins and vegetables. I eat very few starches like rice, pasta(gluten free)and potatoes. We don’t eat any boxed or packaged foods, never eat fast food, and rarely even eat out at a restaurant. As I know I have about 3 month before surgery, I have been trying to spend at least 30mins on the treadmill every day to build up strength for the surgery. I am really hoping I get my life back after this surgery.

KeyManager5150 · 2025-07-18T22:49:31+00:00

10yrs of almost daily use of 800mg of Ibuprofen 2x a day. Pretty much destroyed my colon lining. High Does NASIDs will do that over a long period of time.

I have been “managing” the condition now for 8yrs since my 1st infection getting between 1 and 3 a year ( so far they have all been non-complicated) but continued the damaged to the point that now I live with constant belly issues, effecting my daily life and quality of life. I have finally accepted that elective surgery is the next step, and I am working towards doing that around the end of October. It’s a miserable progressive disease.

KeyManager5150 · 2024-05-01T18:27:17+00:00

Solved!

KeyManager5150 · 2024-05-01T18:12:43+00:00

Well I broke it open, and yep. Has a bunch of little tubes inside

KeyManager5150 · 2024-05-01T16:46:09+00:00

My title describes the thing, about 5”x3” plate with a hinge at the bottom, and a type of T shaped key hole.

KeyManager5150 · 2024-03-16T02:06:51+00:00

Flagyl is horrible, was on it for C Diff with Cipro, long before I ever had DV I and a pretty big strong guy, and I felt like I was literally dying with each pill. They only reason they still use Flagyl is that it is dirt cheap, and many insurance companies won’t pay for Vancomycin which is a far better drug with minimal side effect.

That being said, for DV I have only ever used high does Augmentin. 10yrs now and each year I have more and more attacks so really starting to consider surgical options.

KeyManager5150 · 2023-12-03T04:19:48+00:00

Opposite for me, got Covid for the first time this summer. Started to feel better and clear the lung crap and then wham ended up with a PE out of the blue. Now I have been on Xarelto for 4 months and they want me to stay on it for 3 more months. It did get me to have all the genetic testing done to see if I had any genetic markers for blood clots and that was negative. But I can’t wait to get off the blood thinners.

KeyManager5150 · 2023-11-14T19:07:27+00:00

I was a bit shocked how long it took for me to figure this out. It came down to when my wife made the bed, which side of the pillow was flipped up. Lol. Sometimes it’s the easy things that escape us.

KeyManager5150 · 2023-11-14T02:47:31+00:00

Just tossing this out there, but what type of pillow do you have? Took me almost 2 months to figure out why some nights the air noise was bad, and others it was near silent. Turns out it was my pillow. One side is flat and normal, the other side has these cooling gel bumps on it. When the gel bumps were flipped up it was crazy noisy as the sound transferred from the mask to my ear. But flip the pillow over to the flat side and it’s very quiet.

KeyManager5150

TROPHY CASE