Bowel Makeup After Colon Removal?

About our brilliant doctors not hearing or caring what the patient has to say, let me share this tidbit with you.

I was out of town on a construction job and went to see an unfamiliar doctor. He asked the usual question, "What seems to be our problem today?"

Having a history of bronchitis and pleurisy, I told him that I was having tightness and congestion in my chest, and that I would like a script to knock it out before it got a foothold and went into the acute stage, which is really painful and drawn out.

He stared at me and with a look of scorn on his face said, "I am the doctor, I will determine what the problem is!"

So I must admit he gave me a thorough exam and finally announced that I was on the verge of contracting bronchitis and acute pleurisy. He gave me a shot and a script for antibiotics. I gave him a check for $100.00 and I suppose we were both happy.

Doctors don't like patients that think they know anything!!

Mine withdrew from being my doctor. I had withdrawn from him several months before but hadn't notified him. I am sure I was a pain in his sit-down place.

I still plan to not see another doctor ... ever. I fully realize that I probably will ... but I will rest in my personal self-control for the moment. I am the "master of my fate" for at least this moment in time. Maybe the entire day.

I long to return to compassion and mutual respect.

I heard a statistic last night ... 76% of Americans believe WE (Americans) are rude and thoughtless and that we are getting worse.

Compassion and respect aren't difficult. I see it all the time on this site.

Hi Marsha, I really liked your post because it brought back memories from the past where I was fortunate enough to receive the same treatment from medical personell but none of that was present since all this started, even to the point of having to prove what I was saying and man oh man does that ever piss off some doctors, understand? Thanks again, Ed

I too have been through doctor surgeries that have left me very unhappy. I had no clue how hard it would be to adapt to having an ileo. It's hard to really plan anything because you never know when the bag will burst or just keep flowing. I am taking low dosage morphine pills just to keep the flow not so watery and it does slow it down - so you may want to ask your doctor. As for ENERGY, I either take B-12 shots or B-12 drink vials from NOW products. It tastes good and seems to give me energy. I lost my colon due to cancer (colon cancer, have been fighting on and off for 20 years). I am an herbalist so I know what vitamins and herbs to take.
My problem is that I have a gene that creates cancer cells in my body - so I am always one step ahead of this disease. I am now fighting breast cancer (I just finished radiation and to the doctors' amazement, not only has the tumor shrunk but as far as I'm concerned, it's gone for now). They want to do chemo, I say NO, so my doctor is upset but he is respecting my wishes.
I really believe you owe it to yourself to do some research on vitamins and herbs to help you with getting your body balanced and getting back to as normal as you can. I also highly recommend high pH alkaline water to drink. That is what I am on and people I know who have had issues with their body. Good luck, Butterfly48.

The reason I started this post in the beginning was to get at what happened to me after these surgeries. I'm not sure about anything I'm about to say,but if anyone else has had these problems I would love to hear from you. I have looked at pictures of where the bowel is situated and I have wondered if somehow it has affected my lower spine especially the lumbar area at the L4-S1 area which has me crippled so much that a half block walk does me in and just lately I found out by a stroke of luck, I now have Peripheral Arterial Disease which I'm sure goes back to when I had surgery for AAA, or Abdominal Aorta Aneurysm which got screwed up and five weeks later my colon was dead, ergo, two surgeries to find out what the hell was almost killing me, the only good part, I don't remember these surgeries, just waking up with an Ileostomy and being very cross. If anyone can add to this I would be most grateful, Ed

PS like noguts put it, I have to plan every move I make because I know how much energy I have and make it a point to always be in sight of my car and a couple of times I've overdid it and man but I feel foolish. So plan ahead always, Ed

Well, it was explained to me like this... Your small intestine or (small bowel) is where the absorption of nutrients happens. What does not digest (skin from fruit, veggies, nuts, seeds) would flow into your colon or large bowel to act as fiber. You also have the good bacteria in the colon to help with breaking down the fiber. Our small intestine has more digestive enzymes which act more like stomach acid - this is the liquid that will burn your skin around your stoma. I was told to eat a low fiber diet, watch out for seeds, skin, etc.