Hi my wife was a different case, she had gangrene of the bowel caused by being run over about a year before and had broken pelvis and leg mainly so surgeon missed bowel problem.   She neaded a good bit of bowel taken away to prevent recurrence.

She had to take it easy for months and no lifting at all because of stitches,. she kept on the go to help mussels and flesh,.  She ate normal foods just well cooked so went through easily.this was over 40 years ago so things could have changed buy now, but she's been fine since.

Hope someone else will be on soon to reassure you as well.

Billy

Thanks Billy, that gives some level of reassurance on the route back to normal. Glad your wife managed to recover fully!

Hi stressed_out_a and welcome to the Cancer Chat community.

I'm glad to see our lovely Billygoatt has been able to provide you with some reassurance for how life could be after your wife has her surgery but I hope this information we have about eating after treatment for bowel cancer will help you on the food front.

If you'd like to have a chat about this with one of our cancer nurses you can give them a call on 0808 800 4040, Monday - Friday between 9a.m - 5p.m.

You may be able to get more information and advice from Bowel Cancer UK as well.

I hope this helps and that your wife's bowel resection is a success.

Kind regards,

Steph, Cancer Chat Moderator

Hi

She will be sore and need help with everyday things for a few weeks at least.

After my op my husband was as always amazing, cooking, cleaning, giving me the anti clot 'belly jab' every day.

I don't know how I'd have managed without him.

Also keep positive and when you can go for a short stroll outside.

Tell her to avoid sneezing for as long as posible....I used to press my nostrill in and sometimes it went away....

Good luck to you both, a day at a time and at the end of each week you will see how far you have come since the week before.

Thanks Steph. Very much appreciated.

Thanks [@Ineedabreak]‍ .

The belly jab sounds intreguing!

I have no idea what to expect. Will she be in bed 24hrs a day? How much do i need to encourage her to move etc? (guess that builds up over time - I just want to get sorted with anything she's going to need in advance.)

Key for me is trying to keep her comfortable, distracted and positive!

Any learnings or pearls of wisdom on those?

Loving the sneeze tip!

Well I've had the surgery twice after my cancer came back.

Open surgery the first time and Keyhole the second.

By the time you leave hospital you are used to walking around as they get you up in hospital.

She shouldn't be in bed, get up, dressed etc will make her feel better too.

She'll need help with the dreaded green socks that you usually have to wear for 6 weeks.

If you have questions send me a friend request and I will try and answer them.

Hi [@Ineedabreak]‍ ,

She's doing really well. Thank you for asking. She got the biopsy results back from what they removed and it turns out that it was cancerous, but whilst deep in the lining, hadn't spread to any lymph nodes, so lots of county lucky stars going on!

Overall, she's understandably fed up, feeling a little sorry for herself and desperate to get onto more interesting food, but seems to be healing well. Still slow and steady, no stretching, bending etc, but she's going for a walk every day which is great. 
 

I'm soldiering on. Managing our kids and her needs with working sometimes 14hr days from home is taking its toll a little on my patience, but I remind myself how lucky we all are and that this is temporary. 

Stressed _out_a

Hi I. Sorry to read about your wife having to have a bowel resection  ,I had one I  2014 so I know how tough it can be. Hope everything is going well with her recovery.