2 Q's following ileocecal resection........

Hi All,

Hope you've had a lovely Christmas

It's 2 weeks since my ileocecal resection and I'm feeling better in myself already, which is great! I only have the slightest bit of discomfort inside when I get tired, I'm ok walking round the house, my wounds are healing just great, I'm going to the loo ok and my appetite is on fire! I just have a couple of questions;

1) how long does it take for the swelling on the belly to go down? I look like I'm pregnant lol! There's no other symptoms it is literally just waiting for everything to heal, just wondered how long it took other peoples to go back to normal?

2) I have been showering but have not been advised when it'd be safe to have a bath? Does anyone know? Someone bought me lots of pampering stuff do Xmas and I want to use them but don't want to bath too soon.

Thanks in advance, Yvette x

I'm sorry I don't remember which type of surgery you had (open or laproscopic) but this site goes over the different types of surgery when it comes to bathing: http://surgery.about.com/od/aftersurgery/f/QABath.htm

As for the swelling, I don't recall having any. Do you have increased gas? You could try probiotics if it is gas (tablets, yogurt etc). Swelling is listed as a symptom to contact your doctor about after surgery so to be on the safe side I'd at least let the doctor know. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/patientinstructions/000151.htm

Glad you're feeling better and healing well.

Hi Jennifer,

Thanks for your reply I'll check the links out

In relation to the swelling, i don't have increased gas or any other symptom. I had laproscopic with 1 bigger 3-4inch incision so when I meant swelling I feel it's just the healing around the 5 wound areas that are kinda in a circle around my belly. It's nothing 'new' and my belly was checked prior to me leaving hospital and is better and has reduced since then. Maybe I should of asked how long it takes for the wounds to heal and your belly to return to normal, I genuinely do not think it's any issue to raise with my Consultant, as it's not new and it had got better since leaving hospital. It's just me being body conscious and wanting my flat belly back lol!


Thanks x

My stomach swells after laproscopic surgery - apparently air gets trapped inside when they operate. I think mine goes away within a few days, maybe longer depending on the surgery. Or it's possible that your digestion may be suffering a bit from the surgery or some of the painkillers or something, and even if you're not getting enough gas that it's noticeable, the swelling may be due to a little trapped wind. The other possibility I can think of is if you have a lot of bruising around the surgery site, which could come with more external swelling. I would think you should see improvements pretty quickly from any of these causes, within a couple of weeks perhaps. If it doesn't seem to be going away after several days, I'd check it with your GP.

I'm not sure I can comment on the bathing issue, as there are so many different types of wounds and stitches. I start bathing and showering as soon as I want to, and have never had a problem with my wound, though of course that might not be the best thing to do. Are you seeing a nurse to get dressings changed? You can always see a GP, ring the ward you were on at the hospital, maybe even try the NHS 111 helpline. Someone must know about it. But I've generally assumed that if the surgeon or nurses really didn't want me bathing, they would have told me so.

Hey Unxmas hope you're ok and thanks for your help again

Yes the gas really did blow it up, but that's gone now. I'm thinking it's like you said about the bruising it feels and looks like that. Think I'm just being impatient lol!

Thanks about the bathing. Good point about the nurses/docs telling you if you really couldn't. My wounds are healing so well, I'll have another week of showers and then I'm having my pamper bath lol.