• Pain Management

  • Pain control is important in the healing process.  It is important to stay ahead of the pain.

  • The time it takes to heal after surgery is different for each person. You may be uncomfortable for the first few days. Medicine can help control your pain.

  • Before surgery, you should discuss the plan for pain relief with your doctor or nurse.

  • After surgery, your doctor can adjust the plan if you need more pain relief. Do not be concerned about becoming addicted to pain drugs. Studies indicate addiction doesn’t happen in these circumstances. (To learn how to deal with pain, see Pain 101).

• Ostomy and Stoma

  • When a section of your colon or rectum is removed, the surgeon can usually reconnect the healthy parts. However, sometimes reconnection is not possible. In this case, the surgeon creates a new path for waste to leave your body. The surgeon makes an opening, a stoma, in the wall of the abdomen, connects the upper end of the intestine to the stoma, and closes the other end. The operation to create the stoma is called a colostomy. A flat bag fits over the stoma to collect waste, and a special adhesive holds it in place.

  • For many people, the stoma is temporary. It is needed only until the colon or rectum heals from surgery. After healing takes place, the surgeon reconnects the parts of the intestine and closes the stoma. Some people, especially those with a tumor in the lower rectum, need a permanent colostomy.

  • People who have a colostomy may have irritation of the skin around the stoma. Your doctor, your nurse, or an enterostomal therapist (a professional trained in ostomies) can teach you how to clean the area and prevent irritation and infection. (For information about minimizing risk of infection in your day-to-day life, click here). 

  • For more information about ostimies, including care of and living with, click here. 

• Urinary Function

  • With a rectal resection, urinary function may change because the nerves may be bruised during the surgery. While the loss of urinary control is generally not permanent,  some patients will need a urinary catheter for longer than usual, medication, or both on a temporary basis.

• Fatigue. It is common to feel tired or weak for a while. To learn how to cope with fatigue, click here.
• Constipation/Diarrhea:

  • Surgery sometimes causes constipation or diarrhea.  Your health care team monitors you for signs of bleeding, infection, or other problems requiring immediate treatment. (For information about how to avoid infection on a day-to-day basis, click here).

  • Do what you can to avoid becoming constipated short of using an enema which can hurt the rectum if used within three months after surgery. For example, your doctor may prescribe a stool softener or laxatives for several days after the operation.

• Sexual Function   
  • Men:  
    • A resection can cause “dry” orgasms with no ejaculation by damaging the nerves that control ejaculation. Alternatively, the result could be “retrograde ejaculation” – the semen goes backward into your bladder. With both dry orgasms and retrograde ejaculation a man can still get an erection. With retrograde ejaculation, a man can still father a child because doctors can recover sperm cells from urine or from testicles with minor surgery. The sperm is then used to impregnate a woman by means of in vitro fertilization.
    • It is possible that a resection may stop erections totally or the ability to reach orgasm.  There are alternatives to permit sex. See Erectile Dysfunction.

• Women: There is generally no loss of sexual function, though the vagina may become dry or  irritated for a while which can cause painful intercourse. In some cases the change is permanent.

Follow Up:

• Follow up visits will be scheduled for removal of the staples and to check incision for healing, to discuss results and next steps.
• There will be another visit 4 – 6 weeks later.
• After that, there will be quarterly follow-up visits with your surgeon .