SURVIVING DIVERTICULOSIS

I had surgery for diverticulosis in November of 2008. It was probably the scariest experience of my life. However, I was able to have it done laparascopically, and I was lucky enough to have one of the best surgeons in this part of the state. I began experiencing extreme constipation and abdominal pain on my lower left side which was debilitating a couple of years ago. I was diagnosed repeatedly with pelvic inflammatory disease, which can be sexually transmitted. Needless to say, my husband was accusing me of doing some things I was not doing. This caused me undue stress and actually exacerbated the symptoms I was having. Eventually, a local physician's assistant diagnosed me with diverticulitis, which was later confirmed by an astonished doctor at the local hospital through a cat scan. This same doctor had repeatedly treated me for the PID, which did not appear to be going away. At times, the pain had been so debilitating that I was in bed for an entire day or two, doubled over.

Evidently, this condition was unusual for someone my age, as it normally occurs in the elderly population. Diverticulosis and irritable bowel syndrome (AKA IBS) tend to go hand in hand. I had a little of both. Diverticulosis is a condition where the person has developed pockets in their colon. The pockets in the diverticula can became infected and inflamed, and in this case, it becomes diverticulitis. The treatment for this is usually Cipro and Flagyl, ironically the same treatment given for PID. So the condition would go away temporarily, and I did not realize that it was anything different. At any rate, I eventually found out what the problem was, and I researched it as thoroughly as possible on the internet, with doctors, and with elderly people at my church. It can come from poor diet and stress, not necessarily in that order. There have also been multiple members of my family who suffered from, or are still suffering from, this condition. I would think it is the way our bodies respond to stressful situations, because I notice at times that I have the pain when dealing with extreme stress. It took a focused effort to relax in order to relieve the pain sometimes. The colon is, after all, a muscle. The thing that causes an infection, however, is when sticks and seeds from the diet get stuck in the pockets and cause small tears in the colon, which can be fatal. The most prominent symptoms I experienced were in the appearance of the poop (skinny, with mucus) and the severe abdominal pain I had. I could usually tell when an attack was coming on.

Eventually, I grew quite sick and very sick and tired of the situation. I was beginning to feel like an octogenarian. After almost a year of being on antibiotics, I went to see a specialist, and I had a colonoscopy. The preparation was the worst part. I was extremely nervous when I went in, because I had never been under general anesthesia before. But before I knew it, it was over, and I heard what I had not been wanting to hear, I had diverticulosis throughout my entire colon and was being referred to a surgeon.

Sirens started going off in my head as I researched the surgery on the internet. In desperation, I called an uncle who was having the same problem, and he told me to watch my diet. He said not to eat tomatoes, strawberries and cucumbers, which I already knew. He also said to be careful to chew my food well, and to avoid nuts, corn, etc. He also said to remove the skins from fruits like grapes, tomatoes, etc. This seemed like a lot of work. And it was. There are even seeds in bananas. For awhile, I was drinking a lot of that green juice from the produce section because I couldn't figure out what to eat. There are even tomato seeds on pizza! I also talked to an uncle who had had the surgery voluntarily. He had had a bad experience with it, and he had stayed in the hospital recovering for a long time.

Finally, I decided to suck it up and have the surgery. I had also had a customer who almost died from not having the surgery, and it was his grave situation that led me to go ahead and have it done. The surgery was only to remove about six inches of colon which was riddled with diverticulosis, but it turned out that I had to have a much longer part removed once the surgery commenced. But I was only in the hospital two or three days. I spent the rest of the first week at my mother-in-law's house and then I returned home to my husband and children. After about ten days, my husband was not helping much anymore, but I survived anyways. This was probably the most terrifying experience of my life. The surgeon told me that if I did not get the situation under control and improve my diet to high fiber, high liquid, that I would be right back in there in ten years. Don't want that!

I do make sure now that all of the foods I buy have better fiber. I look at product labels for the first time in my life. Cereal is not allowed unless it has at LEAST 3 grams of fiber. I eat high fiber oatmeal, shredded wheat, salads (sans the tomatoes and cucumbers), and lots more fruits and vegetables. Although I indulge occasionally on sweets, I don't make a practice of it. There are some great high fiber brands, but I watch out to avoid having nuts. I don't eat corn, either. I also take potassium pills because I am missing out on bananas and strawberries. I have talked to lots of other people who have this condition, and the consensus seems to be that different people are bothered by different foods. One person said that blueberries bothered her. I was able to eat those without much trouble. My church has quite a few elderly people, so I was lucky in that I had found a wonderful support group there. Although this experience was terrifying, it was an eye opener. I had to change my diet and reduce the stress in my life, or I was probably going to die. Since then, I have made drastic changes. I evaluated my life and removed the worst stressors. I take psyllium husks also, which is extremely helpful. I don't like the psyllium seeds as much, as just the name "seeds" makes me fearful (however, this type of seed seems to digest just fine for me...). It seems to me that although diverticulosis is no longer as rare in younger people, it can be avoided.

A doctor told me it is showing up in younger and younger patients all the time. We discussed it and we both agreed that it is because of the stress factor. Although diet and heredity can play a part, a person should also look at what stress can be removed from their life. Although I still have stress in my life to some degree, once the largest stressor was removed, it has been easier to deal with the physical problems that had manifested during the time I was still in that situation. Although I could not remove the situation from my life completely, I was able to literally MOVE to another location and limit my dealings with that stressful entity. This has led to a drastic improvement for my physical and emotional well-being.