Long term effects from a low anterior resection

During a colonoscopy I learned I had a villious polyp lower in my sigmoid and very near the rectum. One tip had in-situ cancer cells. My oncologist surgeon ended up removing about half my sigmoid and the upper third of my rectum with lymph nodes to ensure that I didn't have cancer spread anywhere else.
I am now recovering and have real problems with frequesnt (8-9 times a day) very soft stools.
Unless this gets much better, I can't imagine returning to work or having much of a quality of life.
It has been 3 and a half weeks since the surgery. Will this get better?
Thanks,

I am two and a half weeks out of a nearly identical surgery and feeling much the same. You may write to me at gmail.com if you wish. My name there is cadittude.

I would be glad to email with anyone that has information about how people can thrive and get back to normal after a low anterior resection.

It seems this surgery is very rough to get through, perhaps done to frequently and the surgeon that preform them do not provide post surgery information to help their patients get their colon/rectums working well.

Most all that has helped me is trial and error and researching on my own. I kind of feel like surgeons feel...."well I compeleted my part, now how you the patient will go on to live with this is your problem".

Will everyone that has had a Low Anterior resection and for that matter colon surgery in general post information to help get information out on the web. Would anyone else be willing to work with me to get a site/blog going to provide needed resources?

If interested let me know and I will get my email to you.

I also feel that I was left on my own to figure out how to get through life after my LAR. I didn't have a choice as I had a T2 carcinoma at my upper rectum and into the sigmoid. I am now three and half weeks out of surgery and so I am still struggling to put my life back together. I am getting a bit better but it feels like it will be forever until I can truly function reasonably well again. I would very much like to email with you but most sites don't allow posting of email addresses so I don't know how you could post it? I posted before above and if you read it carefully you should be able to figure out my email at gmail.com. Hope to hear from you. Thanks for your reply.

Hi Everyone:

I was happy to see your emails as I am scheduled for a low anterior resection and removeal or a rectosigmoid mass on Thursday. I have never had surgery and am terrified about what to expect. If anyone could share with me what their hosptial stay was like I would really appreciate it. I'm very worried about how much pain I will be in when I wake up and what to expect in terms of recovery. Thanks in advance for any responses.

I am eight weeks out on an LAR. I was having frequent bowel movements at first an now I seem to be losing urge and ability to push. This has been going on about a week. How is everyone else doing?

I began this threat and first had very frequent bowel movements. Then in the 6 week it seemed I was getting better and thought I would get somewhat back to normal. Now I am very constipated and can't get a movement at 8 weeks. Then after several days of very little movement I get cramps and my whole system seems to empty.
I hate this...I want my life back!
What is causing this I wonder?

I am also suffering from frequency and incontinence problems and I am 8 weeks post surgery. I also had chemo and radiation before surgery and will be starting chemo (5FU) again. Can anyone tell me if these problems improved with time (4 months, 6 months, 1 year)?

I am a little over a year out from a low-anterior resection. My entire rectum was removed and the colon attached to the anus. The first week after surgery I was totally constipated. I took some milk of magnesia, and after that i was having problems with going 10+ times a day, always very soft stools.

Now, a year out, my main problem is constipation. I guess just because the topography's different now.

I went a saw a nutritionist because my surgeon had no advice for me. The nutritionist put me on a "whole foods" diet (super high in fiber), which really seemed to immediately help. I find that when i really stick to that diet, and avoid dairy, sugar, white flour and processed foods, then things flow better. More like how it worked before surgery.

I still have problems with constipation, but noticeable only when I cheat on the diet. It sucks to have to watch what I eat all the time, but it's more horrible to be constantly constipated.

I hope that helps someone.

I am unable to have my bowels work at all now. I must take huge amounts of laxatives to have one BM a week. I am almost always in pain...this after a uneventful recovery from LAR.

I talked to my surgeon, but he just thinks this will get better. In the mean-time I feel I am going through something that is serious and maybe even life threating.

At this point I wish I never had the surgery and am very frustrated that Dr. will convince you to have the surgery, but then provide no followup.

Has anyone had this problem and did you get through it? I feel I may never get over this and if that is the case ...