After Surgery How Will I Feel: Preventing And Treating Colorectal Cancer
Content provided by the Faculty of the Harvard Medical School
After surgery: How will I feel?
After surgery, you'll spend about five days in the hospital, followed by several weeks of recovery at home. In the days and weeks after colorectal cancer surgery, you may find it hard to believe that you'll ever have enough energy to resume the activities you once enjoyed. The overwhelming feeling — for at least the first month, and often longer — is exhaustion. During the first several days, you'll also experience considerable pain from the incision, which is usually treated effectively with medication delivered intravenously and orally. When you're sent home, your doctor will give you a prescription for pain-relieving medication. How quickly you get your strength back, return to work, and resume other activities will depend on the type of surgery you had, your age, and your overall health.
| Last updated: | April 09, 2009 |
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Medical content reviewed by the Faculty of the Harvard Medical School. Harvard Health Publications, Copyright © 2007 by President and Fellows of Harvard College. All rights reserved. Used with permission of StayWell.
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