6 Weeks after Surgery-Last Appointment

[Buckshot323]

For those interested in the later phases of recover here are the results of my 6-week Post OP doctor visit. This was my final appointment. You can read my previous posts to catch on how things have gone so far. I could not expect a better recovery than I have had so far except it would be nice if things went quicker.

The scaring is red and a little purple in color and the underlying tissue is hard and sensitive. Doctor says this is all normal. He said it is not uncommon for there to be sensitive area's or area's with no feeling at all for years. In my last post, I said I was having some occasional sharp pains on my right side. He was not concerned about them as he already taken out the appendix. He said it takes a while for things to get back in place and I guess there is some attaching to surrounding tissue going on. Some movements can put a strain on areas and cause that temporary pain.

As I have stated my work is physical in nature and I want to know when I will be back to full working condition. He said I can start back now but I am limited in how much I can lift. I am to start with the amount of weight I can pick up with my weakest arm. He said that is generally 30-35 pounds. He said a good plan is to add about 10 pounds per week. That will put me back to my normal abilities gradually enough to keep from hurting myself.

My surgeon has a less than 1% re-occurrence rate with Diverticulitis patients. Most of us will still have some diverticula after surgery. We discussed diet and foods and a lot of things I have learned from this forum. I have decided I will avoid certain foods when it is easy to do so. I will not be paranoid if I find myself eating a piece of bread and it has some nuts in it but I will keep my hand out of the can of nuts and give up the popcorn I used to eat several times a week. He stressed digestion and the fact that it starts in the mouth and that we should chew things up better so there is nothing left to cause the problem. I’ve known about the foods that can get caught in the diverticula but he explained that nuts or seeds with sharp edges or popcorn hulls or other similar foods and cut into the colon starting the flare up process.

I asked my surgeon for a referral to Diverticulitis Specialist in Florida. I told him I only get very general info from my GI Doctor and I wanted to talk with an expert on the disease. I told him I learn more from forums like this than I do from the doctors. He does not know of a Diverticulosis (itis) specialist. If any of you have a name please post it. I hope you don’t NEED surgery but if you do, don’t be scared of it; it’s not as bad as the pain of Diverticulitis.

Some are wondering about costs of this surgery. I did have my appendix removed too, but I would guess that extra cost to be less than 10 % of the total. Here in South Florida the total cost of the surgery, including all hospital costs (4.5 Days), surgeon, anesthesiologist and pathology, turned into my insurance was about $45,000.00. My insurance roughly cut that total in half, which included my out of pocket costs.

[Buckshot323]

I was very surprised at the low cost of my Appendectomy add-on during my Sigmoid Resection. The Doctor charged $225 and my insurance only paid him $118.90. I know he was already in there but that’s not much for all that could go wrong and his liability! Insurance paid the Doctor a little under $2,000 for the complete surgery and standard follow up visits (4). I doubt any of the other costs increased because of the appendectomy. That revises the surgery costs (after all the doctor visits, scopes, colonoscopies and CAT scans) to billed to insurance $ 42,500 and insurance paid out $19,600.

[tomno]

I found one girl that paid nearly a quarter million for hers because it burst...

http://www.surgerycosts.net/price.php?medical=appendectomy