NEWBIE - DD of the Caecum - Pain on the right side

[Fiona]

Hi there, I'm new.

I just wondered if anyone else suffers from this type of DD?

I visited my GP with really bad pain in my tummy, it was all over, I was in agony, he said I had IBS and sent me away with a prescription for anti spasm drugs. The pain got worse and 2 days later I decided to go and see the emergency doctor who sent me into hospital because he thought I could have peritonitis. (I had no idea what this was)

The surgeon was a bit bewildered, the pain was on the right hand side. I had my appendix removed many years ago, an ultrasound showed that I didn't have an ovarian cyst but that there may be a surgical clip lodged in my perforated colon! A CT scan was ordered immediately. Diagnosis: Diverticular disease of the Caecum which was perforated and Peritonitis. Massive doses of anti biotics pumped into me 24/7, nil by mouth and lots and lots of morphine !! Hell on earth.

I had my gallbladder removed 18months ago. I have suffered for years with stomach problems but nothing like this. My surgeon told me that this type of DD is very rare. After hours of reading various sites it is clear that he is right. I can't really find very much on it.
I will be having a colonoscopy at the end of June to see the extent of the disease which is affecting my entire colon, and the surgeon will decide then if I need to have my colon removed. Is this a common occurence with DD? I'm terrified that I need to get a colostomy bag..

I have gone from nil by mouth to sips of water to liquids and now 4 weeks later am on the high fibre diet. I'm using the F Plan as a guide. I have gradually increased the amount of fibre I eat daily. I'm feeling much better but still very tired. I'm back to see a different GP ( a very good one now thankfully) tomorrow and I'm hoping to return to work next week sometime.