Yes - this is normal and will take about 21 days for surgery
to come back to what it used to be

Reuben

Keep it soft...you are better off..My surgery was Feb 1st and I sill
hurt a bit...been on stool sofners since then..Howie

Yes - same here and thank God for the loose stools

Reuben

My docs, med lit, magazines, and experience said: narcotics constipate.
My colon surgeon prescribed a low-residue (low-fiber) diet. I had to argue
with him quite a bit to show him that a low-residue diet is a constipating
diet, at which time he said, "You apparently know your system well. Eat what
works for you."
I've always been prone to constipation anyway. To prevent it, I do what we
should all do all the time: eat lots of fiber.

Based on all six of those factors, I:
1. Took about one stool softener a day while on narcotics (morphine,
coedine, oxy-stuff, hydro-stuff, etc.) just to be sure.
2. Drank plenty of prune juice. (Can you believe I had to ORDER it from the
hospital kitchen!!? They'd rather feed us CHEMICAL stool softeners than
nature's own dual-action stool softener and motility enhancer.)
3. Ate more fiber than the hospital diet provided and didn't eat the grease
(sat fats); that's unhealthy anytime in any quantity, and very tough for a
traumatized colon to handle. Whole grains, fruit, and vegetables (careful
with beans; that traumatized rectal wall doesn't need gas pressure), in
moderate quantity (who's eating big meals post-op anyway?)
4. Drank fluids constantly.

Result: What constipation?

I.P.

I had hard stools and soft stools.  I just remember that pushing to get them
out was more painful and less painful depending on the softness.

Oops!  Also meant to say, "Welcome, Ken!"  I haven't seen you post (I
think).