Who has/had it? How do you manage it?

My son (29 years old) had a bad experience with it over the last few days and I'm wanting to get some real life input to help him going forward. doctors and nurses at Huntsville Hospital are some dang good folks.

Surgery to remove bad places? Recovery time? Did you have to wear a bag during recovery?

I do...well that is what it is called when you have the infection anyways. I really have to watch what I eat. You learn over time what causes it to flare up. Get exercise and sometimes drinking ginger ale helps...for me anyways.

Seeds and too much red meat can get it cranked up . Strangely pineapple gets mine cranked up.

My grandpa and my dad have had it. My dad eats saltine crackers in milk to help with his when it flares up.

By no means am I an expert, I understand any nutty, corny, seedy, bacon or grainy type foods are the enemy, starchy bland bread, foods are good, suppose to be certain type antibiotic for the infection. prayers for your son.

Wiley if you have a history with it get that section taken out , I see this regular and if you don't take care of it then very good chance it can turn into cancer . I had a buddy lost his father to it , another buddy continued to have problems and got his resected and has zero problems since.

Blessed, The cancer thing is my major concern. My son is the one with the issue and both sides of his family had diverticulitis and his Grandmother on his mother's side (who had it) died of colon cancer.

My wife has had to have part of her colon taken out because a part would not heal properly with it. Tried antibiotics, diet, the whole works.
Nuts, greasy foods and popcorn is bad for her.

I had it bad 15 years ago Wiley. Ended up in the hospital twice. Hurt like all hail. Ended up having a resection done and haven't had a problems till the last year or so.

If you ask 20 doctors about what foods to avoid you will get 20 different lists, most of which contradict each other. Very small nuts/seeds seemed to set it off.

Like Blessed, i see it folks with it commonly. The diverticula are little pouches or pockets That project outward on parts of the clolon. Most of the foods mentioned above can get in the little pouches and set up and cause the infection which cause the flair ups. Find the right diet and it can be controlled in most cases.

I have it and ulcerative colitis...diet diet diet, also do not discount stress in your life as a trigger. I have found those two things are the ones which cause me the most trouble. I used to sit down an eat a jar of pickles as a snack...no more. I have learned to eat in moderation the things I like which could cause me trouble. Because of my family history I get roto-rootered every two years, so far so good.

nuts, sesame seeds and tomato seeds - those should be avoided.

as far as resectioning, ileostomy/colostomy and recovery time, it all depends on the location and the severity. some surgeries can be a piece of cake and everything is textbook. some can be the total opposite.

hope and pray for the best and most of all listen to the doctor. don't rush eating solid foods afterward either.

My dad had the surgery last year and no bag and no issues since, good luck, dad had a rough time with it till he had surgery

Thanks for all the info, the more/the better

YEP. I was diagnosed with THREE diverticula. they are almost the same as another appendix. The Doc told me to eat more fiber, and less seedy, and nutty foods. I have to be especially easy on peanuts. and even peanut butter. Tell your son I know very well what the pain feels like. once the infection sets in, it isnt over for days. if he feels it coming on, dont wait to get yourself cleaned out.and my dr also said it should be taken seriously. if not, it can rupture and kill you.
collards helped me.
Collardncornbread.

I had this same problem. Got so bad my colon ruptured. The worst pain I have ever felt. I left work came home and had to crawl to bed. My wife who is an RN came home 6 hours later, looked at me checked my temp and said lets go to the hospital thinking it was my appendix. Went to the ER checked me and found out my colon had ruptured. Through some kind of miracle it sealed off, and the toxins that could have made me septic stopped. Damn surgeon said he never seen that before. He let me heal through heavy doses of anti-biotics and 3 months later after a colonoscopy to check how good it had healed. I went under the knife. They removed 13 inches of my lower colon and saw some crazy scar tissue where this had actually happened before according to the surgeon. The biggest problem I had post op was an infection in the incision and to this day I look like I have three belly buttons. But after all of that, I have been good going on 3 years. and no bag had to be placed on me so I was lucky in that regard. The diet they put me on was a high fiber one, and since hey removed the bad part of they colon, I have eaten whatever so far with no problems. The point is if you can go ahead and have the bad portion removed before another bad flare up do it!

Thanks for the additional info. My son is still on IV antibiotics and will be thru Thursday. He's ready for that to be over and the treatment has worked 100% and he's definitely considering the surgery once he gets all this behind him.