I had two resections due to severe constipation, 17 to 20 days without defacating and very sick, the first one they removed half the colon but within three months I was in emergency room and had the second resection. With that one I had a bowel obstruction and the colon had herniated so they had to remove all but 4 inches, I woke up with an ileostomy that was reversed three months after that. Now that I am all reconnected things are definately diferent than they used to be as now I can't stop going and I constantly have diarrhea, but I feel better than I used to. Because I had three very intense surgeries in six months time it took a long time to recover and I still get very tired plus I am afflicted with the dreaded adhesions that are very painful. My diet is much different than it used to be and there are many things that I just cannot eat as everything goes thru me so quickly and can come out as it went in within a half hour, I usually have to go while I am eating which is a different feeling! When I had the first resection it was not this way and only since having almost all the colon removed did it become this way, 4 inches of colon isn't enough to do much for you. All in all the resections were the best thing that could have happened, before them I was in so much pain and sick all the time that I just wanted to die, now I have hope that some day I will feel normal again (so to speak as I will never really be normal again as far as stool goes). Good luck to you whatever you decide to do.