One Hurtin Cowboy returns home from reversal

Hi richard! I've been thinking of you!

I don't have takedown until the end of July, so I don't know yet - but I can say I've heard that things are like that in the beginning, but then get better. I have a friend who has a j pouch, and she said it was pretty horrible in the beginning, but got better steadily, and that after a month or so things were much more manageable. She said it took her a year to fully get better, ut she was back at work in 7 weeks.

I hope things improve for you quickly. Hang in there, and it's good to see you back!

Hi Richard - I've been thinking about you and looking for your post.  Congratulations on making it through another surgery!  As awful as the recovery is, at least you are home and the key word here is "recovery."  My takedown was May 9th.  I came home on the 14th and had TERRIBLE diarrhea (ouch!). I knew it was normal so I held out until my followup appt. and then it turned out that I had a stricture so I had to have it dialated on the 22nd thru an outpatient procedure. After that it was about 5 more days and things started to improve some however the D was still hanging around fiercely and I'm having a problem with continence about 1/3 of the time - usually late afternoon and evening - still nothing like with the UC tho. Then I started eating Metamucil Wafers and things started thickening up right away. I eat 2 wafers in the morning with some water and take 2 immodium. It's not perfect, but it's really helped a lot. I recently started eating 1 or 2 more in the afternoon to keep up the momentum. I also started out with a low residue diet and am trying to introduce new foods in s-l-o-w-l-y.  I've decided that sugar = bad which is a real bummer for me because as my name indicates, I am a candy addict.  I started working from home last week and was supposed to go back to the office this week, but because of the incontinence I'm going to spend one more week at home trying to get this under control.  It is truly 2 steps forward and 1 step back and patience is key.  The D is awful on the bottom - especially after not using that area for so long.  Some very helpful tools are A&D Ointment, A&D Zinc Cream, Calmoseptine, a squirt water bottle for cleansing, lots and lots of Charmin Blue, and a clear path to the bathroom!    Good luck and please keep us posted.  It's been tough, but it really is getting better.    -Laura

Sorry for not addressing your direct questions in my earlier post. I had a straight up reversal not a j-pouch surgery. My ileo was the result of massive infections due to necrotising pancreatitis, I never had UC or Crohn's

I had a temporary colostomy for 2 months, in 1999, after a colon resection for rectal cancer (90% of sigmoid removed). I would have 3 bm's during any meal, the minute I began to chew, I had to go. It was just awful. I had been on the liquid diet in the hospital and just wanted to eat in the worst way.

Long story short, I discovered I needed to go on a low residue diet. I faithfully kept a food journal for over a year. I recorded every single thing I ate, even if I had 5 M & M's (a small bag was definitely out).

I still follow a LRD - instant mashed potatoes, yogurt with live cultures, bananas, Club Crackers, applesauce, turkey, chicken, fish, white bread, plain english muffins. It's just way I have to eat if I want to limit D.

In time it does get better. But I learned the hard way - you are what you eat.

I also fast for certain events (long travel trips, social events such as a wedding or sit down dinner). You cannot do this right now but I would definitely suggest you look into foods that are binding (the LRD list, for example).

Mary/Marsky

Richard - a food journal is great to refer back to. Remember, write everything down - foods, beverages, medications you took that day. I also would rate each day - good, bad, great. So later when I needed a really good day, I would look back at the very foods I had eaten on a "great" day. I just made sure to replicate these foods. After a while I saw a pattern and didn't need the journal as much, but in the beginning, I recorded foods and how much I ate of each (the 5 M & M's for example or 1 chocolate chip cookie). I remember attending a Halloween Party 4 months after my ostomy reversal. The host had purchased dark keg beer made locally from a brewery. It was really good beer and I threw caution to the wind that night. Only had 2 glasses but this beer did a better job at cleaning me out than Fleet's Phospho Soda ever did or still does. I think I made a list of foods and/or beverages to avoid - dark beer was one of them! I also remember my husband bringing me a glass, not sure if he should hand it to me or not. I wish I had listened to that inner voice that night. Another time I was doing so well I ate our Cincinnati style chili - big, big mistake. What in the world was I thinking? LOL So our local chili was added to the list with the dark beer. I think I kept a page in the back of the journal - things to avoid at all costs!