Expectations for upcoming surgery =)

To work your sphincter you just need to squeeze your butt muscles and hold it for a few seconds. Kind of like when you really have to go to the bathroom but you want to hold it in so you can make it to the bathroom...god knows I had to do that a million times when I had UC.

I used the paste a few times, it didn't help all that much and it did hurt a bit more to take off. One of those things you can try just to see how you like it.

Well, I just wrote a really long post, but lost it....

Katrina,

I'm new to this, but I read your posts and my heart goes out to you. I am a senior in college and was diagnosed with UC when I was 15, and just had surgery this summer to get a temp. ileostomy. It does take some getting used to, but not bad. In the hospital, I had the clear bags, but once I got home I was able to get the opaque ones that are disposable, and I'm so spoiled with them now! For a while after surgery, the nurses or my mom would change my bag, and I would always hold my nose b/c it smelled terrible! But it got better; the only time I noticed a real distinct odor was when I ate something w/ a lot of garlic, onions, etc. I definitely wouldn't do this for a while anyway, and spicy foods still bother me (sad day...just part of it I guess). The first time I changed my wafer, etc., by myself (with mom close by), it took me like half an hour, but doesn't take me near that long anymore. As far as going back to school, I was able to have most of the summer off before going back, and the one thing that I'd advise you on is not to push yourself. Going to school was a lot harder for me than I had thought. I got tired very quickly, and had to take naps every day just to make it through the day. THIS IS OKAY. You have to listen to your body, and when it says you need rest, REST. You will be glad in the long run that you did. You'll get your strength back soon enough. But don't try to push yourself, and you don't have to prove yourself to anyone. You just have to find a new kind of "normal." I hope all goes well, and I'm proud of you for being brave in doing this!!

Thanks Walking  

My family is suprised about how Im taking this I honestly dont see what the big deal is lol Im not scared. Im EXCITED well a little scared but thats only because I dont know what kind of pain Ill be in and getting used to the bag is a little scary to think about but if Ive gone almost a year and half with wicked pain i think i can take a few weeks after surgery   Im just looking forward to the day when i can eat what i want when i want. If i eat after like 8 i have crazy reflux..not fun! and im in the bathroom alllll night. Im staying home from school for the rest of the week..doc wants me to get my rest i was feeling a little run down and my white blood cell count was high so she thinks i might have caught a bug or something. But im feeling a lot better now. I have my energy back (what little energy i have ) I slept til noon yesterday haha Oppsy. But hey, we all need that sometimes right? lol

The only thing im worried about is missing so much school and thats a big stresser for me. Ive ALWAYS been good in school..good grades, never missed any days bc i was hardly ever sick. And then all the sudden im getting a D on my report card last year!!! I cried lol. What a baby   But my grades are really important to me. Where I live, we have NO good doctors so ive decided to go college to be a pediatric GI specialist! Do my training at the hospital i go to now and then come back here where i live and work here. We need a good doctor and with my experience having UC I know what the kids are going through. This surgery can give me that opportunity. Going to school to be a doctor is a longgg time. And i was always doubting whether i could do it or not before I decided to get surgery bc i was always having to take naps and rest as soon as i got home from school like you did. But with this surgery it can give me so much more that i couldnt have had without it. Im so thankful for the support and advice i get here on HW. I would have been scared out of my MIND without this place! My doctor and surgeon didnt really tell me how it would be and what to expect so having people that went through it already tell me is such a help.

So a BIG thank you to all of you

I wear a tight tank top under all my clothes too. And the bags I use have a notch to clip the ostom belt into which I also use to keep things more streamilned. The problem I've been having with that lately is that my output is extremely solid ( I think I went overboard with the salads, I'm not even drinking metamucil anymore) and with the pressure of the tank top it can't move down into the bag as well. So I have to physically push it down or it looks like I have a large tumor growing at an alarming rate, haha. On the bright side, there's hope that my stool will also be this solid after my reversal next month and that's something that hasn't happened in 7 years.

Katrina, don't worry so much about the grades, your health is your priority right now. I know everyone is probably saying that to you right now and you're sick of hearing it, but it's cliche because it's true. I'm taking one class at the community college this quarter and when I told my teacher that I would need to take a few weeks off in November for surgery she told me the same thing. I don't want to drop the class so she's working with me so that I can do the work while I'm at home recovering if I feel up to it. And I was going to school to study radiologic technology, but had to take a leave of absence for surgery. Again, the teachers told me my health was my #1 priority and to take care of it and come back and finish when I was better. They told me the same thing at my internship. But with any luck, after these surgeries we'll both be able to make school and LIFE our #1 priority. :)

I was always a good student too, but when I first got sick my sophmore year I got a D in chem one semester. It was a hard class and I missed most of the second semester and couldn't catch up, I just didn't have it in me. It happens. Try not to let it get to you, it will get better.

Katrina,
I wear the closed pouches like you were talking about, and you just throw them away when you change them; I usually average about 4 a day. I actually like them better than the draining kind now, because it's less mess. There's packages of gray plastic bags to put them in and throw away that comes in the box w/ the pouches. To clean up around the stoma and on the wafer, I use flushable non-scented baby wipes. You should get a pouch or something in the hospital to carry all this stuff with you in your purse or something (you'll talk to an ostomy nurse who will explain all this).