How long should it take???

has he had bloodwork since he's been home to make sure his electrolytes are ok and everything? Dehydration has been an issue for me since my output is so frequent and liquid, too. I have already had to go back to get IV fluids because i was so dehydrated. I have home nurses taking blood every week now because my electrolytes were also a problem from that. My surgeon says to just keep drinking gatorade and pedialyte and things like that. He actually said to not even bother with plain water. I've lost 26 pounds and still have a hard time eating very much. They keep telling me it will eventually thicken up some but it's always an issue with ileostomies
Did his surgeon suggest imodium or anything else to slow things down?

Alaina - Sorry in advance for the long post. I seem to have a bad habit of brain dumping when I respond.

I don't know how encouraging this will be, but I am a 3 stepper and I remember that after my 1st surgery while I felt functional after 4 weeks I still had serious pain riding a car and wasn't very active other than my daily walks on the treadmill (1MPH for 15 min was an accomplishment as was a shopping trip to the grocery store). I didn't eat a whole lot either so it was difficult to get calories in. The first week it would take me a whole day to eat a sandwich. I cut it in quarters and ate a quarter at a time. I fell more in love with cheese and crackers, cheese curds, and cheese sticks than I had in the past. I'm now almost 4 weeks after step 2 and I am having a much better time of it this time from a pain aspect but I also had a spinal shot rather than just general anesthesia for surgery. I was also much healthier going into this surgery - I lost 20lbs before surgery #1 and was very weak and sick. I lost another 10lbs during surgery and after because I couldn't eat much. However, the difference between 4 weeks and 6 weeks was amazing so make sure that he's eating and measure his progress in weeks - not days.

I have a loop ileo this time (Jan 4 surgery#2) and my output is very liquid compared to my end ileo - similar to your husband's it gushes out when I empty but there are solids with the liquids so I know that I don't have a partial blockage. However, I have not taken many (ok - any) steps to try to change this as it doesn't bother me as long as I stay hydrated. I know that in the past eating mashed potatoes/mashed sweet potatoes or applesauce made a huge difference in thickening up my output. Pumpkin pie and other squashes also did wonderful thickening things for me (gotta love the holidays). I wore a short bag (7") with my end ileo so I was used to getting up 2-3 times at night to empty until about 8 weeks out when I started only getting up once and getting 4-6 hours of straight sleep which felt great. Since this was fewer than I had gotten up with UC it was a relief and I did learn to go back to sleep quickly and also napped during the day until I went back to work. After awhile I was getting up only once to empty. I am a person that eats even right before bed. I always have and probably always will. I tend to snack all day long rather than eating big meals which I think helps me absorb more calories. I'm going to get up no matter what so I might as well get up because I need to empty rather than because I'm hungry. Plus I think that if all you do is drink before bed then your output will be very liquid as there's nothing to absorb the liquid or slow things down. I have found that while soups are soothing and comforting and many are easily digested - they go right through me if they don't have something solid like chicken in them. I have learned that trying to find a juice that doesn't have apple or grape juice as a main ingredient is difficult. My nurses told me that I could take a teaspoon of metamucil in 4oz of water in the morning and at night with nothing else to thicken things up (don't follow the directions on the container) or take Imodium to help slow things down which will allow for more time for absorption. My booklet gives me instructions on how to take them and emphasizes that you should not take them as listed on the box.

As I'm sure you know, your husband's body is still learning to absorb water, sodium, b vitamins, etc. so make sure that he is getting enough salt and supplements if needed or he will dehydrate which will add to his tiredness. I had to take iron pills because I was still very anemic after surgery #1 which did help with my energy level. G2 has been my savior and I drink it, water, and tea (ok - I sip them - per the nurses instructions) all day long. My geeky sister figured out that I need to sip 2oz every 15 min that I'm awake to get my required liquids for the day in me. I eat a lot of pasta, sandwiches, cheese, potatoes, etc. which helped me to start gaining weight once I got used to eating again after having next to nothing for days while in the hospital. I gained 25lbs in 3 months (or less). Once I could eat I ate everything in sight (bye bye UC) and the weight came back on easily - too easily. I do sleep in a half-sitting up position for the first several weeks after surgery and then I begin to sleep on my side. As a stomach sleeper it's been difficult but I've adjusted. Many people sleep in a recliner at first because it is much more comfortable. I think that it may have something to do with not pulling on your abdomen like lying flat does. Summerstorm has an absorbing disk that she adds to her bags - they might help him to sleep longer as the bag won't fill up as quickly.

Check with your doc to see what he can take for his cold. I got one after surgery #1 and was allowed to take Sudafed (the real stuff). Steamy showers were also nice to clear me up but I had to be careful that I didn't overheat and get dizzy. Also - make sure he has his tummy pillow as I'm sure the pain from blowing his nose and coughing is still painful. He needs to eat to get calories to gain weight so even if he snacks on mashed potatoes or another thickening food it will help as does eating protein (for healing).

Good luck. I hope that things will start getting better for him and he starts to eat, get sleep, gain weight, and get rid of his cold. I'm can only imagine how horrible it is to watch him go through this but it does get better and he will be a healthier person without his colon.

Alaina~my first question is summerstorms...what does he eat during the day? the BRAT would help and mashed potatoes (instant work best) are great at thickening the output even when the patient doesn't feel like eating.

Be careful with Gatorade and other sports drinks...while they have electrolytes, they contain a lot of sugar which causes D in people with ileostomies.

Since your Doc didn't mention to take fiber or imodium...those might be a good start. I was instructed to use Metamucil until my eating was on tract and I could slow down my output. Always start with a low dose and work into the amount that works best for your hubby...we don't usually have to take the 'normal' doses but it is important to go slow...imodium before a meal (about 30 min) will help the output and again it's trial and error since we are all different.

My guess is he's dehydrated and probably doesn't feel much like eating...you can look up symptoms of dehydration on line...if it's really bad he should go to the ER and have some IV fluids...it will make a HUGE difference!

also, just as a precaution, he should have blood work to check for C-Diff...that way you can rule it out or treat it!

Also..Ducridr...

what booklet did they give you that tells you how to take care of all of this stuff? Like with the metamucil and the imodium? Our surgeon didn't give us anything as we live in a small town, and not many of these operations are performed...so I'm just curious...I'll try researching...thanks!

Alaina

Hi, sorry to hear your husband is having a tough time right now, I use to take immodium when i first had my ileo and was taking 2 four times a day thats the maximium dosage i think ,its best to take 20 minutes before you eat anything hope your husband soon gets it sorted and gets well soon take care Bevx