newbie with a few questions

Hi i got home yesterday from the hospital after 10 or 11 days in there after the surgery and I found this site about an hour ago, had been on it with my UC which led to the emergency surgery with a serious flare up that didnt react well enough to steroids and increased medication.

Firstly Im massively underweight at the moment 55.6 kg or just under 9 stone, Im 6"3 and should be about 80kg or 12 and half stone so my diet is aimed towards puttting on weight. Also its still fairly liquidy at times so have to keep my fluids up. And im im still tapering down the prednisalone at 15mg a day now.

Now the questions.

When i was in hospital the dietician said that drinking sports drinks (lucozade sport) was better then water for rehydrating my system, is all the sugar in these not going to keep it runny though?

i occassionaly get a kind of warm tingling feeling around the stoma, usually before it releases something, gas or excrement, is this normal?

when i changed my bag yesterday before i left with the stoma nurse i noticed that it appears there is a small gap between the stoma and the skin around it (allmost as if it might be able to move around slightly) it might not be deep though (I cant remember   ) seeing as she didnt say anything about it i assumed it was normal but now Im not so sure, is it normal shortly after surgery for this to happen? it was swolen after surgery and did reduce quite fast.

Also there was a small white dot on the stoma itself that didnt appear to rub off, again because the stoma nurse didnt say anything i assumed it was normal, could of been a piece of dried on excrement maybe?(has been very yellow)

Last but not least the consistency changes as the day goes on, in the morning its quite liquidy but there is only about 100-200mls total, then around 2-4 its slightly more solid, prob about halfway to thick paste then around 6 it is a thick paste and during the night it is usually medium again, is this anyway normal or could it be caused by the times im eating, i.e not eating during the night so liquid in morning etc, or else when im taking my immodium tablets (not during the night).

Sorry about the long post and any help would be really appreciated.

garanmoldu~welcome to the ostomy forum!

Once you start eating you will find that the weight will come back pretty easy. You could also supplement your food with protein drinks to gain a little more.

Yes, those sports drinks can cause an issue...you can cut them with water to still get some benefit without it running right through. You can also salt your food or eat salty pretzels or peanut butter crackers to help retain fluids.

I still get that 'warm' feeling once in a while and it's usually when whatever is coming out is liquid...I usually feel it when it gets to the part of my skin that touches the pouch. I don't have it right around my stoma, though, maybe there is more 'gap' than there should be because of shrinkage?

Is the gap around your stoma all around or just at the bottom? A loop ileo would have an opening at the bottom. I would run the question by your doctor if you are concerned...just because the stoma nurse didn't say anything doesn't mean its okay! Always ask!!! And, run the question about the white doc by your doc, too!

Yes, your output will vary based on how much Imodium you've taken and what you've eaten...mine is thick all day long now (unless I drink a coffee or something like that) so my guess would be that as time goes on you'll find it will get thicker. You might want to keep a food diary for a little while so you know what causes it or even how long you between eating to keep it consistent.

Don't worry about long posts...and post away when you have questions!!

Thanks guys! I'm just happy to be out of the hospital for christmas, was in there for just over 4 weeks but out for Christmas :) yeah I even noticed a difference in the output yesterday and last night in that it was thick for longer which is good and I think it might just be my digestive system getting back into action and eating steadily through the day.

The stoma nurse is meant to see me again today so Il let you know what she says about the gap thing, and its just at the side I think, cant really see underneath the stoma it still protudes a few inches.

Trixiemom I had a ileostomy and I'm on the immodium because for the first few while it had been pure liquid coming out in very large amounts

Yeah i was talking to my nurse earlier and she said ythe same, its steroids, she said its nothing to worry about and its nothing to worry about, didnt mention anything about putting anything on it though but im on a low dose at the moment and reducing quick enough too so thats prob why. Thanks