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okay J-POUCHERS time to spit out your secrets!!!!!

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Posted 1/15/2012 12:28 AM (GMT 0)
my take down surgery is right around the corner 1 week and 1 day left with mr.wiggels who has a mind of his own! what are all the pros and cons about this j-pouch :

whats the worst possible thing what is the best thing to happen ...my questions:

  • am i gonna poop on my self
  • do i have to wear a diaper at night (starting off)
  • will hot foods make my anus burn
  • how do they close you up
  • are more incisions made?
  • shortes/ longest stay in hospital
  • is walking going to be hard again?
  • what about sex!!!!! -lol-
  • sleeping ,can i sleep on my stomache right after surgery
  •   exercise , i can i do yoga again ????
  • how might i feel emotionaly / how did you feel
  • can i do things for my self like shower and walk
  • did anyone cry for whatever reason
  • whats the pain score
  • embarssing things that might/ have happened
  • worries....

thats all i can think of now if anything elses comes to mind please feel free to write it down im so glad for thisfourm i hope this thread can answer some other peoples questions :)

Posted 1/15/2012 2:16 AM (GMT 0)
Try not too worry too much Jackie. I know, easier said than done but you are going to work yourself into a frenzy. I was worried to before takedown but the whole thing turned out to be quite uneventful. I never pooped myself or leaked and I was eating a cheeseburger and fries two weeks after surgery. I was fortunate to have a speedy recovery but just stay positive. The surgery itself is quick....I was only in the OR for 30 minutes and was home in 3 days. The pain was minimal. My stoma was sutured closed and healed really nice. ...no additional incisions were made.

You will do great! Just think how nice it's going to feel to shower without the bag....it was heaven for me the first time! Good luck! :)
Posted 1/15/2012 2:42 AM (GMT 0)
yes I WILL BE COMPLETLY NAKED!!!!!!!!!!
Posted 1/15/2012 2:53 AM (GMT 0)
Hey, Jackie! I'm getting my take down around the same time (definitely on the 31st, small chance of moving to the 24th). I asked my surgeon about how the last surgery goes and he said they typically can do everything they need to do through the stoma site. He said, very rarely, they have to do a small incision if there are too many adhesions to easily put the intestine back in place through the stoma site. His method is to sew the muscles back together and leave the skin layer open to heal on it's own. As Marianne posted above, some surgeons sew the whole thing closed.

I am somehow really not nervous about this one. I have a small fear of another abscess or something, but I'm sure it's unlikely.
Posted 1/15/2012 3:01 AM (GMT 0)

Jackie_0mg said...
yes I WILL BE COMPLETLY NAKED!!!!!!!!!!

Can I see pics?

just kidding. smilewinkgrin
Posted 1/15/2012 3:20 AM (GMT 0)
bhahahhahahahahhahahahah ur such a silly guy
Posted 1/15/2012 9:47 AM (GMT 0)
Somedude likes to tease but it's fun, like having a brother.
Let's tease him back.

Btw Jackie I shower all the time totally naked. You can get in the shower without a bag. I just eat about 5 marshmellows before the shower and my stoma (named it Baby from Outer Space) stays nice and quiet at least until after I finish showering and get a new bag on.
Posted 1/15/2012 11:23 AM (GMT 0)
the marshmellows dont work that well for me this migh sound weird but i take bird baths most days because my bag gets so wet and the adehsive wears off w/ in a day so i only take showers if my bag needs tobe changed so 1xa week!!!! and when i do that my stoma starts to get active againand its really hard putting a bag on then.
Posted 1/15/2012 6:30 PM (GMT 0)
Jackie...you worry too much. Try to just take it one day at a time. I am sure there are routine things to be concerned with but every one is different on how their bodies respond and heal.

The j-pouch org I am sure covers everything in greater detail to assist you as you encounter different situations.

Be sure to do what the Dr tells you and take it slow and not rush things so you heal and adapt well.

Good Luck.
Posted 1/15/2012 8:09 PM (GMT 0)
I had my ostomy takedown jan 09, can't believe its been 3 years!  I am basically a normal person again!  I have never had an accident, many close calls tho.  I can eat whatever i want.  If i eat spicy food, it does burn coming back out so i avoid it unless i am willing to deal with the pain later.  If i go to a restaurant and have a salad at the beginning i will have to go to the bathroom before i can finish eating my meal. Other than that i can basically eat anything.  I take imodium before bed because i had a lot of trouble waking up in the night to go.  I try to make it a routine to use the bathroom before a car ride, movies, dinner or any thing where it might be inconvient to step away, even if i dont have to go.  My take down was about 30 minutes, they did everything thru the stoma site. I was in the hospital for 3 days only!  I got blood clots after my first surgery, so i had to have the ileostomy bag for a year and half between all my surgeries but i would do it all again to get where i am today!  Getting the j-pouch will be the best thing that ever happened to you! The one funny thing, dont be suprised, just like the bag your stools will resemble the color of what you ate!  eating blue cotton candy is pretty funny :)
Posted 1/15/2012 9:20 PM (GMT 0)

Comber said...
I had my ostomy takedown jan 09, can't believe its been 3 years! I am basically a normal person again! I have never had an accident, many close calls tho. I can eat whatever i want. If i eat spicy food, it does burn coming back out so i avoid it unless i am willing to deal with the pain later. If i go to a restaurant and have a salad at the beginning i will have to go to the bathroom before i can finish eating my meal. Other than that i can basically eat anything. I take imodium before bed because i had a lot of trouble waking up in the night to go. I try to make it a routine to use the bathroom before a car ride, movies, dinner or any thing where it might be inconvient to step away, even if i dont have to go. My take down was about 30 minutes, they did everything thru the stoma site. I was in the hospital for 3 days only! I got blood clots after my first surgery, so i had to have the ileostomy bag for a year and half between all my surgeries but i would do it all again to get where i am today! Getting the j-pouch will be the best thing that ever happened to you! The one funny thing, dont be suprised, just like the bag your stools will resemble the color of what you ate! eating blue cotton candy is pretty funny :)

Hello,

How often do you go in a day on average. And I keep asking this question and it's never answered. How can you make it a routine do "go" before a car ride or a movie if you don't feel like going at that time.

If I go to the washroom and try to make number 2, and I don't feel the need, I won't go it's pretty simple.
Posted 1/15/2012 9:46 PM (GMT 0)
Somedude:

How many times a person goes a day is going to be different with everyone. I go 4-6X a day where as my sister who also has a j pouch goes 3x a day. Some people go as much as 10x a day. The important thing to remember is you are not sick anymore so matter how many times you have to go, there is no pain, cramps or urgency. You just sit and empty! And it's a heck of a lot quicker going to the bathroom with a j pouch than with a colon. When ever I have to go pee, I poo at the same time and get it out of the way. I know it's hard to understand until you actually live it. My sister used to try to explain it to me I didn't get it until I had my j pouch. Everyone thinks it's this huge deal to poop 6x a day but it really isn't. I pee more than that b/c I drink a lot of water.
Posted 1/15/2012 10:05 PM (GMT 0)

ByeByeUC said...
Somedude:

How many times a person goes a day is going to be different with everyone. I go 4-6X a day where as my sister who also has a j pouch goes 3x a day. Some people go as much as 10x a day. The important thing to remember is you are not sick anymore so matter how many times you have to go, there is no pain, cramps or urgency. You just sit and empty! And it's a heck of a lot quicker going to the bathroom with a j pouch than with a colon. When ever I have to go pee, I poo at the same time and get it out of the way. I know it's hard to understand until you actually live it. My sister used to try to explain it to me I didn't get it until I had my j pouch. Everyone thinks it's this huge deal to poop 6x a day but it really isn't. I pee more than that b/c I drink a lot of water.

Ok....I'm almost there in understanding. So, your J pouch, right now, it's like a faucet. You sit and you can empty it whenever you want? Wow.

Obviously, like you know, back when you had a healthy colon, even if you wanted to do no.2 you just couldn't do it whenever you wanted. It came when it came.

And, wow, your sister goes 3x times a day. I was going 2-3 times a day with a healthy colon back in the days. lol
Posted 1/15/2012 10:54 PM (GMT 0)
Well not quite like a faucet but something like that! Yeah my sister has had her j pouch for 20 years so by now it thinks it's a colon! Lol. My hubby goes 3x a day with a healthy colon.
Posted 1/15/2012 11:13 PM (GMT 0)

ByeByeUC said...
Well not quite like a faucet but something like that! Yeah my sister has had her j pouch for 20 years so by now it thinks it's a colon! Lol. My hubby goes 3x a day with a healthy colon.

oh and can you fart comfortably, probably not, if you go when you want, a fart is risky.
Posted 1/15/2012 11:15 PM (GMT 0)
No issues here passin gas :)
Posted 1/16/2012 12:33 AM (GMT 0)
It's been more than a year now since my takedown and the only point I would stress is that it takes the body a while to adjust to everything. At least for me, in the beginning things were pretty watery. I bought some massive pads to wear the first couple of weeks as a backup. I know I had some leakeage at night early on - the more watery stool is the more this is likely to happen. The only time I've had major accidents at night is when I had pouchitis once. Now I know what it is and how it feels so I'll be able to address it earlier. It takes a while to learn how to pass gas - there is a learning curve. You have to be able to pass it without anything coming out and if your stool is very liquidy this can happen. I felt comfortable leaving the house 2-3 days after I got home. I had the feeling or urgency for a while but it would always pass - unlike UC. Actually, I got it every time I bent over and that seemed to last a couple of months. I felt pretty good early on but I felt great about five months out. That's when I feel like my body had really adjusted to the new plumbing. As for sex, you'll probably have a little bit of anxiety in the beginning. Personally, the more formed my stool is the more comfortable I am having sex.

You'll definitely be able to walk easily and shower on your own. I felt really good following the surgery because I didn't have a major incision to deal with, everything was done through my stoma. In the hospital they will change the dressing on your stoma site and for me that was a bit painful because things tend to stick so it would hurt would they pulled it off. I would bring non-stick gauze-like pads just in case they don't have non-stick ones. You can buy them at CVS. I had my surgeries at the Cleveland Clinic and I was surprised they didn't use those, at least on me.

The only time I will feel a "burning" is if I eat something spicy like Chipolte's chicken but for me it's worth it! Some j-pouchers take Metamucil and eat foods specifically to make their stools more formed. I eat whatever I want and it's not always the best. I love chocolate and sugar does make stools more liquidy but once again, it's not enough to deter me from eating it. Life is good - I have no complaints and I'm still so thankful I had the surgeries and no longer have to deal with UC. And buy a bidet seat - they make all the difference in the world!

 

Posted 1/16/2012 12:27 PM (GMT 0)
I talked to one of the doctors today about the last step, and he said the operation is only 30 minutes long and all they do is close up the stoma. Bye Bye Space Baby!
Posted 1/17/2012 2:20 AM (GMT 0)
I still go about 8-10 times a day and i had my takedown 3 years ago. It was 15+ at the beginning tho. I basically go every time i pee or anything. If i want to go to the bathroom i can. So before i go on a car ride, even if i dont feel like ihave to go i make sure my pouch is good and empty so i dont have to go in the first hour atleast. Its kind of hard to understand if you dont have a pouch.
Posted 1/17/2012 12:28 PM (GMT 0)
im excited it wont take forever my 1st 2 surgeries i was under 8 hours.... went under 8 woke up at 4:30 or somthin thats crazy
Posted 1/17/2012 2:41 PM (GMT 0)
i go in for my take down surgery on the 26th so this has helped me with things i wanted to know. please let us know how your doing after the surgery jackie x
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