5 weeks since ileo and still a little sore

It has been 5 weeks since my emergency ileo for sever UC and I am still sore. I am only on 1/2 oxycodone and will be completely off next week. Just stopped prednisone today. I cannot believe i had the surgery - it was a big one, but I am grateful I am no long SICK from the UC and don't take any medications except my blood pressure. I am having some mucus and blood from my rectum, my CR said that's residue and probably from some UC in my rectum area.

I finally found an appliance that works, but what can I do to keep my stoma dry when taking a shower. I put some plastic wrap on it and dried it with a towel right away, but then I had my very FIRST blow out in the car a few hours later. Any tips to keep it dry during a shower, I don't want to take one now until the day comes that I need to change my one piece.

Also I am eating EVERYTHING, no problems, I can't believe it, I have put on 10 pounds and I don't need the weight I am already overweight. I'm sure its from the prednisone and all.

Happy Easter to everyone.

Renee

I wipe my pouch with a micro cloth and that works really well. But same as Blueglass I'm unsure whether you mean the pouch or are u taking it off and getting your stoma wet? Thats ok to do too though , but you will go through a lot of products if you take it off everytime you shower. Its very normal to be sore for a little while after surgery, but once your past the post op pain you will be feeling great I'm sure. You said your only on half an oxycodone, is it the slow release ones? If so its probably not digesting so its not giving you the pain relief you need. I was put on them at one stage too and they came out of my stoma whole so I have now been switched to oxynorm capsules or sometimes patches, as I need them for adhesion pain and for my RA. All the best and hope you continue to feel better as each day passes. Take care
Doreen

I am wearing a hollister on piece, and I heard that if the wafer gets wet, then the water can get in under the water and loosen it, is that true? I am change my appliance every 3 days, and I find I am only taking a shower then, and the other days taking a sponge bath, but I don't feel clean.

Last night I had some italian meat cheese pie and I got up in the middle of the night with my bag full, omgosh I had diaharrea - does that happen sometimes? Also is my bag will blow up with just air/GAS, is their a way to prevent that?

thank you everyone!!!

I don't have any trouble w/showers, but I do find that the wafer starts peeling a bit if I take a lot of baths without anything extra on the wafer. I use the sure seals, which are great -- they are clear plastic like the tegaderm used to hold down IV's. They breathe well and protect the wafer. I can usually get 6 days, with swimming/showering or taking a bath every one of those days.

No need for sponge baths except right after surgery!

Some people also like a product called EZ vents -- you attach them to your bag, poke a hole, and then it's like the valve on an inflatable toy, you can release air/gas that way. I had some problems w/them, but a lot of people really like them.

You can try using immodium to slow output down. Also be mindful of food sensitivities -- are there specific foods that give you diarrhea? You are only 5 weeks out, so you might not be ready for some of the foods you're eating.

Hi Therea,

My CR left my 6 inches of my rectum; anus area up - if that makes sense-, just in case I want to get the J-Pouch! My CR said we don't know if I am a candidate for the J-Pouch or not, we will have to see. He said I have to wait at least 10 - 12 months before consider a J-Pouch, because I was on Prednisone for so long it takes at least a year to get completely out of your system and for my body to heal. I'm also 55 years old, so I don't know if I want to go through another 2 more surgeries; j-pouch creation and then hook up. Also, there are some people that have nothing but problems with it and then decide to reverse back to an ileostomy, so we will see how it goes. Also my doctor said if I chose to stay with an permanent ileostomy then they will sew up my rectum and you don't have to worry about leakage or anything like that.

It's not strange, I am use to poop/mucus details after 24 years of UC. Sometimes it light pink blood and sometimes it light mucus. My CR said this might happen and in a few weeks he will look up my rectum, he said I might have to use Canasa once and a while too!

My CR said full recovery is 10-12 weeks with this surgery, and I am still out work on short term disability. Theresa what is your expected recovery time? And are you off of work too?

Renee

light pink or light mucous sounds a lot better than black to me! I'll have to ask my nurse about it when I see her this week to put more silver nitrate on some granulation tissue I have and check on a nasty rash I've been developing under my wafer.

I'm 18 and so I was in college when this flare struck. I had to withdraw from the semester and now I'm appealing the university to fix my transcript and refund my money. Since I have good documentation from my doctors I'm not too worried about that. But I'm hoping to get surgery #2 in late May and then take-down in late July so I have a full month to recover before the fall semester starts.

I wasn't on prednisone for very long - just 60mg for about a week before the hospital, 90mg during my two-week hospital stay up until surgery, and then I tapered off pretty quickly over three weeks.

I wouldn't say that I wanted the surgery, but when it came to my UC, surgery was clearly the lesser of two evils. I was admitted to the hospital on February 15 where they tried increasingly potent medication:

For my pain I was on dilaudid, for my gas- simethicone, for my nausea- antacid and antiemetic, for sleep- ambien, for itchiness from medicine- benadryl... for my UC I was on flagyl, 5ASAs (asacol and canasa), 90mg IV prednisone, continuous infusion cyclosporine, and 6mp... and to stay alive I was on CPN and insulin and iron and potassium and blood transfusions...

But I simply didn't respond to anything. So I was transferred to Johns Hopkins where I was given two options - try Remicade and hope that my toxic megacolon didn't perforate in the meanwhile, or have surgery. And after seeing my colonoscopy pictures, I knew that I had to get that thing out of me!! I'd never seen anything so awful. Instead of pink my colon was red and black and purple and grey and yellow and white. My gastroenterologist and surgeon alike were very relieved to hear my decision and they came in on a Sunday night to perform my colectomy.