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Takedown went well!

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Posted 12/12/2012 4:21 AM (GMT 0)
First, thank you to everyone who sent me kind wishes!! Surgery went very smoothly: went under around noon, and woke up at 2:30 (almost six hours ago). I'm settled in my room and feeling good. Pain is minimal and easily controlled with the dilaudid pump (which makes me pretty sleepy). Guts are obviously still asleep, so the "hard" part is yet to come, but for now I'm a happy camper!
Posted 12/12/2012 4:46 AM (GMT 0)
That's great! Hopefully everything continues to go well. Keep us posted.
K.
Posted 12/12/2012 5:22 AM (GMT 0)
That's great to hear!
Posted 12/12/2012 7:50 AM (GMT 0)
oh good news! i hope your bowels 'wake up' earlier than mine did! i am still suffering from more gas inside than is coming out.

but the whole butt burn has not happened yet.
and it feels weird to poo again. granted, it is liquid, but still different.
almost like you are not doing it yourself.
strange indeed.

enjoy!
Posted 12/12/2012 8:10 AM (GMT 0)
kazygirl - Yeah, I have already experienced that sensation before surgery when I would go to the bathroom to pass mucous, which would happen every time I sat on the toilet during the last couple weeks there. Had to learn new sensations and different muscle commands to get it all out. So bizarre - like brushing your teeth with your left hand - and no one tells you about that part! I'll be interested to see how things are different once I'm passing digested food and not just mucous.

Sorry you're still dealing with gas!! Are you still in the hospital? If so have you asked for some simethecone (Gas-X)? Or if you're home have you tried Gas-X yet? The extra strength meltaway strips TOTALLY helped get the gas out for me before surgery. Pretty soon after I took a couple strips (box says up to four), I'd start belching and tooting out my stoma. In fact, your post made me pack some for the hospital just in case!! LOL
Posted 12/12/2012 10:42 AM (GMT 0)
Yehheeyyyy! Congratulations! That's great news :) I knew it would go well :)
Posted 12/12/2012 10:45 AM (GMT 0)
Congrats!!! Hope the rest of your recovery goes well!

K
Posted 12/12/2012 12:14 PM (GMT 0)
Congrats! Hope things stay smooth and uneventful.
Posted 12/12/2012 2:28 PM (GMT 0)
congrats thus far boot.
lay low on that dilaudid pump if you can. it really slows down the gut.
guess you are up on walking by now to get that gut moving.
let the party get started!!!
Posted 12/12/2012 3:29 PM (GMT 0)
Just had my first little "toot" at 6:30 this morning, which would be sixteen hours after I woke up from surgery. Woo-hoo! (It's the little things, LOL.) And I feel another one coming on! :-)

Felt ready to walk last night after surgery, but nurses were all buttoning down for the night, and since it's such a hassle with all my attachments (IV, catheter, leg compressors), nurse and mom - who was on her way back to the hotel for the night - both figured I might as well wait for morning, which I was fine with.

So I asked about going for my walk a few minutes ago (at 7:00 AM), but it was right in the middle of the nurse shift change, and they want to escort me the first time I stand up to keep an eye on my blood pressure and make sure I don't pass out. Sooo, now I have to wait until around 8:00-ish since they are giving reports and making rounds first. But to be fair, the hospital is at capacity right now with not a single room open, so they are pretty busy. I'm sure I'll be walking plenty before the day is out!

I've been trying to take it easy on the dilaudid, ddd45, just keeping it up enough to stay ahead of the pain so I can stay comfortable and as mobile as possible (changing positions, reaching for stuff, etc), which right now is about 20-30 mins in between pumps. If I go longer than that then the pain at the incision area returns, and it takes too long to "catch up" to it, ending up using more in the long run. I'll keep an eye and slow that down as I am able to.

Goals for today:
1) Walk, walk, walk!
2) Catheter out!
3) Leg compressors off!
4) Progress to at least "full liquids" (soup, yogurt, etc) by end of day.

I know I don't have direct control over 2-4, but it will all come with the walking and waking up the guts.

Thanks again for all the support and good vibes! I swear the prayers and healing thoughts from friends, family, and all of you are what's keeping everything running so smoothly for me through all this since surgery one. Big hugs!!!
Posted 12/12/2012 3:52 PM (GMT 0)
     Wonderful news!  Wishing you well and may you have many more years of good health!!!
Posted 12/12/2012 6:42 PM (GMT 0)
fantastic! hope it all goes really well and you're soon back home. good luck x
Posted 12/12/2012 9:03 PM (GMT 0)
Goal Progress:
1) Gone on two walks so far, and plan on a few more before the day is out.
2) Catheter is out!! (Yay!)
3) Leg compressors are off for now. If I keep walking maybe they won't go back on.
4) Still only approved for sips of water.

Haven't passed any more gas yet, but I can feel it moving around down there... it wants to come out! I could probably get some more out if I "pushed" hard enough, but don't want to strain the incision site, so just being patient.

Still feel great, hardly any pain, and in good spirits. My mom came in this morning and decorated my little bedside table with Christmas lights and a little stuffed snowman and Santa. Christmas music playing in the background from her ipod... It's pretty sweet, and the nurses are all getting a kick out of it.
Posted 12/12/2012 10:36 PM (GMT 0)
^Glad you are doing well :)
Posted 12/13/2012 12:51 AM (GMT 0)
Congrats and glad you are doing so well. I had my surgeries done in Philadelphia so on the day I was released from the hospital for my takedown surgery, I made my hubby stop at the famous Gino's cheesesteak place. Nothing ever tasted so good at that moment in time! I only ate a quarter of it and I actually don't recommend eating something like that so soon after takedown but I went with my gut (no pun intended) and I had no issues digesting it at all.

Hope your recovery continues to go smoothly! :)
Posted 12/13/2012 1:16 AM (GMT 0)
Thanks, ladies! I have finally started passing a decent amount of gas, starting a little over an hour ago, and my tummy is moving and talking up a storm. I'm hoping to get something other than ice chips for dinner! Still feeling great and just waiting to see how my j-pouch functions once it's introduced to food. :-)
Posted 12/14/2012 1:10 AM (GMT 0)
Ugh, yesterday went so wonderfully, that I guess I got a little overly confident. After all the action late last night (passed all my gas around between 10:00 and midnight, and even had four tiny bowel movements between 2:30 AM and 4:00 AM)... but this morning things came to a stand-still again, and I have not passed anything (gas or stool) since 4:00 AM or so.... which means that today I've been feeling really bloated and in quite a bit of pain. Tried all my tricks to get things moving, and nothing worked. Finally just got the pain managed somewhat with meds so that I'm just feeling an uncomfortable bloat vs. unbearable pain. Still walking as much as I can to try and get things moving again, but not taking anything by mouth until the lower part of my bowel wakes up the rest of the way and starts passing stuff through again! I knew it might take a while for things to wake up, but I didn't realize they could go backwards!!
Posted 12/14/2012 1:32 AM (GMT 0)
i'm still there chic and on day 9!!! what is happening to us??!!
Posted 12/14/2012 1:40 AM (GMT 0)
Sorry about the set-back. It will get better! You mom's decorations and music made me smile! I'm really surprised you are able to toot. From everything I read on jpouch.org, it seems like you have to heavily contort your body or something!
Posted 12/14/2012 2:08 AM (GMT 0)
Don't get discouraged. Progress from this surgery is usually in weeks not days. Hang in there!
Posted 12/14/2012 5:19 PM (GMT 0)
Ended up walking a total of 45 laps yesterday... just keep walking every couple hours to try to get things moving through. Gonna start tracking how many miles I'm doing - more exercise than when I was home, that's for sure! But SO much better to walk around without the bag hanging off my belly (even though I'm still dragging around an IV cart).

Had some progress overnight: BM's are coming regularly now, no straining, still pretty liquidy since I was still on clear liquids yesterday. Still not passing much gas, but a little less pressure than yesterday. Went on my morning walk arleady (10 laps). Upgraded to "full liquids" for breakfast and lunch today, and low-residue solids for dinner if all goes well. Probably be going home tomorrow unless things get stopped up again. What they brought me for today's breakfast: plain cream of wheat (I added sugar), yogurt, juice, milk, jello, and coffee. I'm skipping the coffee and milk. Will eat the cereal and yogurt slowly with water and probably save the jello and juice for later.
Posted 12/14/2012 6:14 PM (GMT 0)
Ah glad to hear you're pooping. Sorry about the farts. I feel your pain luv. My bowels officially went back to sleep but woke up today on day 9 no question.
I still have gas bubbles but I think those are ones from surgery not in my digestive track. I was ready to go to ER today but amazingly it all woke up.
I even have slightly thick output.
Still feels weird like it's not my butt doing the work.

Good luck chicky on getting your gas out fast.
Posted 12/14/2012 6:18 PM (GMT 0)
Oh, good! I'm glad to hear things finally have started moving for you. I was a little concerned. Hope whatever gas you have going on resolves itself. Yeah, I know what you mean about how it feels like it's not my butt doing the work... I think there must have been nerve endings around the rectum so you could feel when you were full, push it out, feel when you were done/empty, but you can't feel inside the j-pouch, so it's like stuff just slides out, and all you feel is what's going on in the anal canal. Always hard for me to tell if there is anything left in there. New sensations and muscle commands for sure... will take some getting used to. Funny how no one mentions that part.
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