Who needs sleep?!

Thanks to the prednisone and my body having adjusted to never sleeping over the past few months....I'm laying here again....wide awake, feeling the need to babble for a bit. Lucky you!!

Prednisone sucks....the side effects suck. I am finally tapering off of it...and I'm worried that will suck too...but, at least I AM finally getting close to being off of this horrible drug. Hopefully before long I won't be so wide awake, hungry, hairy, and restless. Hopefully at some point my heart remembers how to keep normal rhythm, my eyes go back to not so blurry vision, my hands and feet function without random lock ups and my skin gets a little thicker than tissue paper. And...I really hope that is all the worst of what the pred does to me and that the taper doesn't totally screw me up in the middle of surgery recovery!!

It would also be really awesome if these hemmies that I was lucky enough to develop during my UC flare would finally go away. I thought they had..but not so much. A couple of them seem to have grown quite fond of me. Sometimes they make me feel like I have to poop, which of course I don't. And I can feel them poking out when I sit down to pee or pass a little mucous. Maybe I'll try a sitz bath....hopefully I've gained enough weight to lay in the tub without my bony bum, and everything else, hurting too badly. Anyone else ever have lingering hemmies after surgery??

Did I mention that I'm hungry?!? I thought it was just because of the surgery...being rid of UC and having an appetite again. It's not just that though, it's the darn Pred!! I DO have lots of weight and nutrition to gain back....but I need to do it the right way...healthily...without gaining MORE weight than I lost. I think a food journal might be in order.

The next chapter in this book I seem to be writing here.... I have mentioned before that my stoma is QUITE large and swollen. It has made some aspects of recovery and adjusting more challenging, but I have managed well I think. Now...he is starting to shrink a good bit, which is great!! Only problem is, I think he's shrinking so rapidly that I'm going to have to change bags often while this happens. I put a new one on Tuesday morning...and by Wednesday afternoon I could see a noticeable difference in his circumference and see skin visible between stoma and wafer. It doesn't feel TOO irritated, but it doesn't feel perfect either. Anyone else ever have a giant stoma and/or quick shrinking after surgery? Should I just suck it up and change my bag every 2 days until he finally settles down? That is probably what I should do...I just hate to blow through supplies so quickly, which I guess is a silly reason not to change.

WOW!! This is a really long post! If you are still reading, thank you, I'm really not crazy....blame the drugs!

I'm just at 2 weeks since surgery now....and wondering if it is safe to eat Quinoa?? I don't see why not, but am not sure either. I have also been wondering about shredded iceberg lettuce, hummus/any bean dip type thing, and squash or zucchini as long as it is peeled and cooked very well. I don't think those tiny seeds would be a problem, would they? I guess it's all trial and error, and if I really want something I should just dive in and give it a go....or at least a taste or two. Just thought I'd throw those things out there and see if anyone else tried them this soon after surgery. Oh...and grits!! NOT the instant kind, but real, thick, yummy Southern grits...I'm hungry!!

This has gotten out of hand....I really need to sleep. My eyes are heavy...but my brain and body are wide awake and ready to go....I should listen to my eyes. I think Mom is getting me up early so we can head out for a quick errand or two in the morning, maybe a good breakfast out and then back to the house to do some baking for Easter....YUM!! I'm also going to fix some broccoli soup once I find a good recipe.

Yeah...OK....I will feel like an idiot once I post this novel, but oh well. Maybe I should start keeping a journal instead....or a blog...but for now, you fine folks get to be blessed with my musings. Thanks for being so great and maybe even reading all of this. Questions and comments are encouraged and appreciated! Hope you all are feeling well and getting some sleep!

When you need to sleep try LOTS of vodka :) seriously, you can ask your dr for a short term dose of sleeping pills. Coming off the anthestia and all that messses you up too.
As for the food, I would skip lettuce, beans and broccoli for right now. Because they can cause a lot of gas and I think with it being new you should give it a bit before you eat those.

Yes, melatonin works.
Amazing how sometimes I read a report here of howsomeone is experiencing a certain stage o it all and it stounds just like what I went though. Yes, even these pred-inducedcrazy nights will pass.
I wouldn't eat the quinoa yet. That's for the advanced class, when you know your stoma can handle salad. I ate quinoa salads in the summer and it produced a fairly normal poo, that was 6 months after reversal. You need to see what your stoma "agrees" to deal with, the slower you take it, the more amenable it will be to your cravings.

Hummos is my favorite food but not too much, just a tablespoon at first. When I ate chickpeas thought it gave me horrible gas pains.

LOVE hummus and it was one of my first forays away from strictly low residue diet also. It agreed with me for the most part except it was the first time that I ever developed the "blimp" overnight pouch. I never had that happen to me until hummus -- I've found that chick peas and garlic are the two main foods that cause that kind of gas for me so the combination is pretty potent! It isn't painful, I just have to [carefully] burp during the night.

I freaking LOVE pureed vegetable soups, especially with a good dose of heavy cream :) My main source of veggies before I got brave about chewing overcooked ones was this pureed roasted red pepper/potato/leek soup from a takeout place near my house, soooo good!

Have you tried using a barrier ring with your set up, like a Hollister Adapt ring or an Eakin Seal? They "fill in" the space between your skin and the wafer so that even if your stoma is changing sizes a lot you won't have to change as frequently or worry so much about exposed skin. I know some people say you shouldn't use one immediately after surgery, but I think two weeks after surgery is enough time to wait. I had trouble with a little output seeping onto my skin under the wafer around that time and the WOCN recommended adding a barrier ring, I honestly have no idea how anyone gets along without one.

UCWhat, I don't mind your novels as prednisone keeps me up all night too! Haha.

I've decided to not fight the being awake though and use it to my advantage. I have a bunch of make up work to do for medical school so I stay up until it bores me so much that I would rather sleep. =)

By the way, I know there's another post for this somewhere, but I finally saw a pic of my colon when I had my followup with my surgeon. And man, IT WAS DISGUSTING. So glad I got rid of that ridiculousness.

Anyway, sorry for the random rambling. Hope everyone has a fabulous night. Keep smiling!