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Post surgical ride home....

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Posted 7/12/2013 4:02 PM (GMT 0)
Any suggestions on things that will help my 2 hour ride home?  I will have the anal closure as well as an end ileostomy.....  bit nervous about sitting in a bumpy car on my butt wound & my tummy wound isn't a much better thought.

Is there a good drug I should ask for prior to discharge?  LOL. 

Posted 7/12/2013 4:11 PM (GMT 0)
They will probalby have one of those donut things you can sit on or make sure you ask for one. I was sent home with Vicodin and that helped a lot. Good luck!
Posted 7/12/2013 5:20 PM (GMT 0)
Donut cushions should NOT be used for anal closure. Some others here have mentioned they used a "waffle cushion".

For a few weeks after surgery I liked to have a small pillow between the lap belt and my stoma/incision areas. That would be a good idea. I had about an hour ride home and my butt was sore at the end but I wasn't in a lot of pain.
Posted 7/13/2013 1:20 AM (GMT 0)
Oh dear.... I had my rectum removed and my wound was left open to heal, I had a 45 minute ride home and it was very, very hard. I was sitting on a large foam pillow. Make sure you take pain meds before you go
Posted 7/13/2013 4:00 AM (GMT 0)
lie down in the back seat? Good luck. RJ
Posted 7/13/2013 2:53 PM (GMT 0)
Hey music, I agree with Rosemarie (esoR} and Liz (Pluot). In addition, if you take strong pain meds for the trip, the ride might cause more damage to the affected area without you feeling it until the meds wear off. Use the cusion or, preferably, lie on the back seat. Wishing you a safe, comfortable trip,
Mike
Posted 7/13/2013 6:14 PM (GMT 0)
I had my rectum removed and the nurses gave me the donut cushion at the hospital to use.  I was using that in the hospital bed to sit up and of course used it for my ride home.  I don't understand why some are saying not to use one.  I know I didn't go anywhere without it for the first two weeks...until things healed up.

 

Sherrine

Posted 7/13/2013 7:07 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Sherrine, a donut cushion causes increased pressure at the wound site. It's important after anal closure to keep everything together, not spread (e.g. butt cheeks), so sitting on a donut cushion can interfere with wound healing. I think that doesn't apply as much when there's only rectum removal, no anal closure. I know when I had my rectum removed I didn't really have the "spreading" issue, so that might be why they gave you that kind of cushion.
Posted 7/13/2013 11:32 PM (GMT 0)
I was totally stitched up but my surgery was 24 years ago and things can change in that period of time. Bottom line....sit on something soft!
wink

Sherrine
Posted 7/15/2013 1:22 AM (GMT 0)
     I don't know, but sit on something soft!  My husband picked me up from Pennsylvania Hospital in our SUV, which is usually comfortable, but, driving on those Philly streets, some cobblestoned...ugh.  We live in south Jersey.  Long story short...my anus was not sewn closed and when I got home, I felt like I had to urinate and a bunch of foul smelling gunk just whooshed out of me like all get out.  Till this day (three years later) I haven't the faintest idea what jarred loose and neither does my doctor.  I still have some bloody discharge from my vagina....over twenty years past menopause....had all kinds of tests done and everything checks out ok.  I feel terrific, so I guess all is well.  I'll be 67 in August and I doubt I would be here today had I not had that operation.
Posted 7/15/2013 1:47 PM (GMT 0)
DO NOT use a donut cushion.
I had a 2.5 hour ride. The abdominal incision and stoma stuff isn't that big of a deal pain wise. It's the backside that is not fun.

What helped (well in addition to all the pain drugs) was lots and lots and lots of pillows. Regular size pillows, med pillows, smaller pillows, The various pillows allowed me to get positioned to shift my weight more to the side of my butt rather than directly on the bottom. Also tilting the seat back helped then I could kind of sit/lay sideways.

Make sure your driver knows to not go over bumps and to take turns very very very slowly.
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