1 week post jpouch construction!

Hi all, sorry I haven't written sooner.
Last Tuesday I had surgery 2 of 3 to construct my jpouch and change my end ileo to a loop. I'm still very sore but not to bad. The pain at first was absolutely horrible and worse than the colectomy for sure!
The surgeon said everything went very well and according to plan, no surprises which was great to hear!
My only 2 concerns at this point is on Saturday when I went to the bathroom I automatically released a semi chunky/bloody mucous from my rear end like I did before when I still had a rectum with UC after my colectomy, is this normal?
And also my loop ostomy totally freaks me out! It is very watery (which I have been drinking tons of fluid) and its sunken in. The best I can describe is that it's sitting in a shallow bowl instead of on top of flat stomach. Not sure why this is and the bottom seems to be worse than the top which sucks because the openings are at the bottom. The nurse who came today to help me with my change said i will have to build it up on the bottom with some paste strips (?). Not sure if anyone has experienced any of these issues??

My loop was exactly like that. I leaked all the time until I did a couple things - one was to add Imodium and Lomotil and Metamucil. The other was, in addition to a convex product, use benzoin tincture. I ordered some from amazon in a white and purple box, about $15 for 50 swabs and soooo worth it. It was the only thing that kept the liquidy output from causing the seal to break.

You might want to try Eakin seals in combination with a convex wafer.

Sue

Dillysmom said...
Thanks so much for the replies guys! I am doing better and better with each day! I still have a lot of pressure in my lower abdomin which is a bit better than pain.
However my stupid loop is just getting harder and harder to handle! The skin around my loop is already so badly broken down it stings and itches all the time! I have home care 2 times a week just to help with changes and even they are stumped as to a solution! The hole (sorry dont know technical term lol) is pointed downward and is right at my base of the loop so their is vertically noway to create any kind of barrier between the loop and my skin!! So frustrating, hopefully everything goes really well with my healing and take down can be scheduled in 8 weeks.

I could have written this word for word at the time of my stoma! It's just a tough go of it. Try the Eakin seals as Sue mentioned. I never tried them....I just gave up and waited for takedown. Maybe that will help. I remember the itching would drive me bonkers! A quick relief trick a nurse showed me was to dab Maalox or Mylanta onto the irritated skin, let dry, then repeat a few times. It was very soothing and did provide temporary relief. Sorry, that's all I got to offer....hang in there!

Alison, am I misremembering or did you end up having a revision on the loop when you went back into the hospital as well?

Dillysmom, do you have access to a real ostomy nurse instead of a visiting nurse? The visiting nurses are usually capable of doing basic appliance changes and care, but the ostomy nurses are the ones who know all of the tricks and how to troubleshoot a difficult stoma. It can make a BIG difference.

Ah, bummer. I know what you are feeling right now. I wish I could help. Hopefully someone will come along with ideas.