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Posted 1/22/2014 1:28 AM (GMT 0)
...about your colon?

I have been doing great since my proctocolectomy last May (wow, seven months ago!) and have been so pleased with my ileostomy that I can't see a future without it! I've got my products all picked out, my process down, and have been overcoming fears that I have about having my ostomy bag hang off of me. But now that this is my "new normal" I was thinking this morning about what I miss about my colon... you know, the good ole days rolleyes

So I could only think of two things.

1. (as a guy) farting
2. reading/playing games/doing things while on the toilet

Are there any things that you miss?

-R
Posted 1/22/2014 1:53 AM (GMT 0)
I have to say....I don't miss my colon at all. Well, maybe I miss my old healthy colon but I don't miss the crappy UC riddled colon. :)
Posted 1/22/2014 1:54 AM (GMT 0)
Giant salads and consistently sleeping through the night.

But yeah, that was only pre-UC. Can't say I miss anything about it from when I was sick.
Posted 1/22/2014 2:01 AM (GMT 0)

Pluot said...
Giant salads

This could change for you in time. I can eat salads now (big ones too!) with no problem.
Posted 1/22/2014 2:38 AM (GMT 0)
I don't ever really think about "missing" my healthy colon....but if I had to pick something I would have to say sleeping through the night and quiet time to read or do puzzles on the toilet.

Pluot~ Have you given giant salads a try lately? I rolled the dice pretty early on because I love salads too much to consider giving them up! I've never had a problem really, all the fiber just increases my output sometimes.
Posted 1/22/2014 2:40 AM (GMT 0)
That would be nice :) I had a full size appetizer salad (so a dinner plate, not a big mixing bowl) at a steak house about a month ago and it worked out OK -- I had a few extra bathroom trips but it's hard to say what the situation really was because I also had a steak and a few drinks wink I hope I get there someday!
Posted 1/22/2014 3:01 AM (GMT 0)
Haha, I don't miss farting for the fun of it, but I do slightly miss the slow satisfying poop of pre-UC or full remission days for the reasons already mentioned- enjoying time on the throne. I think I sometimes intentionally stretch out my (external) pouch emotying on occasion to get a poor man's version of that, haha. Have eaten salads with no issues but haven't tried a giant salad yet-- don't really plan to, without mixing it up with some other stuff. Have not yet had any sort of dietary blockage, but I did feel a little light muscular straining in the tubing going on when I had a lot (I say again, a lot not a little) of sushi- the seaweed wrap is a bit much en masse I think even with the rice and fish inside. Anyway, so far nothing pre-UC is an issue with my ileo, over 8 months since subtotal colectomy with end ileo.
Posted 1/22/2014 12:14 PM (GMT 0)
I eat everything ..except corn and popcorn...but I miss sleeping on my stomach most of all........
Posted 1/22/2014 10:59 PM (GMT 0)
I miss being able to sleep on my stomach properly. I miss being blissfully bag-free. I miss quick showers. I miss the space that is now taken up by bloody supplies.

I would a thousand times over rather have not had this operation, because I miss my colon full stop basically.
Posted 1/23/2014 1:58 PM (GMT 0)
I don't miss anything about my colon...or rectum.

Sue
Posted 1/23/2014 5:43 PM (GMT 0)
Showers haven't been the same, but do able. I REALLY miss being a stomach sleeper. One way to partially compensate is using a body pillow. Did this when I was pregnant.

As well as bath's, which always helped my sanity. Sometimes, when I know it's time to change my appliance, I'll soak in the tub. But it's not the same as a daily 'calgon take me away.' I miss tight jeans because of the worry. My stoma is very high, making tight bottoms problematic. Bikini's....Had a bikini funeral for them post op. lol

Also miss my appearance in the mirror. Not so much as before, accepted what is.

My colon was killing me slowly, I don't IT miss for one millisecond!!!!!!!!!!
Posted 1/24/2014 12:32 AM (GMT 0)
I don't miss anything. In fact, when my husband goes to the bathroom and takes forever I think gosh I am glad I don't have to do that! Or when my friend eats pork, that always upsets his stomach yet he does it anyway, and is in the bathroom 10 times before we can leave where ever we are eating I really don't miss it! It is funny because I took a friend with me to Nashville a few months ago and she is having stomach problems and was in the bathroom a lot and she came out and said, you are so lucky! i wish i could go in 2 minutes.

As for stomach sleeping I don't know why you guys can't sleep on your stomachs, what happens when you try?
Posted 1/24/2014 1:08 AM (GMT 0)
Summer~ I know sleeping on my stomach would be tough for me because it's not very comfortable to lay flat on my stoma. Also, any input that came out would just stay all kinda squished up there right around him. I've been trying to get back into a regular workout routine and have had to skip the exercises that require laying flat on my stomach...it just doesn't feel right.

How is showering and bathing all that different for some of you? I shower very quickly every day and actually just take my bag off for most showers. It's nice to not have to worry about drying it off and being able to get the area around my stoma/wafer cleaned off a bit. And if I happen to poo, oh well, I'm in the shower and it washes right away! As for baths, I still take them too, and if my bag gets wet I just dry it off.
Posted 1/24/2014 2:25 AM (GMT 0)
Popcorn :(
Posted 1/24/2014 3:21 AM (GMT 0)
This is certainly a tricky question. Like all the rest my colon was so messed up that I don't miss it at all. To miss something would be going back pre-UC days. I've already accepted all that has happened and there's no looking back. It's a new life and a new normal to get used to.

What I love about my ileostomy is no more pooping in my pants!
Posted 1/24/2014 8:49 PM (GMT 0)
Hi, I don't miss any thing since having my bag in fact I'm healthier and have more freedom than ever also, I don't have to run around in a blind panic when out & about looking for a bathroom also not pooping 15+ times a day is great! x smilewinkgrin smilewinkgrin smilewinkgrin
Posted 1/24/2014 10:13 PM (GMT 0)
Ostomy Bag *vs* Bloody poo with mucus, painful elimination,wearing adult diapers,constant anxiety.....mmmmm, let me see....OSTOMY BAG ! 

Like many others, once I finally had that poor diseased colon and rectum removed, I could have kicked myself for waiting so long to do it.  18 months now disease free and I don't really have one single complaint worth mentioning.

I saw my surgeon yesterday for a follow up from a hernia and then a adhesion surgery I had this past summer and her first remark was  "My gosh, you look like you could take on the world".  Pretty good for a 62 yr old.

But hey, I do miss a couple of things pre-colon removal like a nice stack of my favorite magazines next to the toilet for my reading pleasure.  Actually, when my kids come to visit they always remark that they miss the reading material. I say bring your own next time.

And I miss the pre-UC days when I only had to poo once in the morning and I was good for the day. 

Life is good, really good.  My family and friends tell me all the time how well I look and how good it is not

having to see me suffer and in pain.   Yeah, this bag is a good thing. 

 

Posted 1/24/2014 10:48 PM (GMT 0)

bostwis1 said...
Popcorn :(

I eat popcorn. Did with my ileo and now with my j pouch. Have you tried it?
Posted 1/25/2014 1:44 AM (GMT 0)
i also dont get what some are saying about missing ease of showering. I shower just the way ai always have, including quick and easy showers. The only added work is that I like to blow dry my pouch and the outer adhesive portion of the wafer dry afterwards, and that takes an extra minute or two, no biggie. I can see that an ostomy can be a nuisance for a stomach sleeper. I have never been a stomach sleeper so that has never been an issue in my case-- sleeping on my side is no issue whatsoever. I guess if I slept for hours on my right side it could be, but I never stay on one side for hour, and i sleep mostly on my back, luckily for me I guess.

Every 5 days or so I change my wafer and pouch, and shower commando to clean off the old eakin ring globs off and let my stoma see the light of day for an extra long nice shower.
Posted 1/25/2014 2:05 AM (GMT 0)
There isn't much I miss about my colon. I will echo the same ones the poster said. Sometimes when I get horrible gas stomach pains I wish I could push it out and pass gas like in the days when I had a colon (of course with UC that always seemed to create an accident ha ha). With a stoma I just have to wait until it works its way out on its own which can hurt for a while sometimes.

I also miss reading on the toilet. It takes me forever to get through a book now!

I am lucky in that I too can eat just about anything. I can eat popcorn, nuts, salads and other raw veggies etc. no problem.

My ostomy hasn't influenced my showering times at all. I don't even blow dry my bag. I just dry it off with a towel, put a pouch cover on and get dressed. I do the same when showering or swimming at the gym.

I have never been a stomach sleeper so I can't comment on that. I get massages where I am on my belly for an hour and that hasn't been a problem.

I guess the thing I miss the most is wearing a bikini. I know I still can... and I probably would decide to just wear one and maybe decorate my pouch with fun-print duct tape (like I have seen some women ostomates do in videos) if I ever go on a beach or resort vacation. In Colorado I am a far distance from any beaches so I really haven't had the chance to do this. All my swimming now is lap swimming at the gym so I tend to wear a tankini for that and probably would even if I had a colon.

Sometimes I do feel things are a bit less spontaneous with an ostomy. I have to think about packing supplies if I make quick plans. However, I am three years post-op and by now I have a lot of travel kits ready to go for a variety of activities so it isn't so much of an issue.

Actually- I think having an ostomy is pretty darn convenient most of the time. When I am going on long all-day rock climbs, friends with colons stress about getting their BMs in before we head up on the wall. I don't even have to think about it. I can swap out a closed-end pouch just about anywhere. I LOVE never feeling like I have to go to the bathroom.
Posted 1/25/2014 5:46 AM (GMT 0)
I think I miss the ease of wearing whatever clothes I want without thinking about how obvious my bad might look if it filled up and I wasn't near a bathroom. Lame, I know, but I'm a girl. It also kinda stunk when I was pregnant because a lot of the cute maternity clothes revealed my appliance.
However, I don't miss my colon besides that, really...I was so sick and I barely remember what it was like to have a healthy colon.
Posted 1/25/2014 1:28 PM (GMT 0)
I have not actually tried to eat popcorn. I've experienced blockage pain (not from food) and I am too scared to experience that again. Maybe I can try a couple pieces and see what happens. It is also hard to have just a handful of popcorn. I used to eat a whole bag by myself :)

I wore a bikini last summer. I have a cheetah print cover for my bag that matches my suit.
Posted 1/25/2014 2:36 PM (GMT 0)
I seem to go to the bathroom, and spend far more time in there, than any of the healthy people I know. Public toilets are often really bad places for emptying/wiping the bag and it takes a long time to do it sometimes.

I don't feel like I've been returned to my pre, or even early Crohn's, status at all. It bums me how much time I still have to spend in the bathroom, given that I'm meant to be the next best thing to being "cured".

Oh, and this!

I also miss reading on the toilet. It takes me forever to get through a book now!

Weirdly enough, I really missed my bathroom 'downtime' after surgery. I have got more used to it now, but I still find myself missing it occasionally. In an odd way, it was very relaxing, provided I wasn't going through a night where I was doubled over in pain or whatever.

Post Edited (NiceCupOfTea) : 1/25/2014 7:41:52 AM (GMT-7)

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