Darn butt wound....back in for surgery....

Seems to be a lot of people needing additional surgeries lately =/

I hope this surgery does the trick and you heal up afterwards. Wishing you the best of luck.

Ugh, so sorry you have to do this again (and yes, lots of extra surgeries around here....). Hope it can heal for good this time.

I also had to have an additional surgery to close my butt wound, sigh.

Are you going to have a plastic surgeon as part of it? My surgery was done by both my colorectal surgeon and a plastic surgeon. She brought in the plastic surgeon because they have some very fancy techniques for sewing up the opening in layers.

This plastic surgeon had a very intense protocol that I don't think is standard, but it was basically no sitting or bending until the wound healed. He said I would probably break the outer layer of stitches, which I did, but the others held except in one place, but the opening was very small there. That's the part that took years to heal (although it wouldn't have had I had the endorform earlier). Even though it was annoying, that opening wasn't debilitating because it was small.

I did write a blog post about the details of how to cope w/no sitting or bending, so let me know if you're interested in that.... might not apply.

(Just as an aside, with the urging of my support group, I tried to turn the blog post into an article for the Phoenix, the United ostomy assoc magazine, and the editor was enthusiastic until he talked to his medical consultants who said the protocol was not standard... .when I said that to my plastic surgeon, he said he'd used it thirty or so times, and it works.... that it depends on your standard for what you call healed.....)

Surgery is this Thursday. I am scared and nervous, more so than the total proctectomy last September. This is just day surgery but I need some tips on what not to do when I get home. My goal is to stay on bed rest for two weeks, only getting up when necessary.

I bought a "SheWee" to use so I can stand while peeing. I should be ok emptying my pouch.

Did you guys shower everyday? I am thinking I am going to end up with home care for a while again......great....love showing my arse to the world.

Any suggestions for what to do and not do would be great.

Thanks guys!

Hi,

Here's my post which goes into great detail on how to manage living w/avoiding sitting and bending: http://tinyurl.com/c4no2pk.

A few highlights -- get a hip kit at the hospital, and if possible a PT and/or OT to show you how to use it... this will enable you to put on socks and shoes, pick things up, etc. all without bending. You also need someone to show you how to get in and out of bed -- that's one of the riskier things for tearing stitches.

I made myself bathe every day, even when I didn't feel like it (at first I could only do sponge baths I think).... always made me feel better. The hip kit has tools for that too (a sponge on a stick, basically).

I was told that it can take 3 days to recover from each day on bed rest. If you can walk some it'll help (without stairs it shouldn't hurt the wound too much). I ended up having the better part of three months on mostly bed rest, and after that it took a while to get my legs back all the way functioning right. Not trying to scare you, just saying that Eva has a point, and bed rest has its own consequences too.... I was still recovering from being so sick, so i was very tired all the time....

Good luck -- hope all goes well Thurs. These butt wound nightmares do end! Even if they've gone on for a very long time.

Glad you liked it. I partly wrote so I wouldn't forget the details. Will be thinking of you tomorrow. Hope all goes very smoothly.

Wow, you didn't have to stay over? It sounds like you're doing well. I think blue's post will come in handy, I wish I had more instructions when I was healing. I couldn't put on socks for the life of me. I think the most important thing is to sit back and relax, let other people take care of things for you. Don't stretch or bend or lift anything. You know the drill! I am happy you're not in a lot of pain, I really hope this heals perfectly so it's in the past.

Glad you're not in pain. I haven't had a seton but I have had a wound vac. It's annoying and weird on a butt wound but not horrible. Didn't help me but it has helped others a lot. I did get people giving up seats for me on the subway and such when they saw me w the tube coming out. (That was before the bed rest). The tape is a drag when it's hot out.

Hang in.

The wound was constantly draining and not closing at all.

Sorry, sleepy today. Will try and write later.

K