atwoodt

Thanks so much! Definitely nervous/excited, but much less so than right before the first step. I basically had a very emotional moment with my surgeon before I was wheeled in to the OR last time...fingers crossed that doesn't happen again as it was a little embarrassing! Also, hoping to be able to enjoy some real food in time for Thanksgiving :) How are you feeling?

Thank you so much!

Three weeks post op from takedown was the turning point for me. Up until then it was a bit nutty. But then like a switch, it all calmed down. Sounds like you're doing pretty well for not even a week post op.

I hope 3 weeks will get me in good shape. I went out for sushi earlier and I was able to enjoy myself without any toilet issues. It was incredible. I am so thankful to be even at the point I am. I do still need to use the toilet quite often but I think the output is getting to be less liquid. I would imagine it will be less urgent when it's more formed. Even with the way I am now, I can hold it :) I just wish I could go WAY less often. It hasn't even been a week so I expect this. I know this is a huge shift in anatomy. So far I feel extremely grateful to potentially live a much better life in the future - without drugs.

Good luck tomorrow. The hardest part for me was the stress about going to the bathroom. I wanted to start going right away because i felt so bloated and cramped but my bowels didn't start doing anything for 24-48 hours. I always pushed to get off pain meds right away. I barely used the pain pump and when I was able to disconnect from it, I jumped at the opportunity. I was able to walk on my own after that, i barely needed monitoring and I got tons of sleep. Next thing you know, things started moving. It's funny how we worry so much about all of this, and now looking back, the worst part was really the UC itself, haha. I always saw the surgery as the enemy and the ostomy bag as the worst case scenerio, and neither could be further from the truth.

Oh wow, that is incredible!!!! Good for you. you're moving faster than I did.

My stoma site is open too. They had it packed but removed the packing on the second day. It was pretty nasty when they pulled it out. Mine is still moist and looks like I was shot in the stomach but now it's shallow. I have been wearing a cover on it, today is the first day I decided to leave it open, i am wearing my high waist underwear and there is a growing spot where it is underneath. gross! I want it to dry out. The area under where the wafer sat looks like the skin is textured differently. Hopefully it improves over time.

My takedown was about 1 to 1.5 hours too.

I didn't have an option. I guess this is best for healing.

I hope you have a good appointment tomorrow and that you get reconnected and never deal with IBD again!

I didn't have an option for how he would leave the wound either. I don't pack it on my own though. Basically my surgeon packed it with a betadine saturated gauze and left that in for almost 24 hours, and ever since that was removed, I have a dry gauze dressing over top of it (I'm changing it about 3x/day or every eight hours) to absorb the discharge. Good luck with your takedown!