Total colectomy Part 16

Hello Everyone,

Amey - I am so happy that you are healing so good and that your outlook on life is so great. You do amaze me. I do not know how I would react to having to have a bag. I hope I would be able to accept it. I also took a look at your photos. You do look great. Keep it up and enjoy. Question - you are the physical fitness instruction - how long should it take to walk 2 miles if I want to burn calories. My doctor said I am too slow. It takes me 35 to 40 minutes.

Irish Mom - As I stated before I can go visit you. I will be available on the evening of the 12th. If you are up to an outside visitor I will be there. I also pray your surgery goes great. The prep is horrible. I had to take two gallons of the golyte and I still wasn't totally clean.

Lori - open surgery is harder to recover from. I had my surgery Lap and I felt good at week three and I felt I could return to work but didn't. I wanted to take the whole six weeks so I could heal. When I was about 2 months post op I decided to do some work in the yard and I guess I pulled something because my gut started to hurt so I had to back off. I go to the bathroom between 5 to 20 a day. The stool is still very loose and sometimes watery. I work for a great group of people. My supervisor told me to take all the time I needed and not to worry. He said you have the sick leave take it if you need to. As long as my work is completed no one at my job site watches every break I take. They do not count the number of times I go to the bathroom. My viens are also hard to find. But I have never had to have one placed in my neck yet. They just have to stick me a lot before they find a vein.

I eat whatever I want. If my stools come out watery it doesn't bother me. I do not see it as a problem. Foods that slow me down bother me more so. The only time I really watch what food I eat is when I go out shopping. I do not want to risk an accident.

Hope everyone enjoys their weekend.

Irish mom you're going to great. I put my fleets enema in sprite but it still tasted bad and I had to stand by the sink, too. It seems like all of the money that they spend on medicine, they could come up with some better tasting preps. They're horrible and dehydrate you, too. I heard that putting it with Tang tastes better, but don't know.

I'm getting ready to go back to Cleveland Clinic today for a second follow-up with the surgeon. The first one they took out my staples. This one I'm a little nervous about as I'm not healing very well on my scar. I've been seeing a surgeon where I live and he's been showing me how to clean it and put on gauze. Nobody showed me before.

Anyhow, I'm a little scared, too. Keep up your positive attitude and it will help you thru a lot!

Lori

Irish Mom,
I just wanted to wish you well for your surgery tomorrow. I will be thinking about you and praying for you and the surgeons. Please let us know how you're doing once you're home.
Take good care,
Cecilia

Flchurchlady

Thanks so much for the well wishes, that means a lot to me. I'm still pooping and my butt is so sore. I drank bottle #4 of prep at 4 pm, so it looks like it's going to be a long night. Right now I'm waiting for my doctor (who's also my boss) to get to the office to do some lab work. I've been having problems with low potassium and he wants to make sure everything is a-ok before I go. He lives about 25 miles from the office, so I think it's very nice of him to do this for me. I guess being an employee also has its perks.

April417

Thank you for your kind words. I'm always a big walker when I'm in the hospital. I can't sleep, so I spend the nights walking up and down the halls. I've even had nurses tell me to go to bed to get some rest. LOL  Since this will be open surgery, I'll still be walking of course but probably not as often as I'd like to. They always have nurses help you in and out of bed and it's sometimes difficult for them because I'm 5'10 and the nurses are usually pretty short.

Irish mom

Are you able to drink any thing else besides your prep? I know when I went through
my prep, I didn't finish all of it because the only thing that was coming through me
was clear liquid, so I called the doctor and he said it was ok, just to drink some water
before the cut off time because he did not want me to become dyhydred, which I did
anyway. Do you have to take any duclox? I hope you get some sleep toningt and
good luck tomarrow. Let me know how things go.

Peace, April

Irish mom

Good luck tommorrow.
I'll be thinking and praying for you.

Peace

Good Morning To ALL!!!!!

 

Well, I'm wondering how Irish's surgery went.  I hope everything went well and she's on her way to a wonderful recovery.

Annie - I too have never heard of drinking fleets !!  For me personally, it seemed like I did prepping for two days straight.  I know all too well about the gallons of liquids and the magnesium citrate - YUK!!  To top that off - the morning of surgery they gave me EIGHT enemas too - back to back!!  The nurse was like "OMG" the most I've ever had to give someone was seven and they didn't prep!!  I guess I'm good at breaking records LOL!! 

You're so correct when you say everyone has a different recovery experience.  I didn't consider myself as frail, in fact, I've had so many laparoscopic surgeries (12) and one laparodomy (open) for female problems that I thought I was prepared - boy was I "NOT" prepared, not only for how I felt immediately after surgery, but for a good 16 weeks post-op!!!  All of my other recoveries went smooth and fast - all above and beyond of what was expected.

Although my TC surgery was done laparoscopic it felt worse than the "open" surgery I had previously.  What was to be a three to four hour surgery ended up being an eight and a half hours and five and a half feet of large loopy colon being removed.  I literally felt like I had been ran over, backed over, and ran back over - WHEW!!  I guess with all that moving thing around inside AND playing "abdomen hockey" all played a roll in it too. 

I also think having a total hysterectomy three years ago then removing all that colon, my insides were like "where do we set up house?"  My recovery was long and hard, however, worth everything I went thru - EVERYTHING!!! 

I do not know anyone "personally" whose had this surgery.  Thank God I found this forum and thread!!  I knew I wasn't alone but never imagined meeting and getting to know so many wonderful people I call friends who suffered the same as I did.  My entire life was spent "constipated" and for the first time in 43 years I can finally say I know what it's like to be "normal/regular"!!!  Without these wonderful friends and all the information and support - I would have been lost and scared out of my mind!!  They gave me hope and that's a great gift, thank the Lord!!

For those still recovering - how are things going?  I look forward to hearing from all of you and hope all is going good!!     

Hi April

I am not exactly sure why poop floats but, I have been told it had something to do with the fat content in your diet.  I too have to be careful when passing gas because I can also pass "poop" 

All the gas you are experiencing most likely is related to what you are eating.  There are a number of things that most commonally cause gas.  Milk & dairy products, onions, beans, eggs, broccoli, cauliflower, cucumbers, melons, nuts and sodas.  The highlighted ones can also cause diarrhea. Not everyone responds the same way to these but they are the most common ones.  I am still trying to figure out the diet do's and don't myself!

April

I am sorry to hear that you are having such a slow recovery.  I have my good and bad days.  I am well healed from the actual surgery, my appetite is back full force and my energy level is pretty consistant.  The only troubles I do have are trying to regulate the bouts of diarrhea and dealing with the gas.  I find that the gas is a lot more smelly now since the surgery and can be embarrasing.  And MOIST WIPES...I should take stocks out in the company, I go through so many...LOL 

 I am going for a sigmoidoscope in the next week or 2 to find out what is causing pain and occassional bleeding when going to the bathroom.  The doc has put me off work for another 8 weeks until I get it all sorted out and my employer is fine with it and told me to take as much time as I needed.  I am pretty lucky that way.

Take care, and I hope things start working a little better soon!

Resa,

Thanks for letting us know Irish Mom is doing well.  I have been wondering how things were going.

 

Has anyone on here ever had a rectal dilation?  I have been booked into the OR on Sept 27 to have a rigid sigmoidoscope and rectal dilation.  This is to help with the fissures and hemorrhoids.  I am not sure what to expect in the way of pain and recovery.

April,

It is just a day proceedure although the articles I have read online so far seem to all say that it is quite painful afterwards and takes a couple of weeks to heal.  I was hoping someone on here had it done so I could get some feedback.