Surgery Date set (Slim)

It is as official as can be I guess.  I am on the schedule to have surgery the 27th of this month at 12:30.  It will a total abdominal colectomy with end ileostomy.  The surgeon is thinking we can do the j-pouch but only wants to do this for the first surgery because of the prolonged use of prednisone.  I am uncertain if I will want to "chance" the j-pouch surgery but have time to consider that later.

I have to check into the hospital the day before in the morning so first was wondering if anyone could let me know what all things I may have to do that long before surgery.  I realize the clean out and such but had no idea they would need to start me better then 24 hours prior.  I assume the reason I check in the day before is because of the distance I live from the hospital.  If I was closer I would probably do a lot the day before then be allowed to go home and check in the morning of.

Now that I have official word the reality of it is setting in.  The enormity of the situation is really hitting me and I have been through a rush of emotions lately.  Some probably from those dang pred pills.   I realize that I will be better when it is all done but I always worry and as major as this is it may just drive me crazy before next week. (That would be a short drive LOL)  Any words of encouragement or tricks to get the thoughts of it off of my mind for just a few minutes would be greatly appreciated.

John

I was checked in the day prior to surgery and the tests performed are blood work, EKG, chest xray, and an appt with the ET nurse to mark the site of your stoma. It's pretty much a full day of fun!

Good luck with your surgery.

Sue

my sugery was on tuesday, and i quit taking my UC meds on sunday, it was funny i had just enough to make it through sunday morning, lol. Then i did things normally until sunday night, then nothing but liquids after midnight, and clean out on monday, and nothing after midnight on tuesday I had all my presurgery bloodwork and stuff a few days before.

John,

There is not urgency or incontinence with a jpouch. I can easily hold it for 1-2 hours if needed. Since having surgery I have never needed to know where the bathrooms are. With my jpouch I have hiked 200 miles across England, 100 miles through both Scotland and Ireland, hiked in and out of the Grand Canyon, hiked Patagonia and am headed this fall for a 2 week hiking trip in Turkey. Had the jpouch not been a very viable option I would not be doing these trips. One of the reasons I selected a jpouch is because I am a backpacker and the lack of potable water in the backcountry worried me with the ostomy option. There are really no perfect surgical solutions, you really need to weigh your lifestyle against the pros and cons of each surgery choice. The best surgery for you is the one that you can live with!

Sue

slim:

 

I had a subtotoal colectomy w/ ileorectostomy on May 7th at Mayo clinic in MN. It was the opposite experience as yours in that I was to call the hospital the evening before checking in to find out what time to be there. Consequently because Mayo is over 550 miles away from my home, I went there approximately a day and 1/2 before, checked into a nearby hotel (to make sure clean out was done - go lightly/go heavily). They did not even do much of any tests before hand. I was a little anxious but not about the surgery itself as much as would I be ready. I asked my surgeon about this and he said that even if I was not totally cleaned out, the flatter the intestine was, the easeir it would be to remove. Think about those who have emergency surgery w/ no time to prepare ! They use some kind of sanitary protective sleeve at the incision points to pull the intestine through.  The complication I had was afterwards -- excessive bleeding (had to have 4 units of blood).  I think this could have been prevented.  In any case I'm doing alright now, having mulitple bms per day with some soreness and also verrry tired.  Other than that I already feel that my life has improved !!!  Godspeed to you and I'll pray that you will have His peace.

 

NFC 

Slim, I'm glad to hear your surgery went well! Interesting to see your previous signature to your current one :)
It's very comforting to me to hear that you're already feeling so much better after getting the UC out of your body. Hope your recovery continues to go smoothly and you can start living your life again. Good luck and please do keep updating!

ediekristen, I really enjoyed changing that signature.  Knowing all that BS I went through with those meds made deleting all of that enjoyable.  It is not completely accurate though because I am still on the prednisone but will taper down to nothing now.  Also I am on pain meds but that too will be brought down to nothing.  I have been following your quandary also and would like to say that I agree with others when they say you have to do what is best for you.  I have one in-law that is not onboard with my decision and amazingly she is in the medical field.  When I talked to her she pointed out the surgery was permanent and once your colon is gone you can't get it back.  i pointed out that it was the same with a life.  She failed to understand the deadly consequences that come with this disease.  I went through some of the worst with this disease not long ago but I don't feel that should be a marker for deciding surgery.  Waiting till something bad happens could have very bad outcomes to your situation.  For the most part this disease causes a ton of inconvenience and that is what most people see.  They assume that with a few adjustments to your diet, lifestyle or planning that you can deal with it.  That is not the case.  I tried, then the disease would ct into the time I would think was OK to go out.  I would change my schedule again and the disease would change.  You have to evaluate your situation for your lifestyle.  You may be able to handle the changes now but later they become too much and your research now will help you with the decision.  I am not sure what my decision will be with the "j-pouch" surgery but that seems to be very small now that I have taken care of the disease.  I will keep researching the pros and cons and will come to a decision that will work for "my" life.

OHIO76, so far all I have come up with for a name is Leo but that will probably change.  It does have a mind of it's own and I am finding it will talk when ever it wants to be heard.

John