TOTAL COLECTOMY - PART 21

hey Janie, great hearing from you!! i've missed you!! i'm not doing so good lately, things are getting worse for me and in the last few weeks i can't have relief as i used to. i'm in a lot of pain most of the time.

my drs where supposed to have the meeting about my case on last friday and my gi told me he'll be in touch with me. he's supposed to call me today (right now it's sunday morning), so i'm expecting his call today.. (assuming they did have the meeting and it wasn't posponed like the last time..) i'm really nervous. if he doesn't call me today, then i'll have to try get him on the phone myself... i can't wait to hear from him..

don't be scared, Janie. you ARE doing the right thing!! no one likes to be in a hospital.. i'm dreading the idea too.. let's pray we'll make it and our surgries are a total success!! besides..... things won't get better on their own.

BTW, are you on facebook? i receintly joined and it's great!! i found Karen, Lizzie and Amanda there and it's so nice to put a face to a name? it'll be nice to find you there too and to finally see you too! you can find me there under "hodaya leah cordoba", and after you find me, you'll be able to find Karen, Lizzie and Amanda too, so please join us there.

best wishes to you, honey!! i'll be praying for you!!!

Amanda... what do feel when you have a blockage? do you throw up? i hope it fixes it self soon!

Facebookers

I'm Sugarbug...I've been on here a few times..I'd love to connect on fb with ya'll.  It would be so much easier to talk.  I need help  with what everyone is eating after a total colectomy.  My name is Jennifer Voelker Lusinski..Valparaiso, IN.  Thanks

hey sugarbug.... i remember talking to you some time ago in another thread.. great hearing from you again!! how have you been? how long has it been since your surgery? are you doing o.k? how are your bm??

anyway, i think the most right place to talk about all this is actually here, and not facebook. this board is specifically made for talking about health conditions and it's important to keep this going also for others who seek information about this condition. facebook is great to hang around and stuff, but this board is the best place to discuss our condition.

i haven't had surgery yet, but hoping it'll happen soon. my drs had/suppos to have a consultation meeting about my case and i'm waiting to hear about their conclusion. i'm really excited, but i'm also worried that they may say that they can't help me or something :o(

please keep in touch... it'll be great finding you on facebook too!!

Hi all~

Hodaya I am so happy that you have heard back from your doctor. I hope that you can get into the psychiatrist soon so you can get this show on the road. I did not have to go through this step, but I know it is not that uncommon for them to make sure you are emotionally ready. It is a big surgery and I personally, like Amanda, had post-op blues and it did take almost five months for me to feel back to "normal" after all of my complications.

Janie- good to hear from you....when is the big day again? I am so nervous and excited for you too.....I hope that you can find peace inside until this surgery is done and over and you have your life back. Keep hangin in there love....we are all here for you.

Amanda- How is your blockage doing? Sorry you have to go through that pain.....I do think you may have some issues with adhesions.....Hope your doing better today!!!!

Sugarbug- I do remember you....I wil have to try and find you on facebook. You can find me too....I think I am under Lizzie Tinsman??? isnt that funny I do not even know. Also....your from Valpo...I went to college there!!!!! I am from Grand Rapids, MI!!! I loved that school!

As for me....I had a horrible weekend. I woke up Friday am with horrible pain in my mid abdomen. I have had bloating (which I have not had since my TC) tenderness to even touch my abdomen and backpain that is getting debilitating. I went to Chicago with my sister in law and friends and was unable to have a good time due to the way I felt. I even almost contimplated going to a near ER to get a flat plate or CT of my abdomen. I have not been able to get any relief from MOM which is new as well.....I feel weak and just do not feel good. I could almost start crying becuase I do not know what else to do....I do not know if I should get checked or not and just deal with it. Also....what does a rectal prolapse feel like? I did not have one on either of my defecography's but last night when I was strainging if felt like thre was part out.....it went right back in (sory to be graphic, but it was only when I was on the toilet and trying to bear down? I dont know.....

Miss ya'll.....hope your well!!!

Lizzie

hey there my dear friends!!

Lizzie, i so hate it that you have to go through all this pain and bloating :o( March 30 will be here in no time, you'll see!

as for your question, in a rectal prolapse the rectum can come out while straining, but not necessarily in all cases of prolapse. there are degrees for it. there's also a condition of internal prolapse, like i had, it was extremely prolapsed in the inside, but not in a way that it came out of the anus. mine was diagnosed with defecography.

it's seems highly unlikely that you'd have a rectal prolapse, cause you reciently had a defecography and major prolapse where the rectum itself actually drops out of the anus coulden't happen in such a short time. of course i could be wrong cause i'm no dr, but i would have to assume that in your case it's more likely that it's internal hemorhoids. they can also pop/drop out while sraining. it makes more sense to me that that's the case with you. it also possible to have hemies without even feeling their presence or even pain or anything. i hope dr chey sorts out all of your probs.

these hemies can also block the stool from passing.

Karen, yes i know, it's frustrating cause it does prolong the process of all this. but, you know, i guess they have to do that, cause they don't know us the way we know ourselves and for them it's all a new case to figure out, so they have to find out as much as possible what and who they are actually deeling with and it's really understandable that it would take them some time to figure out what we already know for so long. as much as i HATE it, i guess that the fact they're doing this only proves they are being responsible, wouldn't you agree? oh well... what can we do about it anyway.....

Amanda.. is everything cool? a little worried here, hope it's not that blockage..

love and hugs!!

Hi guys~

Well I am not feeling much better at all. My manager is not letting me come into work tomorrow. The nurses I work with are all extremely worried. They said I look more ill everyday and they do not know if I can make it 4 weeks, but I told them I have too! They said I appear sallow.....I do not know what that means.

I just got a call from my pcp. He called in ES Vicodin to add to my vistaril and zofran. I have not checked my bottom yet, but this back pain will not go away. My abd is rock hard.....but I just tool 6 senna, milk of mag, some mag citrate, vicodin, and vistaril. I will see if this helps.

I really wish one of you were closer....I need friends like you closer. Thanks for caring...sometimes I feel like your the only ones who will ever understand me.

Thinking of all of you....

Lizzie

Lizzie,

I know it doesn't do any good for me to keep saying this, but I feel so bad for you.  You've been through so much, but hopefully in a few weeks you'll get some answers.

Have you taken senna before?  Taking all that doesn't make you sick?  What have you been taking other than mom to help you go?  That seems like alot at once.  I know how horrible it feels to be so stopped up, I hope and pray you get some relief.

Take tomorrow and try to rest and hopefully you'll get some relief from the senna and feel a little better.

Please keep us posted; we all care so much about you

Janie

 

Hi ladies....ARgghhhhhh!!! is how i feel.

So I took all those meds, had some slight relief....slept for 15 hrs and felt good, but it all came crashing in on me. In the past two days I have taken 25 senna, 1/3 bottle mag citrate, and MOM. I took two ES vicodin last nite as well. The pain is gone, but I was up till 6 am...and back up at 830 am. I feel weak, tired, and no pain if I do not eat....but I feel like I have to. I had never taken senna before...its did not really do anything, but give me a little more stomach cramping and still very little solid relief. I still have that bulge when I bear down, but it does not hurt yet??? I have had two days off work and feel incredibly guilty....my pts need me!!!! I will never be able to take that vicodin the nite before or day of work...makes me too blah and stupid almost :) plus its the ES 750 mg.....not good for driving or judgement....and I start ~11 IV's a day....I think my aim would be a little off. Well thats all....just an update. Nothing exciting.

Hope u are all well....missing u.

Lizzie

Lizzie,

Last year I got really blocked up when I was taking some codeine medicine and had no idea how much it would stop me up.  I didn't go for 15 days, and over the course of the last few days I took 2 go-lytelys and 2 bottles of mag. citrate along with dulcolax...nothing happened.  Finally in desperation I went in tears to my GI and he gave me a gout medicine (colcchin or something like that) and I took one every half hour for about 5 hours until I FINALLY got things moving.  It promotes diarrhea.  Maybe you know about that?  It was the only thing that worked for me.  Maybe that is something you could try?

Life is so busy and my surgery is 2 weeks from today.  We have family visiting and we're spending most of the week at Disney, so I'm just not thinking about it much. 

Everyone else, hang in there.  Hopefully we'll all be feeling better soon!

Janie

I had my dr appointment yesterday for another f/up. We were talking about things and my surgeon was asking me some routine questions and I ended up telling her that I still don't pass gas unless I'm on the toilet and I still have to bear down to do it and in doing so, that's also when I have my bm's. Otherwise I don't really have them without bearing down (not real hard though.) She said there may be a loop or a kink where the anastamosis is and that we'll wait another four weeks or so and see if it still is like that and if so she might order the test where they put the contrast in the rectum and take the ct scan. That way she can see the size of the anastamosis and if there's any loops or kinks or whatever. Then we'll go from there. She said another surgery would just depend on whether it bothers me or not and if so, how much. It doesn't really bother me at all, I didn't even realize it wasn't normal until she started asking me questions. We'll see what happens but I just thought I'd share.

Then I had my appointment with my primary care doctor about my depression, etc. and she changed a bunch of my meds. She changed my Lexapro from 20mg once a day to 10mg twice a day, she added Abilify 5mg at night, she refilled my xanax for anxiety, and she prescribed ambien so I could get some sleep. I was optimistic when I left her office but then I woke up this morning feeling the same old depressing me...I didn't take into account it will take a week or two to notice a difference. I have to go back in six weeks to see how the meds are doing. She also took blood to check for anemia, b12 levels, liver function, thyroid, and folate. I should have the results of that in a few days.

Anyway, just thought I'd fill you in on my appointments. I hope everyone is well!

Lizzie have fun at Disney!

Karen, hang in there!! I'm prayin' for ya!

Thanks, I'm not really worried about it at all, it's just that if I get a gas pain I can't pass it unless I go to the bathroom and push it out. Other than that it's no big deal. I have a feeling if I tried to pass it elsewhere I too would have an accident....I don't even try.