Pleasantly surprised. :)

Hi, all. So I had my takedown May 22, and got out of the hospital this past Tuesday, May 29. My last post here was about how sick I got after trying to eat when, although I had had several bm's, I had not passed any gas. The next day, I think, I finally started farting. I was so excited, lol. Anyway, I am very pleased with how things are going now that I am home. I expected to feel crappy and be running to the bathroom a lot, but it turns out that I am only having 8-10 bm's a day (one day I had more than that, but right now I don't really mind...), and no urgency or incontinence! Yay! I am on a low-residue diet for now, so that probably has something to do with things- I've been eating a lot of bread, rice, peanut butter, yogurt, etc. All thickening things. I see my doctor in a little over a week to get the staples out (there's only 3 of them and I forget they are there), and hopefully then I will begin to upgrade my diet.

I am currently not taking any medication at all, which is great! I was even able to attend a family member's wedding yesterday, that I was so sure before that I would not be up to doing so soon after surgery. It was beautiful though, and I'm so glad I was able to attend! I was definitely tired by the end of the day, and am laying low today because I don't want to push myself too much. But I am just so happy with my jpouch so far. So. Happy. The worst part has been the butt burn/itch.... ugh. I have been using absolutely no dry toilet paper, as recommended by my surgeon, and am using a spray bottle with water, baby wipes, and then Nupercainal and/or A&D ointment. This week I'll try to get some Calmoseptine; I've heard it helps a lot.

Anyway, just wanted to update you all and give my "review" so far on life with a jpouch. When I think about how far I've come from when I had that final horrible flare of UC, I could cry. I have cried, actually. Really happy, thankful tears.

Hurray! So glad that you're doing well and were able to attend a wedding so soon after surgery!

I use Calmoseptine Ointment on the skin around my stoma and recently purchased it on Amazon.com. It was under $10 and I didn't have to bother my doctor for a prescription to get it at the pharmacy, which made it so convenient.

Keep sharing your good news with us! It's so encouraging.

Cece

I actually JUST got a tube of the Anti-Monkey Butt cream! I thought the name was great, so why not try it? Haha. I've been using the A&D today, but I'll try out that instead and see what happens. :)

I'm so glad you are doing so well. Thank you for sharing! Sometimes I think we forget how much it can help others to hear the good stories as well as the stuff to look out for.

Glad to hear you are doing so well.

From reading other posts, I get that "takedown" is a reversal of an ileostomy or ostomy so that now things progress back through the colon and rectum as normal.  So what is J-pouch?  I know about J-drain because I had them after gastric bypass and my husband had one to drain blood/fluid after his ileostomy.

Please advise because Bill will have his ileostomy reversed in July and I would like to know as much as I can beforehand.

Thanks!

Yay! Great news. Dr. S. is the best!

TrafficDonna.

JPouch is one of the three methods, and from what I understand, the most popular reconstruction after ileostomy. They make a pouch out of the small intestine by folding a part of it onto itself (like making a J out of the small intestine then sewing it together to make a pouch). Once that pouch is healed, they connect it to the anal canal. That is a VERY limited explanation. My reconstruction doctor gave me this great thing to read so I can gather my own questions to ask him. Its "Ileoanal reservoir: current management" by Bonnie Sue Rolstad. These little books are distributed by the Research foundation of American Society of Colon And Rectal Surgeons. It goes into detail about the ileostomy, the surgery and your limitations with a JPouch. Which is basically frequent BM's (immediately after surgery, 15 a day is common--as you recover and your body learns this new way of being, the average is 6-8 a day). There is also a warning about inserting ANYTHING, including enemas because you simply aren't made for that anymore. Which is why you can't use anal tampons for leakage problems during recovery (leakages from the anus is common as well the first couple of weeks as he gets used to it and practices kegels to strengthen the sphincter muscle again). I would request this from your doctor or google it to see if you find one online. It is very informative.

Jen S