What should I take into the hospital?

Thank you all for your help and support.
I am in my hospital bed as we speak.
Regarding the nose tube, I actually asked for it. They wanted me to drink fortrans; I told them that if they aren't okay with me using fleet instead of fortrans they'll have to put a tube into my stomach and pump it in( it makes me projectile puke )
I will have to bargain some more with my surgeo later.
Regards

Hehe, people are so different.
I would rather cope with the tube than drink
a gallon of something resembling salty seawater with chlorine, sugar and a whiff of fish oil.
I on the other hand am afraid of the upcoming catheterization.
So cruel; you just don't mess with a man's junk :-(

Good luck Wrikisli! Best wishes for a speedy surgery and recovery!

Pluot said...

ActiveUCer said...
My surgeons waited until I was unconscious (not completely anesthetized, just unconscious) to cath me. I was so happy and I'm female!

oh I was SO HAPPY when I learned I wouldn't be cathed until I went under!! I had a little trouble peeing on my own after the cath was removed, but the fear of being recathed while awake was motivation enough :)
[...]

That's such a great news. I would perhaps be hiding from the nurses if that wasn't the case haha. Btw, I got shaved by a nurse who didn't use any shaving cream and gave me couple of nicks on my pubic area. (I wasn't allowed to shave on my own. Should have done that prior to my stay. )


Cleansing wen't fine; I'm on a parenteral nutrition at this moment.

Surgery in 12 hours. I can't wait; I'm so excited :D.
As a sidenote, I'm going to get an epidural catheter for 3 days in order to achieve better pain relief.

Wow, they really have you in the hospital for quite awhile before surgery! I reported at 5:30am for a 7:30am surgery, haha.

Best wishes!

Thanks for the powder idea; shame I'm only finding out about it now

Surgery went splendidly, took almost 6 hours. The scars are going to be tiny.
My only complaint is that the dose of pain medication was way too small for the first 16 hours. Lucky me .
Epidural catheter takedown is tomorrow. Can't wait to be walking again.

My stomach is flat for the first time since my first flare. Lovely.
Thank you all again for the support and ideas.
Best regards!

Already I am feeling much better in comparison to a third of my UC days.
We'll see how it goes when I'm off the sufentanil.
I have also just asked my surgeon to keep my catheter in for one more day so that I don't have to pee into that "bucket" thingie.

For the original poster......how did the surgery go?

Hello.
Thanks for your interest. :)
I've started walking on saturday; on the same day I was given semi normal food(some meat, boiled carrots and potatoes)

Yesterday, 3 bags exploded on me during the night.(Oh that warm feeling when you wake up coverd in your "fecal matter") I had very watery output which filled the bag very quickly. That was the reason for the first accident. The rest were due to the nurse's lack of skill(both bags she put on me simply fell off in my sleep).

Today I'm in quite a lot of pain and almost no output, dark urine and I'm puking. I'd say it's a blockage; doctors disagree and tell me to eat and drink. I asked them for an USG or X-ray, both were deemed unnecessary by the staff.
Each time I eat anything solid, I am in pain soon after.
Today I will just eat soup, mashed potatoes and refuse anything else.

I should go home by the end of this week.
I live in a dorm, I'm jumping right back to my uni; hopefully I will manage :).

Thank you again for your support. It's amazing to be able to converse, and read stories of people who know what you're talking about.

Wri,

Glad you are keeping up your spirits and staying positive! That can be one of the hardest things after surgery.

Eat what you feel comfortable with, and try slowing down your eating too. Take a bite, put down the fork and chew 20 times. You shouldn't pick up your fork until you swallow. It takes longer to eat, but you get full quicker, and don't tend to get bloated or feel you've over eaten..

I hope you find good support at school, and make sure you let the school doc know what is going on and keep them in the loop. You never know if an emergency will come up and you may need their help!

If you REALLY feel there is a problem, stick to your guns and get it addressed before your discharge! BUT, do remember, laproscopic or not, you are still going to have inflammation and discomfort to some degree. So it make take a bit for that all to go down and things to work a bit more normally.

Good luck! Can't wait to see how you are doing later today :)

wrikilsi - is that you, just with a new nickname?

No matter, sounds as I was premature in thinking you were doing so well, which reminds me of my personal setbacks after my colon resection. I had a temp ostomy and began eating solids way too soon, for example I had to in the hospital so they would discharge me after I had stool output. I understood that and the meals they were bringing me were small in portion. After coming home my family and I enjoyed 2 weeks (1 week for them, 1 week for me) of home cooked meals from neighbors. And I devoured them. I ate with such gusto and regretted it, had dry heaves, shakes, chills, extreme nausea, surgeon prescribed phenrghan it was so bad. He said - you went back on solids too quickly, you should have eased into them (but his partner who discharged me never such a thing!). Long story short, they put me back on a liquid diet for 3 days, and then I was instructed to follow the ostomy diet, but in very small portions, chewing my food carefully, drinking a lot of water and easing back into food very, very slowly. It worked. I felt great - eventually. But my gosh, it took a long time for that nausea and other symptoms to settle down. My system was a wreck after that surgery. Just an absolutely wreck. I went from a size 12 to a size 4 (women will understand the significance of this), my clothes were hanging off me. I remember I could fit into my 7th grade daughter's shorts (size 4). I was - shocked. I'd love to say I'm still a 4 but 14 years later, I'm not, dang it.

Well hang in there, this will all pass but it takes a long time.

Hey again!

I am going home tomorrow. So happy .

My stomach still hurts like hell which still doesn't seem to concern the staff; at least at home I can walk to the pharmacy to get some muscle relaxants and pain meds.

I've put on a bag yesterday for the first time. It still kind of holds, leaked on me when I leaned over from my bed.
My ostomy is too close to my ilium which I think will make it a bit tricky for me; well at least untill I am able to create a good seal.

During my hospital stay I've grown to dislike 1 piece bags.
The reason is I cannot rotate them to fit my current need.
A bag that is facing downwards doesn't seem to be a good choice for when you are staying in bed.

BTW. Lately the law here has changed, I won't be able to use my "insurance" to get any ileostomy fixture; just the bags, plates and the paste. That hurts. At least the coloplast stripes are covered.


Thank you all for being such a wonderful bunch. I appreciate every response. It helped me to keep going.

Also I appologize for my chaotic style :)

Regards!

Wri,

So glad to see you are doing so well now :)

Keep the food light and do what you are comfortable with..

Again, I would make sure you have someone at school that you can walk thru things with and have them know what to do if there are emergencies or issues..
I understand wanting to keep your new "friend" to yourself, but having a good network of friends can be soo helpful!

Good luck at school~ make sure you continue to get the rest you need!!!!! Especially now at finals time :)