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Posted 7/18/2013 7:32 PM (GMT 0)
Began bowel prep on Sunday.... got to pre-op while still blowing out my Gatorade prep & they wanted a urine sample before they'd start anything (to check for pregnancy).  An hour passed of me trying and wouldn't you know - the stoma nurse is marking my belly when I begin to pass out from dehydration.  Anesthesia came to put in an IV since I was too dry to find a vein on....  forced a bag of fluids in & I was feeling better than I had in days...

So began my journey to a 6 hour surgery on Monday.  I am still here at the hospital and might get discharged tomorrow.  I just began solids today and yesterday changed my pouch.  It's been an easy thing to get hang of.  My anal closure is pretty uncomfortable its both stitched and stapled.  When it's pain med time I can sure feel them!  The procedure was done laparoscopic hand assist.  The hand port was done through my C-section scar and there are two other small incisions, both closed with glue.

There is a lot of blood in my urine (they believe due to the uretal stents) - it took a few days for my BP to get up to normal and I have a slight fever they are watching. 

I'm one of the many lucky who woke up feeling much better.  No more feeling like I have a bruised tailbone - no more left side pain.  I actually have less pain with these staples & stitches than I did before.

Stoma's name is Peg. (a spin off from an inside joke of my Mom and I being like square pegs)

She's been working well so far  & the ostomy nurse says she's one of the best she has ever seen  :)

 

Posted 7/18/2013 7:58 PM (GMT 0)
YAY MM! that is so great to hear! glad surgery is behind you and it went all well :) are you able to sit? or you have to lay like on the side so it wont hurt? i'm so nervous about that part :/

good for you for getting on top of taking care of the stoma so fast. that's great. i was terrified when i had to chance appliance by my self for the first time. but right after i did it once, i saw it's only so simple. sounds like it all went well and no severe complications. the fever and urine will all clear up soon.

so glad you're feeling good. congrats to you and peg! :)
Posted 7/18/2013 8:17 PM (GMT 0)
Honesty - laying on my side has been out of the question with the abdominal discomfort. I have the bed in a recliner style position with a waffle cushion under my butt. This has been the most comfortable for me so far.
Posted 7/18/2013 8:44 PM (GMT 0)
Congrats, mm! Welcome to the club! Before you leave try and snatch up all the freebies you can legitimately muster... It's nice to have an extra buffer of supplies- even stuff like those disposable wipes (patient cleaners) etc. Great to see you back. Did you get a picture of the colon?! I insisted they take one before they carted it away to pathology and they came through for me, lol.
Posted 7/18/2013 8:54 PM (GMT 0)
Congrats on making it through, feeling better and already adjusting so well!! I second the suggestion to snatch up freebies....you are paying for all that stuff anyway! I took tons of gloves, tape, guaze, wound pads, scissors, wipes and anything else that I could grab. They even had these great little stretchy boy short type undies that I LOVED and my mobility nurse snatched a box for me. I still wear them!

They pulled the last minute pregnancy test thing on me too. I was already totally hooked up, seconds from being carted to the OR and someone realized that EVERYone I'd seen in the previous weeks had forgotten to give me the test. They swore I would be able to pee, despite having had nothing to drink for about 12 hours, saying the IV I was on would be enough. Well...surprise, it wasn't and they had to do a blood test and wait for that to get on with the surgery!

Good luck with your continued healing, I know you will feel better every day!
Posted 7/18/2013 9:02 PM (GMT 0)
that's so cool you got a pic, probiotic.. never thought of asking this, but too late for me anyway lol.

mm, i'm going to buy that waffle cushion, so i can use at the hosp and at home till the wound heals. i'm so nerves and scared about this surgery. but at the same time can't wait to do it (my rectum just gave me a reminder signal why it should go, exactly while writing i'm scared). lol alls gonna be ok.
Posted 7/18/2013 9:06 PM (GMT 0)
lol that's hilarious about that last minute pregnancy test....... tongue
Posted 7/18/2013 10:47 PM (GMT 0)
I'm so glad the surgery is over! Yes, my butt hurt more than anything else but that heals pretty quickly. In a week or two you should be able to sit in a chair without the cushion if you are anything like I was.

I know this is a relief for you and I'm happy you are feeling better already. yeah

Sherrine
Posted 7/19/2013 12:20 AM (GMT 0)
Yay! Glad to hear things went well and that you're adjusting so easily. Keep up the positive attitude - it will really help when you have rougher moments!
Posted 7/19/2013 12:47 AM (GMT 0)
Probiotic - yep, I have a bag specifically for the freebies :) I have 3 waterproof mattress pads, 4 packs of the wash cloth wipes, a huge pack of dry wash cloth wipes, a plastic measure for output, juices that I didn't drink, an ice pack, three pair of special mesh underwear, and more. LOL
I didn't request the pic - I considered it, but just didn't ask fro some reason!

UCWhat? - they don't have any more of the undies here (gave me 3 pair so far)... I'd love a whole box & may try to find them through amazon. I actually had the pregnancy test on the 3rd (12 days prior to surgery)- they said it had to be 7 days... the nurse was rather rude about it all. At one point, I yelled form the bathroom, "I haven't even had sex in over a week! Can't you just cathe me to get a sample?" Wasn't until I passed out from the dehydration that she realized I was not just acting like a little diva. Until then she kept saying, "It's just one drop! That's all I need!"
Posted 7/19/2013 3:01 AM (GMT 0)
YAY glad to hear all went well. That pregnancy thing is so annoying. They actually ran one on my 89 year old aunt when she went in a few weeks ago! shes EIGHTY NINE!!!! They said anyone with a uterus gets one.
Anyway, good idea to take all the free stuff, especially the water proof pads I love those. I sewed a sheet on top of mine and sleep on them, it's like a security blanket to me.
I found that the butt wound itched more than anything, they can give you some cream I can't remember what it's called though. And I also found that wearing a pad and changing it every few hours helped a lot.
Posted 7/19/2013 3:55 AM (GMT 0)
about your aunt summerstorm... too freakin funnyyyy lolll
Posted 7/19/2013 11:10 AM (GMT 0)
summerstorm - did your anal wound itch while in the hospital? For now mine feels kind of prickly - only way to explain it. LOL

HILARIOUS about your aunt!!!!!!!!!!!! Was she pissed or thinking it was funny?
Posted 7/19/2013 2:08 PM (GMT 0)
It didn't start until it started to heal, probably a few days after I got home from the hospital.
She didn't realize they were doing it when she was there, she had passed out at home and was kind of loopy, she was really dehydrated. We told her later and she said that was the dumbest thing she better not have to pay for that!
Posted 7/19/2013 2:12 PM (GMT 0)
lolllllllll... sorry, her reaction was just tooooo funny.......
Posted 7/19/2013 2:14 PM (GMT 0)
welcome back & welcome Peg!! the best the nurse has seen? That's cute. I didn't know there were better and worse stomas. Happy to hear you and Peg are getting along well :)
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