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Just a couple of quick questions

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Ostomies
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Posted 1/16/2014 11:26 AM (GMT 0)
So after 4 years of battling UC I'm going to get the surgery. My date is the 29th of this month and I'm really excited.

Anyways, one thing my surgeon seemed pretty intent on making me aware of is the possibility of not being able to have kids either because of ED or because of something called "inverted ejaculation". So she suggested I get some sperm frozen in case my wife and I decide we want another kid. Now I feel like I've done a lot of reading regarding the surgery over the last year and I haven't seen any type of sexual issues mentioned, I understand that where the surgery is in correlation to the prostate can be a problems maybe she's just covering all of her bases? Anyone have any issues with this or hear of it?

Secondly, I've always been a big fitness person and as I get older I'm concerned about self preservation more so than getting big or looking good and obviously the battle to stay in shape is almost a wash when I'm flaring (which I have been almost exclusively for these 4 years). So with the surgery I'm excited to start getting my physicality back. So my wife and I got one of those fitness trackers (the FitBit Flex) and I want to use it to track my intake and output and mostly keep me aware of my choices and hopefully motivate me to get off the couch. Anyone use these?

Well that's it, thanks in advance!
Posted 1/16/2014 2:06 PM (GMT 0)
Well congrats on deciding to have surgery! Are you going for the permanent ostomy bag or the j-pouch? Where are you having it done?

I'm female so I can answer the male part. As a female we have our own issues with having kids too...it's just harder but I know some females who were able to.

You shouldn't have an issue with the fitness part. We can still be very active and do things to the extreme like run a marathon! We just have to be cautious if you have the ostomy bag.

After having my surgery it was nice to be able to eat normal again and it's easy to over do a good thing so just be cautious of your intake and what you eat.

Good luck on the surgery and keep us posted!
Posted 1/16/2014 6:56 PM (GMT 0)
I'm female so can't help you with your first question as well but yeah, all doctors should cover their bases and inform you of potential side effects or things that could go wrong so it's good she's being upfront with you. Not all doctors do that. Hopefully some guys will be along to chime in with their experiences.

One of the nice things about having surgery and being UC free for me is being able it get back in shape and exercise again. I go to the gym daily...nothing intense but it's an hour for me to escape and do something good for myself. I'm not familiar with the Fitbit but I googled it and it sounds cool. Best of luck with your surgery!
Posted 1/16/2014 7:55 PM (GMT 0)
@peace&harmony - thanks. I'm having the surgery at the VA Hospital in Connecticut, the surgeon is out of the YALE Colorectal team.

Yea I can't wait to eat and exercise again. Hopefully I can work up to doing strenuous strength training and such but just being able to be in shape will be more than enough.

Hopefully the lack of male response is a good thing in this case LOL
Posted 1/16/2014 8:04 PM (GMT 0)
Also, I'm going the j-pouch route
Posted 1/16/2014 9:04 PM (GMT 0)
You can also ask over at jpouch.org. Lots of men with j pouches over there. And Jan, who is a nurse and a wealth of knowledge, can answer many questions.
Posted 1/16/2014 9:05 PM (GMT 0)
I'm having a surgery on the 23rd to put an ostomy back in (one of two, long story). So I am looking forward to all the things you are looking forward to too!!

I have a Fitbit One (the clip on kind). It's cool. I also recently got a Withings scale. It connects wirelessly to the internet each time you weigh yourself! You have to set up a Withings account but then you link it to your Fitbit account so it enters your weight for you. Fibit also has a scale called the Aria that does the same thing, but only links to Fitbit.
Posted 1/16/2014 10:01 PM (GMT 0)
Yes, retrograde ejaculation is a risk with any pelvic surgery (for men) but it's very uncommon. I believe <1%. It can take a few weeks to have your first erection after surgery but in the overwhelming majority of cases, especially in younger patients, it comes back!

I went back to strength training about four months after my takedown. I started very light (just the bar for squats and bench, less than that for everything else) and I do a *lot* of planks. Core strength is what you'll be lacking most and it's the most important for protecting yourself against hernia as the weights go up. A cool tip one of my coaches taught me is that you should do ab work before and in between lifting sets to help you be more aware of your abs and make sure you're activating them for stability with your lifts. The other thing to keep in mind is to take it very slow with anything overhead because you need to use your abs to stabilize more when your center of gravity is higher. It's been slow going but I'm definitely gaining strength back.

Take it slow and remember that even if you eat whatever you want and don't exercise at all, just getting your colectomy is going to be a HUGE step in the right direction for your health. I wasn't able to exercise at all between steps 2 and 3 because the j-pouch construction and loop ileo were so hard on me. It was hard mentally to go back to feeling weak/sick and not be able to be so active, but you will get past it.
Posted 1/16/2014 10:23 PM (GMT 0)
@active - yea we ordered the fitbit flex for each of us and the aria scale. Just something to keep us conscious. The social aspect is pretty cool, maybe we should start a "UC Survivor" group or something lol.

@pluot - thanks for the info, I thought it was something fairly rare since it wasn't a side affect I had heard mentioned much before. But, like you said it's always a risk for males in the pelvic area. That's good to know you're able to get back to strength training pretty quickly, 4 months is certainly a manageable wait. I'm having the 2-step surgery, well that's the plan at least. The odd thing is my surgeon wants to do the take down about 6-weeks after my 1st step. From what I've read that seems pretty quick, but again that's the plan everything will be based on how I actually heal. After the initial removal I don't care how long it takes as long as I'm not suffering from UC anymore and things come out correctly. I've waited 4 years I can easily wait several more months being pain free.

Thanks again for the responses all. I'm so anxious at this point these are the slowest 2 weeks of my life.
Posted 1/16/2014 10:24 PM (GMT 0)
Ps - Pluot, I followed your blog for a few months. It was very informative, just wanted to say thanks for letting us into the unknown and being our guinea pig. 😄
Posted 1/16/2014 11:29 PM (GMT 0)

Rabbit81586 said...
The odd thing is my surgeon wants to do the take down about 6-weeks after my 1st step..

Not so odd as long as you are ready for it. I had a two step as well and the plan was for takedown 6 weeks later, however, I developed an abscess/infection (not unusual with abdominal surgery unfortunately) and that set me back a bit. But even with that setback, my takedown happened 3 months after the first surgery which went by pretty fast. But you have the final say....if you feel you aren't feeling strong enough at the six week point, hold off on it for a bit. Heck, you can delay takedown as long as you want.
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