before and after....life with a bag vs. life on the pot

Before: very sick and sad    

 

After: very healthy and happy 

 

Need I say more?

 

 

Taurus,
I will keep you in prayer that your surgery goes well and that you will be pleased with the results.
Cecilia

NEVER mind ----   I see it now.  Blonde moment!

PS--good to see you back--your too funny not to be on here!

I had mine reversed June 20th. I now have daily pain again especially after eating, I have lots 4 pounds in the last few weeks without trying. Since my reversal I have 3-10 BMs a day mostly D. My ileum perforated in Feb due to 20 yrs with Crohn's, mult complications and the stoma never healed right causing feces to leak into my abdominal cavity causing abscesses and peritonitis. I am only 4' 9.5" but have not weighed under 100 pounds in 10 yrs. I am trying to contact my GI to put me on questran to help with my D issues post op I am missing half of my colon and 12 inches of my terminal ileum. I find I have less options now with food than before unless I really want to spend my day on the toilet.

dragonfly.....well, i hope you start to feel better....how frustrating it must be for you now?

the more i read about reversals the scarier the idea becomes....but then again, i would hate to have a colectomy and then wish i hadn't...

jenjenjen.....not to be too forward or graphic, but now i am curious as to what someone with a total colectomy looks like after they are all "sewed up"...so to speak

i remember a post earlier about this, but i gotta ask again? when they take out your colon and rectum, do they sew the anus shut?

I am just medicallu unlucky and lucky I guess. Unlucky since I seem to have complications with everything. My first issue with constipation started when I was 5 just after getting over the chicken pox. My joints started 1 yr before I was Dx with CD. I had an inguinal hernia operation when I was 8 (spring before CD Dx). Cd diagnosed in 87 almost died in the hospital but luckily no Sx was needed at the time. Due to Imuran my gall bladder nearly burst but was giving me symptoms of menengitis (I was in college at the time) I missed 1 month of my Sr year and made everything up and still graduated on time. I got married 2 months out of college and it was an abusiove relationship. I met Eric online (he is my current husband) he is absolutely wodnerful, he gets grossed out by medical stuff but was there everyday while I was in the hospital this past year. Our 2nd anniv is coming up next month :)

I am lucky since I had great durgeons and I am alive, I find I still have to take pain meds almost daily. I got a job offer today soI moved up my appt with my surgeon to this Wed. I hope he can help me out with the pain I still have, it may be more adhesions. My GI called in questran for me today and I will pick that up tomorrow and see how that works for me. My biggest concern at my new job is bathroom, I am one who could never have a BM except at my house, my parents, or grandparents. Now I cant help but to go other places so my biggest fear is the stench that comes out of me. I cant drink peroxide to make it better and no M9 drops either. I need tips for that now that I dont have a bag and cannot mask the odor with those items

Dragonfly,
Congrats on your new job, and Happy Anniversary!! Hopefully, things will keep getting better for you. I agree with Glad to keep a can of air freshener in the bathroom at work, because everyone will need it!

Glad,
You asked about what happens when they remove your rectum. I thought they sewed it up, too, but they actually leave the wound open to heal slowly from the inside out, so it doesn't get infected.

I had to pack the hole with saline-filled gauze twice a day until it closed up. The pieces of gauze kept getting smaller and smaller. It didn't hurt while it was healing. I was able to sit right away and was out driving 2 weeks after surgery.

Surgeons can do it either way. Some prefer to sew everything up (like they did to me), others prefer to lave it open to heal. Sewing up seems to heal faster, however leaving it open to heal leaves less chance of infection.

I received a temporary Ileostomy on July 23. My doctor told me I would need it for about 3 months, so I'm looking to have it reversed the first week of November. Due to having a baby 21 years ago, the nerve damage and muscle control became worse over time. My doctor thought he could perform rectal surgery to repair me with an Ileostomy. This was on June 21. On June 27, I went in for more surgery because he couldn't figure out why I was having so much pain during my dressing changes and exams. It was unbarable. He found that I had an abcess/infection. One night after the second surgery, I started to go septic. It was the scariest time of my life. I spent two weeks in the hospital. My husband was going nuts. That was the longest time we've spent apart. By July 23, I was back in the hospital. Everything had fallen apart from the infection and contamination. The doctor decided to give me an Ileostomy. He was always planning to give me a colostomy. I never heard about an Ileostomy until that day in the hospital.

My Ileostomy has definately allowed me to heal down below. I don't think I would have been able to without it. Unfortunately, I am allergic to most of the products. I have a severe case of Dermatitus and Yeast Infection.

Does anyone know of any hypo-allergenic products out there - wafers, pouches? I'm using the Eakin Seals which work great. My nurse gave me an Edgepark Catalog, but I order through Sterling Medical (insurance preferred).

Hi everyone...I'm new at this, so here goes. I myself didn't have a choice. It was a life or death thing. Diverticulitis- perferated bowel. Then scar tissue blocked me again,causing them to take another section out. Seems the doctors are reluctant to try to resection me. So I've just been living with it. Not really what I wanted,but it could be worse.