Surgery tomorrow morning

I'm doing the prep getting ready for surgery at 7am tomorrow. Sub-total colectomy with end ileostomy. I'll have to wait a year to get the other two surgeries done. I'm not really too nervous about the actual surgery, it's the unknown of the afterwards. A new stoma to take care of and learn to love! I keep telling myself it's a part of me so I have to love it and take care of it. And bits of wisdom for me before the big event?

Cant say I have much advice, but just keep in mind that even if the ileostomy turns out to be aweful, it is only temporary. Afterwards, youll have your life back.

Best of luck and please let us know how it goes!

Good luck.

OMG good luck!! I just had mine done last Saturday (Sept 27) and I'm doing great so far. Yes, it is quite shocking seeing the stoma at first... I'll be honest I'm still grossed out by mine because mine is bigger (longer) than normal, and I'm quite a small person. :( I am planning on having mine shortened eventually if it stays the size it is.

However, I had a bit of a blip from Oct 2 until Oct 4... let me explain what happened but please do not let my experience terrify you, I do feel great now... I just do not wish for anyone to have to go through what I went through.

So.. my bit of wisdom from my very limited experience so far... DO NOT let the hospital staff rush you with food... mine did and I totally regret letting them. Long story short, I ended up having NG tubes stuck down my nose. If you don't know what those are, I hope it stays that way, they are the most uncomfortable thing ever and having them put down is the most horrible feeling I have ever experienced... but they were necessary and I braved them out because I was in 10/10 pain, worse pain in my entire life that no pain killer would relieve because I took it way to fast with food. The hospital served me a burger on whole wheat bread... big mistake. Remember, first 6-8 weeks, eat meat that is soft enough to be cut with a fork. Having a blockage or ileus due to advancing too fast on your diet is the worst, worst, worst pain I've ever experienced so I can't stress this enough, the memory is still so fresh.

So yeah... I'm sorry, but I feel like that is the most important piece of advice I can provide. If you are further interested in the topic, go to the ostomy forum and read my thread titled "NG tubes suck."

Let us know when you're out and how you're doing!!

Good luck, I'm sure everything will be fine. I thought having a stoma would suck but it wasn't that bad, and in the end I decided it would be much preferable to having to live with UC. I am however very happy with my Jpouch. I hope everything goes smoothly for you, just remember you have to learn and give yourself time to deal with everything.

Best of luck tomorrow! Wishing you a super speedy recovery. And yeah, go really slow with food at first!! I made that mistake too (or I should say the hospital did).

How come you have to wait a whole year?

beatlegirl said...
Thank you Annadee, I've seen quite a few posts that talked about the hospital pushing the wrong food too fast. I will be sure not to make that mistake, thanks so much for sharing. I did read your thread, that is probably where I read it the first time. Sounds awful, I'm sorry you had to go through it, but I'm glad to learn from it. Good luck on your recovery, are you having the jpouch? I have about a year before I can finish my third surgery, I need to get some work done in between. I look forward to reading all your posts. I'll share my story too!

I am not quite sure yet if I want the jpouch or not... to be honest, I am a bit chicken to go through more surgeries and the further possible complications a jpouch can bring. The temptation of a normal looking outside is pretty great though... Either way, my surgeon told me I should take 6-9 months to heal and then decide. I will take this advice!

19 years of UC misery sounds like you are making the right decision. I liked my stoma but I like my Jpouch even more and I'm happy that I chose to have the additional surgeries.

Quick story: A month after I had my colon removed I was visiting my parents and my mother said "it's nice to see you smile like this, I haven't see you smile like this in years." I knew at that point I made the right decision having my colon removed and I wasn't suffering in pain any longer.

The best thing that you can do is walk. It will help you heal and the most important thing is that it will wake up your digestive tract.

Will be thinking of you. Use your pain pump, don't let the pain get too far in front of you. Eating takes a lot of energy and focus. Don't think about it right now (other than to listen to the good advice about not eating too much too quickly). Don't try to please everybody, do what your body says. If it wants to sleep instead of chat, so be it. Skip the thank you notes for now.
Have someone with you if poss while the Stoma nurses show you stuff, it is easily forgotten while in pain and on drugs. I took private photos of the first bag change so I could remember the sequence. Overkill, probably. We are at week 5 and have turned a major corner. Hang tough!!! You will be ok!!