4 years post surgery

Thought I would give y'all an update. Haven't been on here for a long time. I'm not great on long posts with great detail - so if there is any questions let me know. I had the second of two surgeries back in 2013 (take down) I am still doing great. Will never regret the decision to get my colon removed, actually should have done it sooner.

Life without a colon, and with a J-pouch is pretty similar to before being diagnosed with UC. Only differences that come to mind: I hit the restroom 4 or 5 times a day; that number can go up or down depending on my diet; I can eat anything I want, but obviously things like chili or pasta will have you in the restroom shortly after; my stomach feels smaller, I need to eat more times a day; I can only eat small meals during the day. Feeling full makes me feel sick. Usually whenever I go out to eat with friends or family I always order an appetizer instead of an entree. I could never stomach a full size american style meal these days, for example a steak and two sides at a franchise restaurant - no no, gives me stress just thinking about all that food. There have been a few times where I have eaten too much and got sick, well more than a few.

This post isn't meant to scare anyone from going for surgery. And all the stuff I mentioned above kind of works well with my current position as a hotel bartender. We never get to sit down to a full dinner while at work, take a few bites here and there between slinging drinks hah.

What else, oh - obviously you need to being drinking liquids because of soft stools all the time. I mentioned my stomach being full as an issue, it also can be uncomfortably empty. So I pretty much eat 5 or 6 small meals every day. Working in F&B certainly makes this easier.

Anyway, hope everyone is doing well!

On a side note whatever happen to somedude?

What's your diet like? What keeps it optimal for the lowest number of bathroom trips? I'm still trying to figure out what helps bulk things up since diarrhea seems to burn the most. Also, if I eat many small meals I feel like I go more than if I eat just the 3 big ones. Transit time usually seems to be around 5-8 hours from when I eat a meal to where the "urgency" is the greatest. I'd love to hear what you've found helpful for diet.

Happy to hear you're doing well. I tend to do smaller meals too as I find I get full faster now. My j pouch has been a life saver!

Haven't seen somedude around here in a long time. I enjoyed his posts.

Hey, I'm still fairly new to this all and the idea of surgery scares me to no end so it's great to hear that you have no regrets What was it like just after surgery? and how long did it take for your J-pouch to settle down to your current 4-5 movements a day?

Surgery was the scariest thing I could imagine as well - and it happened to me. It was equally scary going through the process. Around every corner was another challenge. It was a difficult process, but not nearly as bad when you're actually in the thick of it. When you're reading about it, it's all unimaginable. When you're doing it, you're busy, and you learn to get through it. When it's done, it feels like the you've grown immensely emotionally, you've conquered a fear you never, ever, ever even wanted to know existed. It's bitter sweet, you have this terrible memory of all the suffering, but you've lived to make it to the other side. This side isn't so bad. The problem is, there is no guarantee that you will go 4-5x a day. Some people go 10x a day, every day. There's no way to know how you will be after surgery. It's too bad there is no way to gauge individual chances of well-functioning pouch.