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Adjusting after 2nd surgery

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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 4/29/2018 2:58 PM (GMT 0)
Well adjusting to life after 2nd surgery is tough. It's 3 weeks tomorrow since surgery. I Quess til final surgery that weak dehydrated feeling will be with me here and there. Mornings are tough bc u don't want to eat much too late at night bc bag will fill up. Only issue with that is in morning u feel weak. I usually don't eat much breakfast but that will change if I want to function. Went to work yesterday. Tried to do minimum. Had my 3 guys doing all work,just had to help set up what each one was doing which wiped me out some. It's really a balancing act just to feel good each day. Figures that after dealing with UC for 32 years you think the toughest part is behind me---OH no not yet. Even thought I know after surgery 3 I'll be functioning better it's not easy right now. Have to suck it up and deal with it. Potatoes,rice,breads,pastas with Imodium is my diet. Hope for best
Posted 4/29/2018 11:20 PM (GMT 0)
Hang in there, it will get better!
Posted 4/30/2018 12:27 AM (GMT 0)
Yea. I like physical work so it's an adjustment. Have to find combo that gets me strong-bananas,vitamins etc etc etc. I realize that I don't have my full upper intestine to absorb all vitamins proteins etc. Prob only 10 feet or so before it hits bag. That can make u weak. Not easy but I'm a big boy. Everything will work out
Posted 4/30/2018 4:49 AM (GMT 0)
3timechamp it does get easier trust me . I felt weak, tired all the time, not hungry and in pain till just last week it has been day and night difference ever since.

I believe you had your surgery two weeks after mine . So rest asure you will return to your normal self again.
My best advise is sleep or rest when you body is telling you ( we all know our body ) we have to listen to it.
Stay hydrated, I drink more then I eat.
Take your vitamins if you are worried about how much you are absorbing.

My only issue is I still have butt pain it’s really pressure down there specially after I release the mucus which
is increaseing everyday.
Other then that I feel great , you will too give it another week.

Do you know when your take down is ?
And are you still leaking ?
Posted 4/30/2018 4:21 PM (GMT 0)
We (nurse)are changing bag every 3rd day. Trying to not leave bag on too long.Bag leaked into hole in incision. I can't let that happen again Nurse changing bag does a better job then me changing bag. Nurse is here every day bc of infection in incision so we monitor bag every day. I have no discharge right now from butt. Think I only had it once in the 3 weeks since surgery. I had first surgery Jan 9 and second surgery April 9. July will be #3. Stool can get loose very quickly so to stay strong I need to eat things that bind me up plus Imodium It's a full time job monitoring stool/diet/Imodium/eating/incision etc etc
Posted 4/30/2018 11:57 PM (GMT 0)
For some context, I was still in the hospital at this point. I was there for 22 days after my surgery because of my very high output.
Posted 5/1/2018 12:00 AM (GMT 0)
Keith when did they start giving u Imodium or something similar while u were in hospital??
Posted 5/1/2018 12:22 AM (GMT 0)
A few days after surgery I started with Imodium and then they added lomotil and then tincture of opium and fiber.
Posted 5/1/2018 2:11 AM (GMT 0)
Why so many days?? Couldn't they get it under control with food and meds?? Funny after first surgery Dr told me on Thursday that if I could pee on my own I could go home Saturday. I peed Friday so I'm going home Saturday right??? Well surgeons asst comes in Sat morning saying my output is high and they want to keep me. I looked her in face and said NO I'm going home. I told her why if your so concerned did u not give me Imodium Tues-Wed-Thurs-Friday. I was pissed and I let them know it. To me that's not paying attn to patient. Same thing after 2nd surgery except the day I'm going home Asst came in saying one more day which I thought was ok. Then Surgeon came in 2hrs later saying I could go home. Quess who I listened too. With Imodium ,Gatorade etc etc and good food I was fine to go home. Slept better also
Posted 5/1/2018 2:40 AM (GMT 0)
Very high output, I needed to stay on fluids until it slowed down. It was so bad that they almost reversed me after two weeks.

I ended up back in the hospital a week after being released due to a blockage. I had to go off of all the bowel slowing agents because of the blockage; I was there for 9 more days. A total of 30 days after my 2nd surgery
Posted 5/1/2018 2:46 AM (GMT 0)
Wow that's rough. I thankfully was able to get output under control pretty quickly after #1. This time much tougher. Still trying to find right combination to keep me hydrated/strong. It's a 24/7 battle
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