J-pouch Life » scars

The First Surgery: One Month Later

Brevin — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 05:15:59 +0000

It’s been exactly a month since the divorce. To clarify: Divorcing from my colon. My colon doesn’t phone, it doesn’t even write letters to me. I guess it’s over. The break-up was pretty bad I suppose, considering they had to sedate me for all the pain. So here we are a month later and I barely miss that drama queen of a diva. I have a few questions scattered through out the update, and I would appreciate any input : )

The Scars:

I’m amazed by how well the laproscopic scars healed up. They look like tiny papercuts. Well, except for one. The largest of the lapro scars (on the left, below the previously existing scar) is still healing and has a long way to go. It might get infected, so to avoid this I have the band-aid on. This particular scar is a jerk when you compare it to the other ones. The large, main scar above the pubic bone is healing up nicely. The small purple spot is where the JP Drain was. Not too shabby, considering they shoved a tube in there. All in all, I welcome the 6 new scars (it will be 7 once the takedown surgery patches up the stoma). I’m still bloated and lost some definition, but I think it’s hilarious that the LoveNox injections I give myself in the love handles (for a tiny blood clot incident) are leaving more marks than a massive surgery. Yay, fear of needles!

1) Lapro: super tiny and disappearing; 2 and 3) Lapro: almost gone; 4) JP-Drain; 5) The Big One; 6) Oh look an intestine sticking out; 7) Lapro: Band-Aid protecting scar

The Stoma:

Do you feel left out for not having an ileostomy? Do you get made fun of for not having a stoma? Well I’m here to help! Simply glue a red Dots candy to your stomach! It’s pretty much the same. Expect my Dots candy likes to poo when startled. And to poo just for fun.

The medical community is telling me that my stoma is fairly tiny. I guess there are varying sizes? It’s between 7/8″ and 1″. The stoma’s opening itself is close to the surface of the skin, so this causes skin irritation close to that area. I haven’t named my stoma yet, although the name Stomie “Squirt” Stoma, P.I. is winning so far. I’m open for suggestions! I do have a character profile in place. Stomie “Squirt” Stoma, P.I. solves mysteries each week with it’s crazy detective and observational skills. Sort of like Murder, She Wrote but with more.. poo. Last week we solved the mystery of the missing Pringles! It turns out I ate all of them.

Left: Eww gross yuck ewww; Right: Yay!

The Ileostomy Bag And J-Pouch:
One month, zero leaks. Yes, I realize the leaks are inevitable and I came close to getting leaks. But I have had no emergency patch jobs yet. To make up for this, my body (who is holding a grudge against me for not enjoying cheese cake during my hospital stay) is sometimes leaking through the bum when I sleep. Apparently when you sleep, your muscles are relaxed and you can have discharge through the J-Pouch. It’s not regular clock-work leakage, and it’s not exactly gallons of fluid, but I play it safe and have a pad thingy available when I go snore away. How common is this for folk with the j-pouch? Will the leakage stop once my bum clenching muscles wake up?

The Home Nurses and Costco:
For some magical reason, my insurance covered all of the surgery and hospital bills but won’t cover the actual ileostomy bag supplies. I’ll have to pay out of pocket for these goodies, but until then am blessed with Home Nurses and what I can only describe as the equivalent of Costco’s sample stations, but it’s Ileostomy Bag samples. They bring in all of these samples for me to try. I’m still finding out what works best for me (a convex two piece velcro baggy seems ok so far), and I’m enjoying the free samples while I can. When I’m going to buy the supplies, I’l be dang sure it’s the kind of supplies I like. I have a belt strap thing that helps keep the bag hugged to the body, but are there any other crazy goodies I should know of? Any hot tips? These bags don’t seem to hold their shape, so I’m always cautious about half holding the bag when I walk around. And for those with ileo bag experience, how did you uh… exactly empty it? If you’re too high up from the toilet bowl, it will splash toilet bowl water everywhere. In order to get close to the bowl, you have to kneel or aim veeerryyyy carefully. What gives?

Left: Newly changed bag with the awesome strap/belt thing; Right: My interpretation of 30 minutes later

Diet
Oh Bratwurst. I miss you. And any sausage with casing, for that matter, which just happens to be my favorite food. But nay, I shall not become depressed! Instead, I’ll drown my sorrow in meatloaf. I’m still having inconsistencies with my poo. Sometimes it’s thick-ish, sometimes it’s pretty liquidy. I’m still finding that balance as to what works, but out of curiosity, what fiber supplement works best? BeneFiber? MetaMucil? Colon-Blow?

The healing process is an amazing thing. I can’t wait to see what my progress is a month from now.

These posts might also help out:

June 27, 2009 -- The Post-Op Follow-Up Round-Up (14)
February 25, 2010 -- Commenter with Questions (13)
December 21, 2009 -- Update (6)
June 20, 2009 -- Stoma Retraction (or, changing my flange 8 times in 24 hours) (5)

Meet My Hernia

Eric — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 20:13:57 +0000

I’ve just returned from a post-surgery follow-up (more hyphens anyone?) with my surgeon. I scheduled the appointment because I noticed something squishy around my incision. Since all my friends happen to be doctors, they all told me it was an umbilical hernia. In my nicely ignorant state of medical knowledge (with apologies to my wife who is also a doctor), I thought hernias were something that happened to old men who tried to save mechanics stuck beneath an automobile when the hydraulic lift has collapsed. You know, the adrenaline rush, and you lift something too heavy. Like Clark Kent in the first Superman? (Except that analogy is terrible because Clark Kent, being Superman, wouldn’t get a hernia even if that was how you got hernias). Well, I was wrong, dead wrong. Here’s a video of what it looks like. It’s my first video, so pardon the wonkiness. My surgeon wants to have it repaired, but she said I could finish out the ski season first so I could have some fun (all of 2008 was pretty much lost to sickness). I’ll keep you updated. Anyone with hernia experience out there?

These posts might also help out:

January 4, 2009 -- Mark’s 15 Month Jpouch Update (16)
April 5, 2010 -- Home from Surgery #1 (1)
November 10, 2009 -- 6 Months Later: Jaypouchirifical (22)
June 20, 2008 -- Excellent Video: UC to J-pouch (1)

Mark’s 15 Month Jpouch Update

Mark — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 02:56:05 +0000

Well, I am 15 months out now from my takedown surgery and things seem to still be working more or less flawlessly. I don’t really have much new to report that I didn’t say in my 9 month update. The one thing I can report about living with a jpouch is that of the pouch’s adaptability. For 5 of the last 6 months Megan and I have sold a house in a slow market, finished a doctorate degree, closed up a small business, dealt with all the ins and outs of moving across country, the holidays, and living with Megan’s mom on top of it all. My point, all of these things add up to a lot of stress, a poor diet, and almost no time to relax. But, my jpouch never skipped a beat. Sure, there may have been a few extra BM’s, more liquid, and occasional mild butt burn, but nothing that would keep me from doing all the things I needed to get done or regretting my decision to have the surgery.

Below are some photo updates at the 15 month point about what my scars look like. The little bulge on stomach around the ex-stoma area seems to be settling down and not as bulbous as it was in the 9 month photos.

These posts might also help out:

July 20, 2011 -- 2 Years Post TakeDown (6)
April 5, 2010 -- Home from Surgery #1 (1)
November 10, 2009 -- 6 Months Later: Jaypouchirifical (22)
January 28, 2009 -- Meet My Hernia (2)