Tag: ostomy

Recovery update

It has been five days since my surgery and I think I am healing fairly well.

My pain is being well controlled by the PCA but it has been reduced to just morphine without the ketamine, with a low dose of morphine running in the background. They removed the rectus sheaths (anaesthetic being pumped directly into the wound) yesterday as one had broken and was leaking and the other wasn’t doing much either. They’re only meant to be in for three to four days anyway.

I’ve still got my cathatar in, which I suspect will stay in until I’m moving more freely. The drain is due out today, with the NG tube coming out tomorrow. And my diet has been upgraded to clear fluids.

I am feeling a lot more comfortable today and I’m even able to get out of bed, with little assistance. My hope is to start going for short walks to build up my strength.

Surgery went well

I’ll keep this brief as I am very brain foggy.

Yesterday I had my EUA (endoscopy under anaesthetic). From the results, my surgeon determined I would indeed need stoma surgery. He wanted to wait until this morning (Saturday) but because I was in so much pain (I’m quite sure I asked them to knock me out at one point), he said it would be cruel to leave me like that and took me straight back into theatre.

I’m in intensive care at the moment with a cocktail of painkillers being pumped into me.

Surgery update (in rant form. Sorry)

On Saturday, I had what’s called an EUA, or endoscopy under anaesthetic, in order to see what was going on in my jpouch. It showed the entrance was narrowed by a stricture and there was some liquid in it so they inserted a drain. The doctor who performed it tried to stretch the stricture with his finger (I didn’t know this until later).

Afterwards, all seemed fine for a bit until I started getting pains in my lower abdomen and near my rectum/pelvic floor. As it turns out, when try to stretch the stricture, the doctor had accidentally created a hole in my pouch and there is now an infection in the cavity behind it (to say my surgeon was not happy about this would be an understatement). “Fortunately”, the drain had gone through the hole as well and was trying to drain the waste that has leaked through. It was painful but they couldn’t do anything until the next day (Tuesday) at the earliest.

The plan, as far as I knew it, was to have an EUA so my surgeon could assess the damage. Once this was done I’d then have surgery to have a permanent stoma put in. I was told that I’d have the EUA this morning (Wednesday) and then the stoma surgery this afternoon.

That hasn’t happened. It turns out there was some miscommunication between my surgeon and another Dr. What is actually happening is my surgeon is performing the EAU this afternoon and I am last on his list. Fine. The stoma surgery will be scheduled for later this week, most likely.

What was said would happen but hasn’t (by the other Dr) is that I was first on the list to have the EUA and that it “didn’t matter” if the drain had fallen out this morning (which it did but hasn’t caused any issues). There was no mention of when the stoma surgery would be, only that they might not even have to do it. (My surgeon has already said going back to a stoma would be what’s best for me at this point).

I am struggling now as I’ve done nothing but lay around and wait for someone to take me for a test or scan or tell me some results. It’s tiring and I’m fed up. I want this fixed so I can go home and continue living.

World IBD Day

Today is World IBD Day and I wanted to share a few things (treatments, symptoms ect) about living with IBD that I have personally experienced.

Symptoms of IBD that I have had include stomach cramps, fatigue, diarrhoea, constipation, weight loss, partial blockages of the small bowel, dehydration, blood in my stool and muscular cramps in the abdomen. I haven’t had all these symptoms at once (thankfully) but I have experienced them all in some capacity and in various combinations.

Treatments I have tried for my IBD include a lot of medications as well as surgery. I have been on anti inflammatory (mesalazine), steroids (prednisolone), immuno-suppressants (azathioprine, mercaptopurine & infliximab), anti-ulcer (omeprazole), antibiotics (co-trimoxazol), meds for bile salt malabsorbtion (colesevelam), as well as vitamin/mineral supplements (folic acid, adcal-d3 & colecalciferol). I have also been on fortisip nutrient drinks and (as of this week) modulen which is a complete nutritional replacement drink.

Other treatments (for lack of a better term) would be surgery. I had my colon removed about two years ago and a temporary end ileostomy (stoma) placed. Although many would assume this has “cured” me of my Ulcerative Colitis, removal of the affected organ sadly does not cure an auto-immune disease.

Side effects of these many treatments are numerous. From the medication alone I suffered with bloating, insomnia, loss/increase of appetite and weight gain/loss. The surgeries came with there own set of side effects which included muscle spasms in my rectum and abdomen, partial blockages of my small bowel, strictures (narrowing of the gut) and ulcers from infection. I also suffered with a case of ileus which is when the muscles that move food through the gut slow down, causing the bowel to effectively stop working for a time. This happened after my second surgery to form my j-pouch and took about three-four weeks to heal. Treatments for it included an NG-tube (a thin tube that goes in through the nose and down the oesophagus into the stomach to extract food and other waste that can’t move into the small intestine), and TPN (Total Parenteral Nutrition – another form of liquid nutrition that is fed via a PICC line (Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter) that goes in through a main line in the upper arm and ends somewhere near the heart).

I think out of all the things I listed here, ileus was the worst. It came on suddenly after surgery and meant I wasn’t allowed food for almost a month. It started with vomiting and my stoma stopped working (meaning nothing was passing through my gut). This is when they inserted the NG tube. They had to replace it once but it stayed in for about two weeks to clear out my stomach. In the meantime, they inserted the PICC line (which can be left for several weeks or even months) and started me on TPN. Eventually, when the NG tube wasn’t bringing anything else up, they removed it and after a couple of days, allowed me to try soup. When that stayed down, I was allowed to try soft foods and, eventually, I was back on normal diet and discharged from hospital after almost four weeks. This is the longest I’ve had to stay in hospital and I hope to never experience it again.

So, there you go. I know it’s a long post but I thought it would be worth sharing as people so often underestimate the impact of IBD on a patients life.

First day back!

I returned to work today. I’m starting slightly later but otherwise doing normal hours for the time being. My hours will likely go back to full time next week but it’s not long until I finish there and start working at the local hospital. I’m a little nervous about starting a new job because of my UC and recent surgery but at the same time really looking forward to it. (I’m going to do a post about starting a new job with chronic illness later).

Anyway, back to today; today went really well. We weren’t too busy so I was able to take it easy. I was able to stand longer than I thought I would so that’s a bonus, and it felt good to be getting back into the swing of things. I’m very tired now but not more than is normal for me.

As for how my general recovery is going, it’s going pretty well. My stomach is still swollen, particularly around my wound, but the wound is looking more like a scar and less like I’ve just had surgery. I don’t need to keep a dressing on it now which is great because I have a slight allergy to the adhesive. The skin where my ostomy bag used to sit is super itchy at times but e45 cream works to cool it down.

Day ten of being a j-poucher

Today marks just over a week since I had my loop ileostomy closed and my jpouch put to work properly. I’m not going to lie, it’s been a weird experience gaining back control over when I poop; weird and a bit painful.

I expected it to be painful so I’m not surprised. It’s similar to the pain I had when I still had my colon but it’s in a more concentrated spot.

I’m taking painkillers regularly but it’s difficult to get comfy, both during the day and at night. I’m finding ways around this though with cushions and laying on my side instead of my back (which I’ve found causes pain in my stomach as well as near my pouch).

As for food, I’m eating four to five small meals/snack during the day, with the last of these being no later that eight in the evening so as to lessen the risk of issues at night.

Speaking of night time, I was terrified I would have leaks and accidents while I slept but, so far, everything’s been fine. I have a pack of incontinence pants just in case but I’m hoping I won’t ever have to use them.

I am home!

Sorry for the lack of updates the last few days, there hasn’t been much to report. But now, I am home. I have been signed off work for the next four weeks so I’ll have plenty of time to adjust and get used to my new “plumbing”.

So far, everything is going well but it’s early days. Hopefully, things will continue to go smoothly and I’ll have little to no issues with my j-pouch.

Seen the consultant this morning…

I’ve started passing tiny bits of gas the last couple of days, as well as green mucus, which the consultant is quite happy with. I’m being changed to free fluids and my PCA pain button will be reduced over the next day. They recon I will be home within forty-eight hours but, knowing my stomach, it’ll likely be longer.

I’m trying to stay positive though, so I’ll give myself until Wednesday next week. That’s when I think I’ll be well enough to go home. If it’s earlier though, great!

Surgery update.

Everything went as planned on Wednesday. I’ve had my stoma reversed and I now have a lovely line of staples running across one side of my tummy.

I’m nil-by-mouth because there is still a lot of gas trapped in my gut but once that passes, I’ll be able to start eating a soft diet. (I’m so bloated, I look like I’m three months pregnant).

Other than that, I’m moving around quite independently and, although I get tired quickly, I’m staying awake for longer now.

It’s the weekend now so I’m going to rest and go for short walks up and down the ward corridor so by Monday, hopefully, I’ll start paying some of that gas.