The reversal will require a hospital stay. I go through the usual pre-op blood work, discussion with a nurse and if I understand the procedure being performed. It goes well. I am anxious to have this procedure as the illeostomy is such an aggravation. The skin erosion hurts and looks like hell, the bag still gives us some problems with coming loose, and the routine is fatiguing.
We show up at 5:30 AM and I go into the pre-op room. The nurses are kind, the nurse anesthesiologist is nice and they remember I do not react well to morphine. Seems like even the surgical people are getting to know me. That is not good. Dr. Jones comes in and we discuss what is to take place and that is is a fairly simple procedure as the small intestine has not actually been cut in half but more butterflied and one section poked up through my side. I'm looking forward to having this over with.
I wake up in the recovery room. Once again everyone is nice. Terry comes in to sit with me and I actually begin to feel quite good. No bag, no bags to replace, a sense of freedom. To think that a few months ago I was praying for the bag to get relief from the inflammation and pain of radiation treatments. It seems so long ago.
In the hospital room I really begin to feel good. The Dr. comes to check on me and says he might even let me go home in the morning if I continue to do so well. This is a Friday. Terry goes home hoping that when I call on Saturday she will come and get me. However, things take a downward turn in the evening. I begin to experience diarrhea and it burns my bottom. I go about every fifteen minutes and do not feel well at all. The nurse comes in and explains that diarrhea is a normal reaction to the reversal surgery and helps as best she can but there isn't much she can do. I am up and down most of the night with very little sleep and a real pain in the ass. The acid in my stomach and small intestine is not moderated by the large intestine and burns the rectal area.
Long about morning is starts to lessen but I do not feel good. Being Saturday the Dr. on call is Jones partner. He takes one look at me and says, "You're not ready to go home today." Damn, but he is right. I hurt and don't feel well. By the time he comes in it is Sunday noon and Terry and I decide that she should stay home and we'll see about Sunday. I spend the entire day alone in the room, TV is a distraction but when you don't feel good just having someone there is better. However. Terry has had enough of sitting in hospital rooms and I do not want her to go through that discomfort.
Sunday, I feel a little better. The diarrhea has stopped and I am eating some semi-soft food. I get some ice cream from the nurse, it feels and tastes good. Terry comes and the day passes without too much discomfort.
Monday comes, I'm ready to go home and I am discharged. Hopefully I will not be back to the hospital for a long while. At home I do not have any BM;s because the system is empty. So I enjoy some days of peace and quiet and recover some strength. Pretty soon at night have I have these long, low sounding farts. They are great. They should be recorded. I guess the material is working its way through the large intestine, and pushing a long tube a gas out. It takes several days before I have a BM and it doesn't hurt to go. It doesn't hurt to go for the first time in about a year and a half. This is wonderful.
I fart, I go to the bathroom, frequently and I encounter no pain. I go back to work, but the stool is very soft and I encounter accidents which necessitates putting the pads back into my underwear. It is a small price to pay for not have a painful BM. However I do run into some problems with control and experience numerous occasion when I am with my friends at work where I have an accident as we are standing talking in the hall. No one knows it, but I can feel it and sometimes it is no small amount. I end up having a change of clothes at work and I feel that if I explain my problem to my co-workers that they will understand my strange coming and goings. They do. I recommend for anyone experiencing this type of problem let you coworkers know, you can describe in terms that are not gross. If they know they understand and have sympathy for your plight. Not that you want sympathy, but they come to take your actions as normal for you and you don't have to suffer the feeling that your coworkers must think you an odd duck.
The condition I experience is chronic diarrhea. The stool is not loose but I go frequently. I go some times as much as 25 times a day. It is a frustrating routine. The accidents I encounter are call incontinence. We associate that with the urinary tract, but it also happens with the digestive tract. I have a prescription drug called Limodal, and I also us Immodium, but I am reluctant to use too much. I'd rather go quite often than plug up.
So long term recovery begins. It is now December and I am back at work full time.
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