Takedown Surgery Experience

[DanM]

After only 5 weeks on the job, Mr President is about to be Impeached and the Vice President will be given back the job he duly deserves. I will have my takedown done in about 3 weeks, assuming all is well at the doctor's appointment on Tuesday. LOML wants to know more about what life is like after the the week after the surgery.

What they have told me so far is that they will sew up the loop illiostomy, push it back down, and then sew me up... less than an hour's work. After that, I will be in the hospital for 2-3 days until I pass gas (and yes, I will ask them to pull my finger).

What is the recovery like? Will I be sore and in bed for a week, or will I bounce right back... assuming all goes well. Any issues with incontinence? Does my butt remember what to do? Any other issues others have had?

Thanks!

Dan

 

[Jennjenn]

When I had that surgery after only 5 weeks of having "it", I was more than happy. I woke up and was soar. I was on pain meds but it was nothing compared to the pain of when they placed it there a few weeks before. The next day the catheter came out and they had me up and walking. As they say to everyone moving around will help get everything working. Since I was so scared that nothing would work I was walking too much. The nurse one night at 3 am when they saw me strolling back said that I needed to rest. I walked and walked and walked because I could not wait to see some kind of movement. Finally on the 3rd day in the morning the gas came and I got put on clear liquids. I stopped taking a lot of the pain meds because it seemed bearable and again because of my anxiety of wanting to see everything work ASAP. They would not let me go without a bowel movement so I had to stay till day 5.

I was soar and slept with a pillow by me when I got home so my dog would not brush up against my stomach since he usually sleeps right next to me. A week later though I was feeling extreme pain. The surgeon which if I ever saw her again I would knock her down to the ground (and I am not at all a violent person!) said it was pain from just healing. Her exact words "Stop worrying that pain is just from healing" A couple weeks later I found out it was an abscess. One night the pain went to I could not move and my temp went up to over 104 and I was screaming and crying in pain and had to be carried into the emergency room vomiting also. 2 weeks later I was back to ok.

I do have to say that it does take a bit of time (it did for me) for the urgency to slow down. I was at first going 15 16 times a day and then it slowed as each month passed. A few months later I was down to about 5-8. I never got to the point of 100%. I still have difficulty years later and have a lot of pain where the anastamosis is.

Not everyone has complications as you know and the surgery itself was a very happy day for me! Mount Sanai in NYC is like a mini city itself and I walked and wandered all around just to move. When one doctor came to check on the incision he said do you really want to look. My answer was YES! I want to see my stomach again. My scar is not big at all I call it my unique marking. The surgeon did not leave part of it open like some have done, it was all stitched up for me. I did however have to get cortizone shots in the scar because it was very tight and uncomfortable and felt like a pinching feeling once it was healed.

Sorry to ramble on!

I hope you have a good and fast recovery

 

[partlycloudy]

Congratulations on your impending takedown!

I had my ileostomy for a total of 3 months and bounced right back after the takedown. In fact, a couple of weeks after surgery we went to the coast where we walked on the beach a lot. Slowly, of course.

I was on a soft diet (jello, juice, etc) at first and they kept me in the hospital until I pooped in order to make sure everything was working. I was told to eat soft foods, nothing too fibrous until things healed up. I don't remember having much pain at all.

That was about 10 years ago, and I still feel that odd pulling/moving sensation occasionally where the ileostomy was.