J Pouch Creation – Rough Recovery So Far

Introduction:

44 year old father of three (22, 18 and 13 years of age) and husband to a great wife that has done more than her share to help me through this ordeal.

Some more about me:

I live in a small town in central Ohio.  I love to play basketball, take fishing and hunting trips and attend Ohio State basketball games and Cincinnati Reds games with the family.

Symptoms:

No current symptoms of UC, colon was removed in January 2013

J Pouch Creation – Rough Recovery So Far

Just a quick update on how my my journey to a functioning J Pouch is going. I had my colon removed in January and then had the second stage surgery (creation of the J Pouch) on June 5th. The Third and final takedown surgery is scheduled for September.

The recovery thus far for this second surgery is much more brutal than the first surgery even though the hospital stay was much better since they actually let me get some sleep this round. The surgery took 7 hours due to some complications. I think this is why my recovery is rough. It has been almost two weeks since the surgery and I am still having fevers in the evening, a good amount of pain and night sweats like you would not believe. My rectum constantly aches and now when I have to pass the phantom mucous once a day it contains a good amount of blood which now has me concerned. I still have my appetite and the pain killers get me through the day but I am very concerned that a staple may have come loose or the pouch may be leaking a bit. Will find out tomorrow when I have my 2 week follow up at the Cleveland Clinic. I have read so many stories about the types of issues that can arise but what I am going through now is still nothing compared to the dreaded life I wa s living when UC was raging over my body.

I was in the hospital for 4 days this round and the staff was again top notch. I was sent home with a JP drain coming out of my abdomen and man does it suck. I can’t wait till it is removed on the 18th. I know it is going to hurt but I am sure it will not hurt as bad as when I got the drain tube stuck on a door handle as I was walking by and ripped out a few stitches and then gave the world a few choice words. I keep going back to Baker’s (https://www.ihaveuc.com/author/baker/),Blake’s (https://www.ihaveuc.com/author/blake/) and Emie’s (https://www.ihaveuc.com/author/emie/) stories to keep my mind on track and to appreciate where I am at. For anyone facing surgery I highly recommend you read any post that the three of them put on this site. I know there are bad stories out there about J Pouches but the positive outcomes are what keeps my hopes up high and keep me going every day because trust me this disease and journey has had me more than depressed and ready to give up at times.

FYI, if you choose the 3 stage surgery (I did because it is done with a 4 inch laproscopic cut rather than opening you all the way up) your second stoma will be a much crappier version than the first. My two piece wafer starts to leak after about 2 days. I do have an appointment with the stoma nurse soon to try new samples that should work better. This leak has led to one itchy skin rash but my trick is to use powder then cover it with stoma paste then put the wax ring over that. I will keep everyone posted on my current concerns and how they are taken care of just to help educate others the same way I was educated about my pending surgeries.

This web site has been a God send to me and I really appreciate all the feedback and support that we all seem to provide to each other. I am also going to go order my No Colon and Still Rollin T shirt that is mentioned in another story from Curtis on this web site.

Medications:

I am and have been medication free for 5 months now except for some daily vitamins and optional pain killers.

written by Mike

submitted in the colitis venting area