So I went in this past Monday, April 30, for the takedown, which was one of the best days of my life. Surprisingly it was a very short surgery, only about 1 hr 15 minutes. The surgeon made an incision about 1.5" long where the stoma was so that he could reattach the ileum. After I got out of surgery I was pretty sore, but nothing near the placement because they didn't fill me full of air. They gave me morphene shots as needed, but I was up and walking around the same afternoon.
I wasn't allowed to eat until I passed gas, which seemed to take FOREVER. They did have to pack the wound, but I made sure that they gave me plenty of pain meds before hand, which I would HIGHLY recommend to anyone. My wound was about the size of a quarter and maybe 3/4" deep, so they packed it pretty good. It was only really painful when they hit the edges of the skin.
I progressed with food pretty quickly since I didn't have any complications. I'm on a low residue diet, though they said I could eat pretty much whatever. The doctor came in and numbed my wound up which hurt a bit until it took effect. He pulled four stitches together, which felt like someone pushing inside my tummy to get out! It wasn't painful, just a VERY odd feeling. So now I'm left with an incision that's 1 1/4 inches long that isn't too much of a nuisance.
My advice to everyone would be to get plenty of exercise before you go in if possible. The better your body is in shape, the quicker you'll heal and better you'll feel. Get up and walk as SOON as you can. That will help get your bowels moving even though it may hurt like hell!
Now, if anyone has any advice for ME now that I'm out of the hospital, it would be MUCh appreciated!

Congratulations Daniel! I know you must be so relieved...I hope you have good healing and a quick recovery!
My advice...take is slow (foodwise), take a good probiotic, and allow your body to heal. My daughter had her TD 2/9/07 and STILL gets tired very easily. Blessings!
~Elise