Well, I'm home from my takedown. Spent 9 days in the hospital, it wasn't fun.

Do you realize how important it is to pass gas? They won't let you leave unless you do. Well, I can't Apparently my sphincter is all messed up and won't relax enough to let things pass anymore.

So now I have no colon, a j-pouch that I have to treat as Kock pouch. And I just realized that I don't have enough information on how to work with a Kock pouch. I don't have the proper catheter (to small and it gets clogged up). My butt hurts with having to repeatedly remove the catheter and flush it out.

I'm sitting here downing as much water as I can to get things inside loosened up (my belly is getting nicely bloated). Also afraid to eat anything because I would have to start all over again.

Just not fair.

Nope, that's definitely not fair. Life can really umm, 'suck' (for lack of a better word). That must've been a real disappointment. Your doctor does not think that pelvic floor therapy or anything will help you?
You should read some posts in the K pouch forum, perhaps you will be able to get some tips on how to use your catheter.
To thin your stool I would recommend grape juice and hot tea, those work better than water for me.
Sorry to hear about your situation

I had the exact same problem as you. I couldn't pass gas two weeks post discharge. However, my doctor was on vacation so I didn't have a catheter either. It was a giant pain for about four months.

My doctor said it's due to a leak which has caused contraction problems. What your surgeon is doing , or trying to do, is to let the pouch stay empty and allow a possible leak to heal. If it heals, then there's a chance your pouch will contract normally.

What can you do? Not much other than constantly intubate. You really can't eat salads, fruits, or nuts. I was relegated to meats, and grains -- not really fun.

Your butt will be very sore. There's no getting around it.

My only piece of advice is the following: If you find it uncomfortable and very impractical to live with the catheter then tell your doctor. Surgeons tend to look at results, rather than anything else. My surgeon said "there's no getting around the catheter" until I finally told him I wasn't going to do it any longer.

I hope it really does improve and you avoid further surgeries.

Pixie
Not just tea. Green tea is what breaks things up. Regular tea will not.Grape juice is what k pouch patients drink, not so sure I would want that with a j pouch, also it is very high in sugar.
Blowe-
Any meat is not a good choice, Pork is hard to digest, chicken, fish and turkey is best, not beef either.
Dirk-
A soft diet minus meat right now may be a better option.
Canned pears are ok as are canned peaches. Help things slide through easier but not too much.
Don't take lomotil or immodium. Narcotics will bind you as well.
I sent you a pm too.

Well I did have an analmonomtery <sp> prior to the take down. I was "on the edge", but the doctor and I thought that maybe it was because of lack of use for awhile.

But we have both agreed that I will have to catheterize myself 2-3 times a day, just like a k-pouch. Which I really don't mind. Except that when I was in the hospital, I had REALLY watery stool, and the 28fr catheter they gave me worked great, then they fed me. Now I can't anything out without clogging up the catheter.

Dirk
Laxatives are not something a j pouch patient is told to use, however, sugar free oreos have sugar alcohol which have a laxative effect. If you eat just 2 and no more it might thin everything out as needed.

As I understand it; you have a Jpouch that functions like a Kock. So my question to the doctor would be; should my diet then be for a Kock, which is not the same as a Jpouch diet in some ways. I'm thinking your diet will be like a Kock . You will want to keep things fluid.

You are not that far from the Mayo in Scottsdale. Have your doctor call over and see if they have a 30 fr. catheter.
I also gave you www.continentostomystore.com as a response to your post on the Kpouch section.