I need to rant. I am sick of being unhealthy. I been sick 1/2 of my life. Tired of the UC, tired of the diabetes that was chemically induced by prednisone. I am 6 months in with this stupid bag but cannot get it reversed yet because the surgeon nicked my ureter. I have to get an operation to fix that. Oh, did I mention that I came out of the first surgery unable to pee.....how would you like to stick a catherer up yourself for the rest of your life. The surgeon also gave me another present........nerve damage to my left foot. Numbess, tingling and burning everyday - all day. Ain't life grand!!

I am so sorry for what you are going through...rant away...you deserve it...
Have they managed to get the diabetes under control yet? The numbness and tingaling in your foot could very well be diabetes related too and could be a rather dangerous sign of it being out of control...make sure that they check it out quickly...
Sharon

Jennifer-
Healing thoughts and prayers that you get some relief soon! Do they think that surgery to repair your ureter will make it so you can go on your own? Did they give you a date yet for that surgery? I hope it happens quickly for you.

I agree, you should get your foot checked out soon.....just to be on the safe side.

I feel your pain, being sick sucks! I try to tell myself, this too shall pass, but it is hard when you are in the middle of a trial, especially one as intense as what you are going through now. Just know that we, on this site, understand. Hoping you have a successful surgery and a speedy recovery.

Rosie

I, too, came out of the first step surgery with urinary retention. What a shock! However, and fortunately, it resolved itself within several months. Learning how to self-cath wasn't at all bad for me and turned out to be great when the line for using a woman's bathroom was very long and I had absolutely no urgency. In fact, being in contol of when and where to empty my bladder was fine with me! Hope you have a positive turn around to the challenges you are facing!

Hi all,

I wrote some previous posts of symptoms I am now having in my jpouch of 15 years. I am getting exploritory in Nov. as surgeon thinks it's adhessions not showing up on the scopes, scans and x rays. So I am trying to stick it out. However, when I first had my ileo surgery(I skipped stages as he yanked out the entire intestine that was so ulcerated I had to have a blood transfusion)and woke up to a total j pouch internal bag. The only complication I had after the surgery(other than total pain for two months) was that I did not urinate enough. I went to every specialist and no diagnosis. To this day I have to take prescription water pills and be careful not to dehydrate or obtain low blood pressure from them.It is the only thing that works. My rectal surgeon I see in Nov. is the same that did the original surgery and am going to ask him about this again. I made the mistake of not having follow up appointments with him until last year when I started having the complications to date(nausea, pain on j ouch side, ulcer in the pouch, night sweats, appetite loss and dizziness). Sorry to go on but my main point was that I had never heard anyone else complain of the problems of urination. Thanks for sharing.

Marianne

When I had my first pouch surgery in 79 I couldn't urinate post-op when they removed the cath and then once I was able to start by myself about 2 weeks later (the nurses didn't want to have to cath me each time but I just could't do it on my own) I started to have urinary leakage...that lasted about a month, every time I stood up, I dribbled....it all worked itself out after about 45days...but after almost every new surgery I have the same problem, the cath irritates me, the urethra swells shut and I block then in the long run leak...a few docs told me that it was an infection post cath and treated it with anti-biotics...don't know if it helped or not but what really helped was hypnosis and eventually self hypnosis ( plus an amazing nurse who put my hands in cold water, turned on all of the taps, made peeing noises, dribbled water onto my leg etc...she told me that you have to convince your mind that it is all right for your body to let go again...??? it worked)
Shaorn