To update on earlier posts and my own thread. Its been six days and today i finally got clear liquids and am going to be discharged. Man I feel really luck that they didn't use NG tube on me, that sounds tough. I was just about to be put on TPN but afte xray today, they said it was almost healed. As I write i can use both hands they took out ivs today. I'm crossing my fingers.
My experience with bag was positive. It was hard at first to empty it and especially change it. I'd often wake up at two in the morning with stuff all over me and bed sheets. But after a few weeks i got used to it and found the right products. Having a ring instead of that putty stuff really made a big difference. I actually prefered the liquid dumping rather than when it was thickened. I emptied less but it was tough to empty. I adjusted and was very nervous about the takedown especially from what I've read and now experienced. i'm glad to know that I can always go back to the bag. It is definetly 100 per cent better than active uc. Just being able to wait 10 to 30 minutes before emptying was a huge improvement over crapping in pants because I only had 30 seconds to get to a toilet or often behind the bush. Good luck.

Patricia, I also had a pretty bad ileus after my takedown surgery and it was awful. I didn't have to have an ng tube, but my mom, who's a pediatrician, said it probably would have benefited me because I got SO bloated from gas and fluid buildup! It was one of the most uncomfortable things I've ever gone through. I hated the bag too - it was gross to have to handle my own poop with my hands! stay really well hydrated so it's easy to empty the bag, and if you have to get up in the night to empty it, do; it's much worse to wake up in the morning to find the bag is 100% full with gas and poo. Skirts are a good thing to wear... my surgeon is really into making the scar look good, but therefore he put the bag in a really inconvenient place which made it hard to find a bag that fit. Anyway good luck, make sure to get some "pouch deodorant" to put in the bag after every emptying, to get rid of smell. I'm sending positive energy your way!