Hi,

I had my ileo-rectal (stomy removed and connected) surgery done 22. January and I was wondering when I could take a bath or use my hot tub ??
Also if anyone can tell me when my little colon starts working again after nearly two years of resting, that would be great hehe..

Thanks.

I'd be surprised if you can't have a bath right now. I've had baths (in the hospital) within a few days of all three of my 3 step j-pouch operations.

I'm not sure what you mean by when will your colon start working again? My surgeon wouldn't let me eat or leave the hospital until I had passed gas- which is one of the first signs that things are begginning to wake up in there. For me it took about 5 days for things to begin working.
Or maybe you are asking when is it going to settle down in terms of frequency and the answer to that varies from a few weeks to a few months.
Good luck with your recovery!

I´m sorry for my choice of words..
I mean that later one. About frequency and all that, when things start to thicken up.

Thanks for your answers.

Try taking metamucil powder or eating metamucil wafers, they help thicken things. Also, taking probiotics or acidophilus are both good at promoting healthy intestinal bacteria. Just go easy with your diet at first and introduce new foods one day at a time...that way if you have a bad response(like running to the washroom a lot) you will know what the culprit was.
I am almost 5 weeks post op and I am now going about 6-8 times in 24hrs...but it really does vary from person to person.

Thanks for the advice. I will try that.
Great to hear everything is going so well for you.

Hi there,
I took a bath a week or so after surgery, but stuck on a heavy-duty waterproof plaster just to be on the safe side. Now I´m swimming in public pools (one month after reconnection surgery) I still use a plaster in case of bacteria as the centre of the circular scar still looks a bit soft. But in the bath it´s safe without a plaster. This was all on the advice of the surgeon. I have very watery stools but that´s because I just love eating salads so that´s asking for trouble in my case! Imodium doesn´t help me much, but Visiblin is better. (I think you get that in Iceland - I´m in Norway and I´m sure I saw Icelandic instruction on the packet!). Having to go at night is annoying, but I still feel so much better now than with the awful ileostomy bag.

Thanks Soph. I will check that Visiblin, so funny that you saw Icelandic instruction on the packet, we barely get that here in Iceland I´m getting pretty good at Swedish though from reading all these boxes and packets that I get from my doctor.. hehe..
I agree with you being bag-free is great, even though I go to the bathroom a lot (I´m only 17 days from reconnection). I just cant wait to go swimming and showing off my non 'accessorized' tummy (except for the scars of course, but don´t care about that).
Thanks for your reply.

Hi sunnsla, Just checked the Visiblin package and you´re right, the text is in Danish, Swedish and Norwegian. The Icelandic was on my Asacol medication! Do you get Benefiber in Iceland? It has just started being available in pharmacies here in Norway, and I saw some others on the site use it.

Hi Soph,

I've never seen Benefiber in Iceland, is it similar to Metamucil and Husk, to thicken things up? We have that in Iceland. That's right, my Asacol instructions are in Icelandic! Do you understand anything of it? hehe.. I understand your language

Yes, Benefiber is to add bulk as far as I can gather. The adverts here are a bit vague to be honest! I can understand a bit of Icelandic, but never enough to read the instructions without another Scandinavian language :0))