Hello all,
Well I made it through step 1 surgery.Got home 2 days ago, have many questions.Was in the hospital from Tues -Sun. Will ask a few questions each day...
I am so weak & shaky...has any one else experienced this? I do walk around, am able to get around on my own but just feel all shaky inside.Everything I eat seems to go straight to my pouch, so I eat & it goes right through me. So I dont see how any nutrients are staying with me. I did get some Imodium to see if that will help. Is this normal at first this wEAK & SHAKY PART? Nurse was here on Monday checked my vitals. everything basically OK. Helped me change bag.
Then If I drink milk I get this ithching sensation around my stoma...I know that sounds realy weird just wanting to hear anyone else's thoughts on this. Man what would I do without this site to get some feedback on.....

You've just come through major surgery so yes, you will be weak and shakey for a while. My output seemed to be all liquid at first as well. Taking the immodium helps and my doctor recommended taking two with each meal. So don't think that taking one will stop you up for a week because it won't. Just make sure you keep liquids in you and eat small amounts often and you'll get your strength back. I had problems passing out at first so just take it slowly. I can't offer any advice on the itching...sorry. Hope you mend quickly and adjust to everything.

What you're experiencing is probably normal. In retrospect, I think my weak and shaky was caused by dehydration. Try eating salty things like pretzels or by putting extra salt on whatever you're eating. This will help make you drink more. I can't remember if you ordered the Hydralyte, but if you have - drink it. If you haven't, order it. That will help bring things back to normal if you are dehydrated.

The itch after drinking milk could mean you're having a reaction to it. It could also make your output more liquid. Cut out all milk products for a bit and see if you notice a difference. Then reintroduce it slowly. If you notice a reaction again, cut it out of your diet for awhile and reintroduce again later. I'd think that anything that itches coming out would indicate that your body isn't liking it right now. But remember, that could be just a temporary thing.

I'm glad all seems to be going well. Even with the weak and shaky thing going on. It WILL get better.

kathy

Just thought I would chime in on this one as I went through the same thing. Before I went in for my first surgery I expected that I would be in pain, but I never expected to feel sooooo weak. It felt like I had no stamina. I could not stand up for more than a minute without feeling like I was going to pass out. Each day I tried to push myself a little more, but did not over do it and trust me....you will get better. I thought I was never going to feel right again, but I do. As far as the food going right through you...I had the same thing. They had given me clear bags at the hospital to take home with me. I found myself analyzing the contents of it all the time. It seemed like I ate and within an hour it was in my bag. I too though "wow, how can my body be absorbing any nutrients??!!" It did slow down after awhile, but I just got use to the fact that things process very quickly and made sure I drank at least 3 liters of water a day. I also got rid of the clear bags so I would think about and worry about what was coming out of me. If you think about it, it it really is quite interesting (maybe that's the science part of me). The milk thing....not sure about. I never had that happen.
Good luck
Amanda

Hi Texasgal! Welcome back! I´ve been thinking about you so much. I felt weak for very, very long, but that´s cos I got tons of infections. OK, here´s what to do (in my opinion):
Drink lots of fluids, but not water alone - dilute apple juice if you can handle it, herbal tea like mint, chamomile or fennel, and broth if you can keep it down. Salty soups in general are very good to have. Bananas and avocados will give you useful nutrients and slow down output. Yep, pretzels are a good idea. I was helped a lot by convalescent shakes like Fortimel (not sure if that is available in the US, but you will definitely have something similar - they are non-dairy, non-gluten drinks that are designed for recuperating patients who need help getting enough nutrients). Smooth peanut butter helped me reduce output as did marshmallows, but if you are feeling nauseous, wait a bit with those! Apart from trying to walk around your home each day (very important), listen to your body and let it sleep when it wants to! If you get progressively weak or make NO progress, get yourself checked. I thought I was just being self-pitying, but it turned out I was enemic, had no iron, magnesium and salt and was dangerously dehydrated. Keep posting - we´re here to help you

Welcome home Texasgal!
I am glad to hear you made it through the "biggy"!
Ditto what the other ladies have said. After my first surgery (also lapro), I felt like a truck ran over me, backed up, then ran over me again. I was SO weak for So long. I even needed a shower chair, as I couldn't stand long enough. Be patient. Your strength will return. Drink, drink and drink some more. It is so easy to get dehydrated. My output was very liquidy and very often. I found drinking purple grape juice cut down on the odor. Go figure? Call all of the ostomy supply companies (Coloplast,Convetec, Hollister) and ask for samples. They will send you a bunch! I needed a convex wafer, with a belt. My stoma was pretty flush to my skin. I used a one piece, only because the two piece is stiffer, and my stoma was on a crease on my belly. It just didn't flex enough, and kept leaking. As far as itching, any time I felt itching it meant the wafer was just starting to leak and my skin was getting aggravated. Keep us posted!
Monique

yep...weak as a kitten. I remember how hard it was to hold my hands out to the faucet to wash my hands. I had never had a major surgery, I had no idea. I thought having it Lapro, would be like my fiance's lapro knee surgery, he was up walking around an hour after the surgery, silly me!

My output never did thicken up the entire time I had my bag. My doctor didn't want me to do Immodium for a while. The biggest thing is to stay hydrated, like everyone has said. I mix grape gatorade half and half with water. I had alot of soup. Toast with creamy peanut butter almost every morning. I constantly fought dehydration.

Sleep alot...your body heals when its asleep. I was terrible weak for about 8 weeks after surgery. It gets a little better every week. But I was really surprised at how slow my recovery was. I didn't get the full scope of how this surgery traumatizes the entire body. Looking back I see it, but I didn't at the time. I just kept thinking something must be wrong. It seems like once I did get on the mend, it happened pretty fast. I think it was between weeks 8 and 10 I got way better. I had good days and bad days. Don't let the bad days get you down. Stay in touch with your surgeon if you think something isn't going right.

Best of luck...the worst is over.

Welcome home. I felt horrible after the 1st surgery. I had open surgery, not lapro, so it hurt to try to stand up straight for weeks. I asked my surgeon after 2 weeks if I was supposed to be feeling this bad and he said I looked pretty much like everyone else at that stage. I thought I would never get any energy back but I did, finally.

Try this. Don't ask yourself if you feel any better today than you did yesterday. Ask yourself if you feel any better today than you did last week.

I had bad issues with dehydration also. It helped me a lot to follow a low residue diet for several weeks. Bananas, rice, applesauce, toast, potatoes (w/o the skin), chicken, peanut butter, saltine crackers, rice krispie treats, cheese. Make sure you follow up with plenty of the fluids above listed in other posts. Each time you empty your pouch, make sure you are putting back in at least that much fluid. Remember we pee fluid out also, so keep an eye on what is going on in that area also. If your urine is dark or smells, you are probably dehydrated. Make sure you keep peeing also. Two days after being let out of the hospital, My bladder quit working and back to the hospital I went for another 3 days. If this happens, you'll feel like you need to go, but you can't. Causes horrible pain also!!!

Let us know what other questins you have. I wish I had been on here asking as soon as you were. It would have been nice to have everyone to help me so soon after surgery. I probably would have figured out some things faster with all of the help you can get on this forum.

Tomorrow will be a hair better. But, next week will be a lot better! Hang in there.

Hi Texas and welcome home. You will be weak for quite awhile and exhausted also. Two of the things that totally thickened things up for was oatmeal and oddly enough.....hummus and bread!! I held off for the longest time on the hummus cuz I thought the smell would kill me and oddly enough....no smell!! So if your a hummus fan, give it a try.

Laurie

Wow, I had forgotton about that post-surgery weakness until I read your post...in June, about 2 weeks after my surgery, my hubby took me on my first walk. I walked half a block and back and thought I would never make it up the very slight incline in our driveway.

Hang in there, you'll soon be over the worst of it.

Stacy

I actually think about the weakness a lot. Brushing my hair, I remember how I couldn't hold the brush before. I couldn't stand in the shower, could barely brush my teeth. I had fainting spells if I tried to stand for more than about 10 seconds. I just "blacked out", stood there, shaking like I was having an epileptic fit, and could hear the voices of my family far, far away as they rushed over to stop me from falling and to try and get contact with me. Then I'd kind of "fade back again". It was scary. So as I do simple things like get dressed, put on make-up etc. I give thanks for my new life. Texasgal, these are exhausting weeks and months, but so worth it.

Being fatigued is normal, but Kathy Smith is right: you have GOT to stay hydrated, so please drink water, lemonade, Kool-Aid. In other words, pound the fluids. I got dehydrated after my first surgery and ended up back in the hospital, so don't you do that, okay?

Oh yea and sleeping on my back for over 2 months was a killer.