Hi my name is Brian I had my first step on May 28 with Dr. Peter Mowschenson at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston. I ended up in the hospital for 17 days as I had an ileus that would not wake up for awhile. I am home now and doing ok but had a few questions that I was hoping someone could help me with.

1. I lost 25 lbs. in the hospital going from 165 down to 140. I am having difficulty putting my weight back on and was considering adding some protein drinks (whey protein) to my diet has anyone else tried this?

2. I was also considering adding a chewable multivitamin and was wondering what types of vitamins do you all use?

3. I find that I can only sleep on my back since I have the ostomy and I wake up with terrible lower back pain, does anyone else experience this? How do you deal with it?

Thanks in advance for any responses!

Brian

Brian,

I found that the weight gain came with time. With the ostomy, for me, my body put the weight back on in a couple months. I ate a lot of protein (chicken, mainly) and tried to gain it back in a healthy manner. I tried protein powder, but unfortunately I ended up back in the hospital shortly thereafter with an abcess (not related at all to the powder, but I just never got back to it).

Multivitamin - I just use a regular, OTC vitamin. I don't even get the chewable ones. Some people digest them, some pass them through too fast. Try and see.

I found I could sleep fine on my sides and that's how I dealt with sleeping with an ostomy. The long time ostomy folks find they can actually sleep on their stomachs, but I never felt comfortable doing that. I will add that sleeping on my side was the only time I ever had any leakage from around the appliance - but it only happened once or twice.

Steve

Hi Brian,

I experienced a similar weight loss after step 1. I went from 162 to 137. I now weigh 185 some 16 years later. I would not deviate from the diet you are being prescribed.

Regarding chewable vitamins, Flintstones Complete was recommended to me. I take 2 a day. Centrum also makes a chewable vitamin for adults which has the same or more quantities of each nutrient that the Flintstones Complete has. Nature Made also puts out a good chewable vitamin for adults. Go to your local pharmacy and compare price and quantity of each nutrient per tablet. Also you may want to check out this new product:

http://www.lsgmulti.naturemade.com/naturemade/multicomplete.aspx

Regarding the sleep, don't know what to tell you except that once you have the takedown you won't need to worry about how you sleep. It could be your mattress or pillow. You should have the pillow designed for back sleepers.

Good luck.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: DJBHusky,

i also lost alot of weight in hospital. i went in at 150 and came out at 122. i was in there for almost a month with a bad e-coli infection that messed me up pretty bad. i had 2 holes in my abdomen where they had to put me into surgery again to debride the wounds(which are still healing). my surgery was april 4th. i tried alot of things to gain my weight back and nothing really helped until i started drinking Carnation Breakfast drinks. they have 560 calories per can. i drink 1 in the morning and 1 right before i go to sleep. plus i eat whatever i can. i am up to 131 lbs. from these drinks in the past 3 weeks. i have tried Ensure and Boost but they never worked for me. as far as the multi vitamin, i take Flintsone chewable gummi bears. LOL. i take 2 in the morning. it states on the bottle that adults can take them. as far as sleeping on your back, i had same issue. i am typically a side sleeper, i would always wake up with a sore back. when i tried i would get the occasional leak. i have since changed to a light convex bag and also where a thin ostomy belt and have not had a leak since and always sleep on my side now. any other questions please ask.

Hi Brian,

I had my first stage the day after you!

I'm eating like a horse now (well, more like a graising cow but they are in the same farmyard) and still struggling to put the weight back on. I'm not really burning many calories - I figure its all going towards healing. Not sure about the whey protein, personally I think dairy products aren't all that compatible with IBD or post surgical systems. I just eat when I am hungry and avoid low fat stuff, although avoiding dairy and refined food limits my fatboy options. I recall from my colectomy 16 years ago that it took about 6 months before I really started to plump up and look 'normal' again. Personally I'm just eating a balanced diet and listening to my cravings.

Re lower back pain, try sleeping with a pillow under your knees, that should take the pressure off your lower back. I daringly slept on my front for 16 odd years with a stoma. Besides it being bad for your back I don't believe it did my stoma any favours. Like you i'm just keeping to my back to be on the safe side. When takedown happens I want that bit of bowel they are putting back inside to be in as perfect condition as possible.

Vitamins. Different ones effect peoples output differently (more wind, more liquid) as I have learned from my hours studying this forum. I understand that Forvia is used by quite a number of people on this forum and has compounds that are specifically formulated to be less reactive and more absorbable(?) for people like us. I haven't received my order yet so I can't report on how good they are but I can say that since I cut out my other daily multivitamin that digestion has improved noticeably.

I hope you only get stronger, fitter and fatter for the next big step in the game.

Dan

The only vitamin that has ever really worked for me is Forvia. It's formulated specifically for people who with absorption issues such as people with gastrointestinal problems. They make both a chewable and capsule. But even the capsule/pill absorbs very quickly. I could actually feel the difference after I started taking them which has never happened with any other vitamin.

kathy

I am a side/stomach hybrid sleeper, so I've had trouble sleeping on my back too. During my first surgery, I couldn't sleep on my side because my abdominal muscles were taking so long to heal and it hurt or felt like my intestines would fall out. I never thought about leaks. I had a really crappy system (esteem- it used adhesive instead of the tupperware, so if you didn't get a good stick you were screwed) at the time and had leaks constantly no matter what position I was sleeping in.

Now that I've had surgery again, I use the coloplast sensura appliance which locks the bag onto the flange, so it can't leak from there. Unless you forget to lock it, as I did during a CT scan. You could still get leaks from the flange peeling off the skin, but I haven't dealt with that from laying on my side.

Brian,
my name is Patricia and I had my 1st surgery on June 6th at the Brigham and Woman's Hospital with Dr. Goldberg. I too lost a lot of weight (left the hospital at 102 lbs; used to weigh 128 or so). I am trying to gain weight by eating every 2-3 hours. I am up to 106 today. Very weak though. I am taking chewable Centrum vitamins (was told easier to absorb).
My back is also killing me and I find it hard to sleep (use to sleep on my belly). I just hope it gets easier with time. How old are you? Where do you live? Hope your recovery goes well.
Patricia

First, I agree with Kathy on the FORVIA vitamins (I get the chewables). I have felt a lot better since I started taking them in January. They are not cheap, but you have to do what works for you.
As far as the weight loss, I went from 225 to 180 while I was in the hospital for Step 1. After one month, I was still about 185, but by the time my second surgery rolled around at the 3 month mark, I was up to 210. Be patient, it will come.