Hello everyone,
Sorry I haven't been around but life is pretty good over here. Sept 28th was my two year anniversary post take down. (Small Snoopy dance, don't want to give the pouch any reason to send me back to the bathroom.)
Where to start.. I had a hard time understanding the difference between gas and BMs. The majority of this was alleviated by discovering that I had Pouchitis. So in my opinion, if you are constantly running to the bathroom because of urgency, you have pouchitis. A good old dose of antibiotics shows next day results at least for me.
Unfortunately, I've had pouchitis twice since take down. I tend to think my first episode was not long after take down and I didn't catch it until a year ago. I am now wondering if this is going to become a maintenance drug, although I'm not sure how that would work when the body becomes immune?
I thought my joint pain would ease up and it had for awhile, but some days it requires a couple of Alieve. Maybe a decent diet change with less sugar intake would fix that.
The memory, terror and pain of those surgeries are starting to fade and I may be at the point of recommending the surgery to other UC sufferers, but if I had to do it all over again, I would have tried "everything". First being fecal transplant. It appears that is gaining ground in the medical community as a "cure" or at least remission of IBS.
I can't say I feel like my old self. But I don't worry about knowing where the nearest bathroom is. I can hold it even when uncomfortable for hours if need be. It's not fun, but it can be done. This is a much harder task with Pouchitis.
Sometimes, I get that anxiety of wanting to know where the nearest bathroom is but then I catch myself and try to shrug it off.
I do not have the stamina I had pre-op and I become dehydrated and have heat stroke more often. This is to be expected, especially since I work outside in South Florida.
I can fart easily in bed, not so easily while sitting, it's a 50/50 on gas or poop, but if I try and then stop and wait a couple minutes, I can usually squeeze one out. I think I have farted twice standing up (The Heavens opened up and the Sun shone down on me, it was amazing).
Other than that, I do not know what else to say. I hope this is message is helpful to someone.
P.S. I figure I might as well throw in how many BMs I'm having a day in case any one is interested (7ish). Are you having issues passing gas? Lay on your stoma site with your left leg at a 90 degree angle to your chest. Let her rip!
Friends still call me Pooper. :P
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