It's funny...when I had the temporary ileostomy I never wanted to go too far from home. Psychologically I had a much harder time with that.

I have a hang up about public restrooms anyway...even before surgery. They just gross me out! So I find myself holding it until I just about explode to avoid using one. You may just need a little more time since 6 weeks isn't all that long. As time goes on you will start to feel more confident. Do you take Imodium or such to slow things down?

For at least 3 weeks now I've been out and about. I go to grocery store, beauty shop, meet friends for lunch, go for dinner, been to a few movies. I have 3 kids so running them to their sports and appts have been ok too. Things I have declined out of fear are a ball game because stadium is over an hour and sitting in heat scares me. I have in my purse cottonelle wipes and cream. I have only used public bathrooms a few times and it's ok.. Will never be as good as home. I hold it during day as much as possible. Nights are trickier because frequency is up so I don't wander too far in the evening. Just go for it. It's time to get out and have your life back. Our takedowns were around same time. June 12th for me

I went out immediately; I went camping 3 weeks after surgery, and even though I had some incontinence issues early on, I did not let that stop me. I had given up so much of my life to UC that I was wanting to live again.

Sue

I went out after I stopped throwing up regularly for no apparent reason. I found the best motivator to get me to walk was a good old fashioned shopping trip!

I was worried at first, but then I thought about how with UC I had christened every bathroom within a 100 mile radius of my house. At the end I pretty much had to stop every couple of exits on the highway driving to work and such.

And hey if youre on a walk and you have to go, ( happened to me my first couple of walks around the sub) just try to hold it. It's amazing what you're really capable of doing with this new thing! I've only leaked a couple of times and it's just like drops in underwear, not noticeable, and easily fixed by just getting to the bathroom.


It won't be like a crazy accident like UC, or whatever you had! Freedom!

Marianne - interesting, because after the first couple months with the ostomy, i felt fine going out. psychologically checked my bag more than it needed to be checked at first, but eventually forgot it was there. I am not taking immodium because i had a stricture recently and it makes me feel a lil bloated. that happened to you? what else can i do? i eat meat and potatoes, but frequency higher than i like it still (12x)

Randi M - you're right, nights are the tricky part, where i'm on the loo once an hour. my friends wanna go out mostly in the evenings, so they come over here, but then we don't go out. i think ur right, i just need to try for it.

suebear - all i can say is holy cow! i could never do that

Smn616 - i felt ostomy gave me more freedom. definitely didn't feel free with UC. as for j-pouch...well, i think mentally i am having anxiety about the urge. i hold it for maybe 30 minutes more then i need to go. leakage hasn't been bad for me either.

my biggest issues are: frequency and urges! and gas! and butt soreness!

does that get better???

thanks all!

I had a stricture too after takedown. I had to have it dilated about 5x. It's gone now but it took over a year to resolve itself. So because of that I never took Imodium either. I wish I had some solid advice on how to slow your frequency. Peanut butter worked well for me after takedown and also rice. Bread too. Everyone is so different. Watermelon actually slows me down but for most people it goes right thru them. Go figure.

I wasn't going out at your stage and now only go out during the day. It isn't like when I had UC and couldn't hold it. I eat light during the day and hold of going very much that way. I don't go out to lunch or dinner very often as when I eat I need to go and don't want to use a restaurant's bathroom. When we go out it's usually close to home and we leave as soon as we are done eating.

I also carry a pair of underwear with my cream and wipes, in a zip lock bag. Old throw back to UC days. I don't go out as often as I did with UC but I should as I have more control.

I started out by walking around Walgreens and then worked my way up to bigger box stores.

Pasta, bread and bagels are my favorites for slowing things down. Imodium also works well but it messes me up the next day.