Hi everyone! My daughter, Alexis, had her takedown surgery 3 weeks ago. All is well on the home front EXCEPT the constant accidents. I expected overnights to be tough, until she gained some control.. but it seems over the past few days we have been experiencing more and more accidents during the day! Up until now, it hasn't really been a problem, but it seems as tho her elementary school is constantly calling me because she had ANOTHER accident! I feel bad, because I know it has to be hard on her-- but I am at my wits end here. Surgeon didn't want to start the Immodium as he wanted to see what her body could do, but I feel at this point it is necessary and started it to see if it would help. My question is: Is this completely normal at 3 weeks post op (as I completely understand everything is still healing)? Should I make her Surgeon aware? The hospital was not very informative, so I went into this with only the information I gathered on my own. I want to be as helpful as possible to Alexis-- so any comments are appreciated!
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OK, take my opinion with a grain of salt, because I tend to be sort of a troublemaker on these sorts of things. But, if it were my kid, I would call the surgeon and inform him, not ask, that my kid was having accidents in school and I had begun Imodium and want to continue, unless he could give a medical contraindication for it. Intellectually, it makes sense to think in a perfect world you'd have time for your body to adjust, but this is the real world and you can't have your kid pooping her pants in school! Not acceptable...
Jan
Jan
Yes. What Jan said!
Also if it were my daughter, i think in the meantime i would look into padded or thick panties. Buy a whole bunch, put a few in her bag each day and if she has accident she can toss the panties in the bin, put on a new pair and keep going on with her day. Might save spoiling her clothes and embarrassment. Just the first thing i thought of when i read your post. Not sure if it will work but it might be worth looking into until she has control.
I am post 3 weeks tomorrow. 46 yr old M
I can;t imagine how hard this is for a young girl.
I have had allot of atrophy down there. So I do the exercises. they are helping some.
I work in a office environment where I am often up in front doing presentations. I explained to my boss that my body has to adjust to its new plumbing so I may leave during the middle of a meeting as I did yesterday when we met with several Govt folks from DC. Other times I cross the legs and try to hold it
I would tell the teachers she needs to be able to go with out hesitation or asking for permission at school because its a medical issue .
I have found eating plain foods like the frozen grilled chicken breast by Tyson sliced turkey work well. I know I will start going at 4-5 hours after. So I start planning my escapes to go at any minute. Also dry whole grain cereal work very well today. I did not start going till about 3pm.
I eat a early supper so I am not up all night. I prop myself up at night laying on my back so I wake up easy when I get the urge.
I have not had an accident in 4 days now
I hope this helps. I wish the beast for you daughter.
Dave
I can;t imagine how hard this is for a young girl.
I have had allot of atrophy down there. So I do the exercises. they are helping some.
I work in a office environment where I am often up in front doing presentations. I explained to my boss that my body has to adjust to its new plumbing so I may leave during the middle of a meeting as I did yesterday when we met with several Govt folks from DC. Other times I cross the legs and try to hold it
I would tell the teachers she needs to be able to go with out hesitation or asking for permission at school because its a medical issue .
I have found eating plain foods like the frozen grilled chicken breast by Tyson sliced turkey work well. I know I will start going at 4-5 hours after. So I start planning my escapes to go at any minute. Also dry whole grain cereal work very well today. I did not start going till about 3pm.
I eat a early supper so I am not up all night. I prop myself up at night laying on my back so I wake up easy when I get the urge.
I have not had an accident in 4 days now
I hope this helps. I wish the beast for you daughter.
Dave
I totally agree with Jan and Steph.
You can also try Metamucil Psyllium Husk first (more natural) if you're hesitant to go straight to the drugs. The cookie wafers are probably the best way to give it to a child, 1 pack in the morning and 1 in the afternoon. (Just make sure she drinks water with it.) It should help solidify things which will make her bowel movements easier to control.
Also, like Davi said, pay close attention to her diet, and make sure she isn't sneaking any foods that you are not aware of. Certain foods will definitely make her have to go more at this point. For example, if I eat any chocolate (which stimulates the bowels) then I have to go WAY more often, and the feeling is WAY more urgent. Too much sugar of any kind can also cause diarrhea. However, if I eat a lot of carbs (bread, pasta), then things slow way down. So make sure to do the research (there are helpful links about it on this website) on which foods cause a slowing effect vs. diarrhea. This should help greatly.
.
You can also try Metamucil Psyllium Husk first (more natural) if you're hesitant to go straight to the drugs. The cookie wafers are probably the best way to give it to a child, 1 pack in the morning and 1 in the afternoon. (Just make sure she drinks water with it.) It should help solidify things which will make her bowel movements easier to control.
Also, like Davi said, pay close attention to her diet, and make sure she isn't sneaking any foods that you are not aware of. Certain foods will definitely make her have to go more at this point. For example, if I eat any chocolate (which stimulates the bowels) then I have to go WAY more often, and the feeling is WAY more urgent. Too much sugar of any kind can also cause diarrhea. However, if I eat a lot of carbs (bread, pasta), then things slow way down. So make sure to do the research (there are helpful links about it on this website) on which foods cause a slowing effect vs. diarrhea. This should help greatly.
.
This is not the solution, but wearing a maxi pad might help until she has better control.
Better than maxi pads are the adult or kid diapers...no joke the really thin ones that you can walk around in without problems...also supply her with enough dark colored plastic bags so that she is not walking out of the stall with a soiled diaper...when I was in grade school the teacher/principal had a letter from my parents explaining the situation...therefore I had a full change of clothes in school for emergencies in the nurse's office, a full run of necessary things (wipes did not exisit in those days but it is a good idea) and a change of shoes and socks too (yup, sometimes you need to change your shoes)....
Please bullet-proof your kid...give her 2 emergency bags, one in the teachers reach and one in the nurse's office...the bag should include sized pull-up type diapers (the adult ones are probably too big but you can size things, a full change of clothes, 2 pairs of unddies, shoes & socks, wipes, desitine (sp?) cream for butt burn (it may happen), dress her in dark pants at all times, no corderoy pants (they act as sponges! and any othe comfort objects to help her get through the day...I lived this one my whole life until my k pouch at 18 so I know what school is like under these conditions. You also need to inform the gym teacher if there is one that she cannot run etc for the moment because it stimulates bowel funtions...And makes matters worse.
She also needs a buddy who is allowed to go to the bathroom with her whenever she goes so that she can dash to the nurse's office to pick up the emergency bag for her...no way that she can be running around hallways all soiled. (my best friend used to wash mine out for me and put them under the hand dryer! 40yrs later she is still my best friend!).
Hope that these hints help and please, insisit on the lomitil for her, get her doing those kiegel exercises to tighten everything down there and make sure you have a face to face meeting with her teacher, principal and the school nurse (without her present preferably...it can be really embarassing for a little kid).
Sharon
ps...for a while, when in grade school, my mom became the school nurse...it helped a lot
ps...a litte mini bottle of spray perfume helps too
Please bullet-proof your kid...give her 2 emergency bags, one in the teachers reach and one in the nurse's office...the bag should include sized pull-up type diapers (the adult ones are probably too big but you can size things, a full change of clothes, 2 pairs of unddies, shoes & socks, wipes, desitine (sp?) cream for butt burn (it may happen), dress her in dark pants at all times, no corderoy pants (they act as sponges! and any othe comfort objects to help her get through the day...I lived this one my whole life until my k pouch at 18 so I know what school is like under these conditions. You also need to inform the gym teacher if there is one that she cannot run etc for the moment because it stimulates bowel funtions...And makes matters worse.
She also needs a buddy who is allowed to go to the bathroom with her whenever she goes so that she can dash to the nurse's office to pick up the emergency bag for her...no way that she can be running around hallways all soiled. (my best friend used to wash mine out for me and put them under the hand dryer! 40yrs later she is still my best friend!).
Hope that these hints help and please, insisit on the lomitil for her, get her doing those kiegel exercises to tighten everything down there and make sure you have a face to face meeting with her teacher, principal and the school nurse (without her present preferably...it can be really embarassing for a little kid).
Sharon
ps...for a while, when in grade school, my mom became the school nurse...it helped a lot
ps...a litte mini bottle of spray perfume helps too
Possibly time to get her back to a GI doctor who specializes in jpouches? Oftentimes they are far more knowledgable at managing patients post surgery.