My 11 year old daughter just had her second surgery on 6/28. I timed it that way since she finished school & I thought she would have a nice amount of time to recover during the summer as I thought that this surgery would take a bit of time for her to recover physically. I am so thankful that she is doing well at only 2.5 weeks post op. She never ceases to amaze me! Although she has had an end ileostomy for 6 years, this new loop ileostomy has been a bit challenging to deal with. Her output is very liquid , which we were told to expect. Initially I was thinking of having takedown surgery around end of November & having her miss school month of December through Christmas break so that she can start school in January again. I am hoping to work something out with the school to see how I can keep her up to date. I figured that it would only be a few weeks this way & she wouldn’t miss too much not to mention a great start to new year! However, I am not sure we will want to wait that long with the challenges facing us from her new ostomy. I won’t want to send her back at a time when she may have an accident while in school. How long did it take for you to recover from takedown surgery & resume your normal life (I.e. - going back to work or school)? I know that every individual is different but I just want to get an idea to see if it makes sense to move up her surgery at all.
Replies sorted oldest to newest
It will take a while for her body to adjust after take down. It might feel like she is living in the bathroom for a while, but then things will thicken up. It will take time to discover the new "normal". I had four little ones at home when I had my take down, so I don't really remember how long my recovery was.
A suggestion to consider is to home school your daughter this year to give her time to heal and adjust to her new normal. It will also allow you to monitor the food she eats and discover what works for her to thicken her output, and what foods she doesn't tolerate now. It also would help to keep some of the embarrassment of accidents happening at school.
I home school my kids and I know its not for everyone, but it might make the adjustment a little easier for both of you.
Praying for you as you make this tough decision.
Wow... I guess I will have to see how she does with new ileostomy next couple of weeks & see. I don’t think that homeschooling will be a good option for her. I want her to have that social interaction- as it is it’s already hard enough. That being said I would never want her to have an accident at school either because I know how horrible that would be at this fragile age. A normal tween has issues with fitting in, let alone someone who once walked around with a bag of poop on their stomach. Not many know of her situation other than staff & a few friends but kids at this age can be so cruel. Maybe I would consider holding off until next May so that it will be another whole summer to recover... feel bad to wreck another summer for her☹️. I would still like to hear from other but thank you for your input Still Standing. That must have been quite a challenge for you during that time but you made it past that!
I'll be honest it took me 1 month just to get enough courage to get out of the house . Couldn't hold anymore than 3 hours. It took me 3 good months before I could resume college. There too walking long distances was a bit difficult as pressure would build up. If she has access to good toilets in school she can easily resume in 3 months . I could join a job in around 7 months post takedown and can hold upto 8 hrs before I have to go and 1-2 hrs after that if I can't find a toilet. Its been a year now.
Wow, I didn’t think it would take that much time. I think that physically if all goes well, she will be ok. I think it’s more about training the body to hold it in for extended period of time. I think that is going to be the challenge.i was thinking that she may be able to go back after a month. Maybe she can go back as half days in the beginning & of course she will be allowed unlimited bathroom breaks. Thanks for your input. That sounds like you are doing great at a year after surgery. I think that holding it for 8 hours is pretty good!
Ibdmom, I don't think in the beginning it's about how many times you have to go as much as it could be making to the bathroom in time. Barring complications, a month should be a good amount of time to wait to go back though. Good luck to your daughter. Hope all goes as planned.
Aimee
I was able to start working part time about 6 weeks after takedown but probably could have gone back sooner. Really practice kegels when she is able to. That should help also. Starting school half days may help because you are usually more active in the later afternoon. Lomotil or Immodium can help with this once the surgeon gives the ok. I was in my 60’s when I had my surgeries and my sister was in her twenties. We do have a friend who’s son was about 12 at the time of his. I can ask her how she managed with him as far as timing of surgeries. His was done about 20 years ago.