You might get some benefit from *careful* introduction of soluble fiber, such as psyllium. Although most J-pouchers use it to bulk up the stool, it's actually labeled to help with constipation. It tends to make everything more like a gel consistency, whether it started out as liquid or bricks.

Thank you Scott. 

@rrip posted:

Thank you Scott. 

Did you have the same problem with an ostomy???

**Extra chewing helps reduce constipation, exercise, and definitely oatmeal**

Thank you Lauren. 

@rrip posted:

Thank you Lauren. 

Anytime I hope you feel better

@rrip posted:

Thank you Lauren. 

Fibers bars help a lot too I noticed. How are you feeling, are you doing better???

I have had some good days lately, which I truly treasure. I was in a motorcycle accident last night and broke most of my ribs and collar bone so I wont be eating much for a few days. 

@rrip posted:

I have had some good days lately, which I truly treasure. I was in a motorcycle accident last night and broke most of my ribs and collar bone so I wont be eating much for a few days. 

Glad you are doing better! Glad the advice worked! 

And oh my goodness! I am so sorry to hear that! I hear motorcycles get hit a lot nowadays! I hope you recover perfectly! Do you think you want to get on motorcycles again or are you done with them completely???

It was actually an 4 wheeled ATV. A Razor it's called. I was the passenger and he turned too sharp to the left and rolled it and I got partially run over by it and it is 1000 times more painful than the colectomy surgery. And I'm way too old for this type of injury. It was brutal and somehow I escaped with my life. As for motorcycles, Ive been riding since age 4, 1968, and ride pretty well, but may sell my bike because all of this pain has been a real wake up call as to the potential danger of riding. My upper body is so broken up. And thankfully no organ damage. My wife is just livid with me. 

@rrip posted:

It was actually an 4 wheeled ATV. A Razor it's called. I was the passenger and he turned too sharp to the left and rolled it and I got partially run over by it and it is 1000 times more painful than the colectomy surgery. And I'm way too old for this type of injury. It was brutal and somehow I escaped with my life. As for motorcycles, Ive been riding since age 4, 1968, and ride pretty well, but may sell my bike because all of this pain has been a real wake up call as to the potential danger of riding. My upper body is so broken up. And thankfully no organ damage. My wife is just livid with me. 

Wow, thank goodness you survived! You have been through hell! I do  not blame you for selling your bike after this experience, I would do the same thing to be honest. Are you in the hospital??? Did the driver get hurt too???

I am at home and the driver didnt get hurt at all. I'm pretty lucky, even though my upper side is so broken. Thank you so much for your concern. All Ive eaten is oatmeal and that's fine with me. 

@rrip posted:

I am at home and the driver didnt get hurt at all. I'm pretty lucky, even though my upper side is so broken. Thank you so much for your concern. All Ive eaten is oatmeal and that's fine with me. 

I am so happy you are home. Home is usually a better place to heal at than the hospital lol.  And of course, I hope you are going to be okay And soo happy the oatmeal is working! When I was having problems with constipation, it definitely worked for me too- fiber bars are awesome too. A lot of people do not know that Oatmeal has prebiotics in it, which are probiotic boosters. Its so healthy for the gut! I eat a lot of gut healthy stuff. 

Do you think you are going to press charges on the driver?

I didn't know oatmeal has prebiotcs. I sure appreciate your feedback.

I didn't know either that oatmeal has probiotics. Does the instant oatmeal also has probiotics ?

@rrip posted:

I didn't know oatmeal has prebiotcs. I sure appreciate your feedback.

Yeah, I did not know that until this year, I do a lot of research lol. 

Are you and that driver still friends??

@Unhappy posted:

I didn't know either that oatmeal has probiotics. Does the instant oatmeal also has probiotics ?

In my honest opinion, I would say yes. Instant oatmeal is just more quicker to cook and has added sugar in there. In addition to that: the oatmeal is precooked as well, I think it has the same benefits as regular oatmeal. I actually noticed instant oatmeal has a lot more added vitamins/protein in there as well; that is a bonus lol. 

I personally use fresh/regular oatmeal since its cheaper

Here is a statment from the USDA: In fact, in the USDA nutrient database, instant oatmeal possesses the same nutritional profile as regular or quick-cooking oatmeal

Yes we're still friends. He feels so bad about it already so I can't be too upset with him. He's afraid I'm going to sue him and I have no such intentions. He's 25 years younger than me and his dad told me he was on the verge of tears the next day over it, so I called him today and told him to stop worrying about it. I saw my doctor today and he showed me the x rays and I can't believe what I saw. I've made it all of my life (56 years) without a broken bone and now have 9 broken bones and each one is broken in at least 2 places. The collar bone is snapped in 3 pieces.  The irony is I retired from 33 years at Boeing about 4 hours before this happened and avoided serious injuries for all of that time.

@rrip posted:

Yes we're still friends. He feels so bad about it already so I can't be too upset with him. He's afraid I'm going to sue him and I have no such intentions. He's 25 years younger than me and his dad told me he was on the verge of tears the next day over it, so I called him today and told him to stop worrying about it. I saw my doctor today and he showed me the x rays and I can't believe what I saw. I've made it all of my life (56 years) without a broken bone and now have 9 broken bones and each one is broken in at least 2 places. The collar bone is snapped in 3 pieces.  The irony is I retired from 33 years at Boeing about 4 hours before this happened and avoided serious injuries for all of that time.

That is soo nice that you two are still friends And its very generous of you to not sue him either. You really are a true friend

AND DANG!!!!! 9 broken bones????!!!??!!! @#$%! I hope you heal up from everything, I cannot imagine! You must be in soo much pain! 

Its amazing that you never had any serious injuries from boeing! That is impressive!

I am glad your organs are okay, at least those are fine including the J-pouch! Thank goodness the Oatmeal is doing fine for your constipation too, I would hate for you to have constipation pain along with the pain you are already in!

Is the pain getting better each day???

The pain is pretty constant and is a little better, I can walk now. The first day I could hardly walk because so many bones were rubbing against eachother and popping. It's still very painful but I'm thankful to have survived and with no organ damage. They scanned my entire body and the scan showed "surgical alteration to the digestive tract with numerous staples". So the doctor wanted to know what that was. I wanted to mess with him and tell him Ive never had any work performed on my guts, but Im sure my wife wouldn't have been amused. She's still pissed about this. I've eaten eggs, oatmeal, & pancakes and that's it and seems to be working just fine. Had I injured myself at work to this extent I'd probably have made the local news.

@rrip posted:

The pain is pretty constant and is a little better, I can walk now. The first day I could hardly walk because so many bones were rubbing against eachother and popping. It's still very painful but I'm thankful to have survived and with no organ damage. They scanned my entire body and the scan showed "surgical alteration to the digestive tract with numerous staples". So the doctor wanted to know what that was. I wanted to mess with him and tell him Ive never had any work performed on my guts, but Im sure my wife wouldn't have been amused. She's still pissed about this. I've eaten eggs, oatmeal, & pancakes and that's it and seems to be working just fine. Had I injured myself at work to this extent I'd probably have made the local news.

 

I am so happy to hear that the pain is better! I am glad you can walk now. That would have been soo funny if you had messed with the doctor and told him you never had any work done on your guts! If you said that while I was there, I would have been on the floor laughing lol. I wonder what he would have thought after you were to tell him that. I would have loved to have seen his reaction hahaa and what he would have said hahaa! I bet he would have called "Ripley's Believe it Or Not" ahahaaa!

Is your wife mad at the driver too???

Did the oatmeal cure you to not use Miralax anymore???

She's very mad at the driver. But I'm not. Him feeling so bad about it is good enough for me. He told me today that he thought I was going to die right there in front of him that night. I thought the same thing for a few minutes. How our organs are so well protected is incredible to me. The doctor told me that every broken bone broke exactly where they should have. I actually heard my collar bone break. 

@rrip posted:

She's very mad at the driver. But I'm not. Him feeling so bad about it is good enough for me. He told me today that he thought I was going to die right there in front of him that night. I thought the same thing for a few minutes. How our organs are so well protected is incredible to me. The doctor told me that every broken bone broke exactly where they should have. I actually heard my collar bone break.

Totally understandable as a wife. She just loves you very much and that is a good thing!!! Love is very rare in this world, I think you have a good wife lol. And yeah the human body is definitely made up pretty well, thank God for that lol. I see you are pretty resilient!!!!

You do not need Miralax anymore???

I still take mirilax. 3 capfuls a day.

@rrip posted:

I still take mirilax. 3 capfuls a day.

I was hoping the oatmeal would eliminate the Miralax, sorry to hear that it did not, but at least everything improved.

@rrip posted:

I still take mirilax. 3 capfuls a day.

How are you doing??? Are you doing better??? And have you created fun recipes for the oatmeal???

I'm doing a little better but the pain is a bit excessive and that's an understatement. The colectomy and j pouch surgery didn't hurt anywhere nearly as bad as this. Broken ribs are everything I've heard them to be. All I add to oatmeal is brown sugar and bananas and I enjoy it quite a bit. I've been adding pancakes and eggs to the oatmeal as well. Smoked meats for some reason don't do well with my j pouch for some reason so I did give up bacon 2 years ago, which is too bad.

@rrip posted:

I'm doing a little better but the pain is a bit excessive and that's an understatement. The colectomy and j pouch surgery didn't hurt anywhere nearly as bad as this. Broken ribs are everything I've heard them to be. All I add to oatmeal is brown sugar and bananas and I enjoy it quite a bit. I've been adding pancakes and eggs to the oatmeal as well. Smoked meats for some reason don't do well with my j pouch for some reason so I did give up bacon 2 years ago, which is too bad.

I am sorry! I hope everything gets better! Going through the proctocolectomy and J-pouch was the worst pain I have ever been in, even more worse than a broken heart! I could not imagine your pain! You are reslient and a tough person! You are sooo strong

Maybe try adding veggie meat *Morning Star* meat to the oatmeal, I do that very often and it is sooo good! And yogurt with the oatmeal is delicious too!

I wondered about the veggie meat too. Maybe I'll try that. I'm no tougher than anyone else, & until this happened, the colectomy & j pouch surgeries were the worst pain Ive experienced. Those surgeries were more about me thinking Id have a bag for the rest of my life, of which I was spared and am eternally grateful, as well as horrific gut pain for several weeks. But my accident was on another realm of pain and I was almost certain that all of my ribs were crushed and that my lungs were punctured. But only 7 ribs were crushed and my lungs were protected and I am absolutely eternally grateful for that. I truly owe the surgeon for the awesome j pouch job she did 2 years ago and I believe I was hand picked by a guardian angel for this recent accident. Ive said it before and I'll say it again, I know for a fact that I am the luckiest person in this planet.  And I am convinced that someone much bigger than myself is in charge because Ive escaped serious predicaments for all of my life.

@rrip posted:

I wondered about the veggie meat too. Maybe I'll try that. I'm no tougher than anyone else, & until this happened, the colectomy & j pouch surgeries were the worst pain Ive experienced. Those surgeries were more about me thinking Id have a bag for the rest of my life, of which I was spared and am eternally grateful, as well as horrific gut pain for several weeks. But my accident was on another realm of pain and I was almost certain that all of my ribs were crushed and that my lungs were punctured. But only 7 ribs were crushed and my lungs were protected and I am absolutely eternally grateful for that. I truly owe the surgeon for the awesome j pouch job she did 2 years ago and I believe I was hand picked by a guardian angel for this recent accident. Ive said it before and I'll say it again, I know for a fact that I am the luckiest person in this planet.  And I am convinced that someone much bigger than myself is in charge because Ive escaped serious predicaments for all of my life.

Yeah, I have been a vegetarian for over 5 years straight! Morning Star meat is my sanctuary! It works great for my pouch, there is much variety to it too! So many to pick from!

Not everyone gets as lucky as you, so definitely cherish that! I am not lucky in a lot of ways but I am lucky with my pouch and for my dad, so I cherish those things the most.

How long do you think it will take you to heal???

My doctor said it will take 3 months to heal. The collar bone is a difficult break so it might even take longer.

@rrip posted:

My doctor said it will take 3 months to heal. The collar bone is a difficult break so it might even take longer.

Okay, let me know how it goes! I hope you have a speedy recovery!

Here's the x ray

@rrip posted:

Here's the x ray

OMG GOODNESS HAVE MERCY!!!!!! That looks PAINFULLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!! I AM SOOO SORRRY!  I HOPE YOU ARE GOING TO BE OKAY DEAR!!!

I have the exact same problem as you. Within weeks after takedown, I was only going to the bathroom like 2-3 times a day. Stool is almost always thick. Sometimes formed pieces. I strain terribly. No stricture. Surgeon says it’s a sphincter issue. But the strange thing is, I don’t feel like I have to go very often. Like it’ll have been 9 hours or longer since a bm and I’ll feel fine, like I don’t have to go. But I’ll try anyways bc I know there must be stool in my pouch. When I try to go, some will come out and then I’ll use a tap water enema and I’ll fully empty out. I also use miralax once a day. Did you say you take it 3 times a day!? Maybe I need to do that lol. I can’t figure out what my issue is. I know it’s not normal to go only twice a day!!

@Kh1988 posted:

I have the exact same problem as you. Within weeks after takedown, I was only going to the bathroom like 2-3 times a day. Stool is almost always thick. Sometimes formed pieces. I strain terribly. No stricture. Surgeon says it’s a sphincter issue. But the strange thing is, I don’t feel like I have to go very often. Like it’ll have been 9 hours or longer since a bm and I’ll feel fine, like I don’t have to go. But I’ll try anyways bc I know there must be stool in my pouch. When I try to go, some will come out and then I’ll use a tap water enema and I’ll fully empty out. I also use miralax once a day. Did you say you take it 3 times a day!? Maybe I need to do that lol. I can’t figure out what my issue is. I know it’s not normal to go only twice a day!!

Maybe you should try Oatmeal too, I suggested oatmeal to him and he said things are much better. Maybe you should try too

@Former Member posted:

Maybe you should try Oatmeal too, I suggested oatmeal to him and he said things are much better. Maybe you should try too

I eat oatmeal all the time lol. It doesn’t do anything for me. Wish it did! My body literally does not care what I eat. No matter what, it’s always thick and never wants to come out. I drink a buttload of water and a capful of miralax daily. I’ve had a defecogram, anal manometry, and scope all done recently. There’s no stricture, no prolapse, no pouchitis. I have no pain and feel totally fine except for this problem. My body just won’t let stool empty out. I’m doing some PT right now but it’s not helping. Looking into Botox for sphincter next.

Kh1988, your symptoms seem to be exactly the same as mine. I have good days, but my body has struggled releasing stool since my takedown on 3/21/18. Common sense tells me that my stool would be liquid and easy to release but that is not the case. My j pouch is doing everything it can to act like a normal rectum and form a stool, so of course that makes things difficult. Oatmeal helped for a couple of weeks, but without miralax twice a day or stool softeners, or both, it just doesn't work how I think it should. My 42 year old neighbor Nancy had 1 polyp turn into stage 4 colon cancer diagnosed in May of this year and she died Oct 2 and didn't even have FAP or a genetic issue, & I have both FAP and a genetic disposition to colon cancer and at 53 had over 1000 pre cancerous polyps discovered during my 1st ever colonoscopy and am still  completely cancer free. Everytime I have a difficult day I think of Nancy getting a colonoscopy after my issues scared her, & 4 months later she died. It doesn't help me to feel better during a difficult day or night, but it sure puts things into perspective.

Kh1988, Yes I drink Miralax at least twice a day & often 3 times. And a month ago I was in a nasty atv accident and due to several broken bones I took pain meds for a week as well as dulcolax stool softener, & for some reason the day after the accident, I began passing liquid stool about 4-6 times a day with much less difficulty. And a month later I still take 4 dulcolax pills a day, no pain meds, and things are still moving along very well. I visited with my j pouch surgeon last week and she said 4 dulcolax pills a day if they are helping are just fine. It seems odd to be missing my entire large intestine and rectum and need a stool softener, but I honestly feel a lot better, even with 9 broken bones. My surgeon also thinks my sphincter is the cause of my problems & I also have no strictures or blockages. So maybe you should take 4 dulcolax throughout a day or 2 and see if it helps.

@Kh1988 posted:

I eat oatmeal all the time lol. It doesn’t do anything for me. Wish it did! My body literally does not care what I eat. No matter what, it’s always thick and never wants to come out. I drink a buttload of water and a capful of miralax daily. I’ve had a defecogram, anal manometry, and scope all done recently. There’s no stricture, no prolapse, no pouchitis. I have no pain and feel totally fine except for this problem. My body just won’t let stool empty out. I’m doing some PT right now but it’s not helping. Looking into Botox for sphincter next.

Sorry the oatmeal does not work for you! If things get worse, I would recommend a catheter to empty everything out.