Hello, everyone. So I’m curious what types of jobs fellow j-pouchers out there have, and if you find your bathroom frequency affects the job in any way.
I had my colon removal and take down surgeries 7 years ago this summer, back in 2014.
I’m in my 30’s, and since surgery have primarily done what I did before surgery, which is bartend and serve in a restaurant. I find repeatedly that having to leave the bar, or the floor, to use the bathroom frequently causes issues. Customers need prompt service and 5 minutes in the bathroom can seem like a lifetime to them. Also, fellow coworkers can often get frustrated if they always have to “cover” my spot while I’m in the restroom, since they have their own responsibilities to tend to.
So what types of jobs are people doing that they find are or aren’t compatible with j pouch life?
Past and present job stories welcome.
Thanks!!
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Most J-pouchers have no urgency and will tend to need no more than perhaps two bathroom trips during an 8-hour shift. A job site with no toilet at all would be quite difficult - I’m not sure I’d choose a career as a commercial diver, for example. People whose J-pouches are functioning poorly, and who tend to visit this site more often, would need readier and more frequent access to a bathroom, with whatever work accommodations that entails.
It can be exhausting to work out your optimal strategies and to troubleshoot J-pouch problems. It can require trying multiple doctors to find the one that’s smart enough to figure out the problem and help, lots of experimenting with different ways to use bowel slowers and fiber supplements, and taking very good care of yourself. Maybe one or two Lomotil before a shift does the trick, or perhaps there’s a stricture that needs to be dilated a few times. I think it’s worth the effort if you can manage it, but it’s hard.
I would not recommend being a driver that is for sure, I go about 20x a day so that would be crazy for me to be. I would say working from home is the best way to go if you can. Being a nurse is pretty good in my opinion, I would just state your condition to the boss. I have talked to people on here that have regular jobs and they are doing fine, i think its depends on your comfort level and what you love though. I would say being a writer would be the best.
I work in an office at a school. I am able to wait 95% of the time but I have more freedom to get up and move around or leave the office as needed.
I have an office job. I came back to work after my takedown right into Covid and our team was working from home. Now we've decided to stay remote, so I have not had to go back to the office and won't in the future either.
I am a utility worker and have to rely on public bathrooms every day. Covid has made it very hard as even fast food places closed their bathrooms. It slowly is opening up but some how I have made it work as I am 1 of the lucky 9%ers that goes 14 times a day (most are after noon).
I work in a factory and find somedays worse than others as I start work early and only eat a banana for morning break before having a sandwich 2 hours before hometime.I found lockdown bad as well as the public toilets were closed.I see alot of non jpouchers go more than me and some even hide in the toilets when they have no work.Im usually in and out quick or go during my breaks.most employers are just glad you showed up for work.