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Staff member
I had my colon, rectum, and anus removed two weeks ago sure to extremely high cancer risk after many years of ulcerative colitis. The surgery went well, but I had extreme pain in the recovery area, then had several days of extremely low blood pressure because of the epidural they used to finally control the pain. I was hospitalized for five days, but when they discharged me, my bowel hadn't fully started working so I couldn't keep down any fluids. I had to go back to the ER after a few hours because I was getting dangerously dehydrated, and I spent another four days hospitalized after that.
After all that, though, it's been pretty smooth sailing. I shut off my Interstim before surgery as requested, but when I tried to turn it back on it said that the implanted unit had lost its memory, so I had to have the Interstim rep come to reset it. Fortunately I wasn't having a lot of bladder pain right then, so it wasn't that big a deal not to have it for a few days.
The biggest challenge for the next few months is going to be the incision where they remove my anus. It's a little harder than it should be for me to keep that area dry because of the diapers, but so far it doesn't seem to have created any problem. I've been letting it air out for a while after i shower, which is probably helping.
Other than that, it's just learning to live with the ileostomy. It's permanent - there's no reversing it because they removed my rectum and anus - so I've been a little worried about how thatll go. So far it seems fairly tolerable, though I've had to change wafers more often than I should because I've been having trouble getting them to stick to the skin close to the stoma. I think that's because the skin is irritated where the stitches are, so I'm hoping it gets better as the stitches dissolve. I've got an appointment with my stoma nurse to go over some different wafers that may help.
I will have my first visit from the home care nurse later this week to take a look at my incisions. The surgeon warned me that the anal incision would probably open up and require about three months to fill in from the inside, so I'll probably have the home nursing services for a while.
After all that, though, it's been pretty smooth sailing. I shut off my Interstim before surgery as requested, but when I tried to turn it back on it said that the implanted unit had lost its memory, so I had to have the Interstim rep come to reset it. Fortunately I wasn't having a lot of bladder pain right then, so it wasn't that big a deal not to have it for a few days.
The biggest challenge for the next few months is going to be the incision where they remove my anus. It's a little harder than it should be for me to keep that area dry because of the diapers, but so far it doesn't seem to have created any problem. I've been letting it air out for a while after i shower, which is probably helping.
Other than that, it's just learning to live with the ileostomy. It's permanent - there's no reversing it because they removed my rectum and anus - so I've been a little worried about how thatll go. So far it seems fairly tolerable, though I've had to change wafers more often than I should because I've been having trouble getting them to stick to the skin close to the stoma. I think that's because the skin is irritated where the stitches are, so I'm hoping it gets better as the stitches dissolve. I've got an appointment with my stoma nurse to go over some different wafers that may help.
I will have my first visit from the home care nurse later this week to take a look at my incisions. The surgeon warned me that the anal incision would probably open up and require about three months to fill in from the inside, so I'll probably have the home nursing services for a while.
