So I’m about 2+months out from surgery #2. The anticipation of this one is just killing me. I find myself having a constant inner brain battle with myself about whether or not I want it to just hurry up and get here or if Id rather just wait longer. I guess that I’m pumped that I get to have the summer to just hang out and enjoy life a bit, since last summer was spend in various hospital beds. But at the same time, I just want to get #2 started because then shortly after is #3 and then after that its like hopefully, a real life again. Not that the life I lead right now is fake but its that its just all consuming.
I think about this all the time, I talk about it to anyone who will listen. When someone asks me a question, I go into a virtual verbal frenzy over it because it just gives me an excuse to spout off about it. I blog about it, hell I even paint license plates about it.
I’m constantly wondering whether or not I’ll have complications, or if it will go ok. If i’ll be happy or if I’ll regret. I want to just get it going and finish this whole thing up, but again, I’m so happy and content and able to lead a “regular” life right now, I don’t really want to disrupt that at all. Its really hard to take a life you like, and put it on hold for 4 months so you can recover from something that may or may not continue that same life.
I feel like there is so much that I want to do this summer and I’m running out of time. I want to cram in everything awesome for the rest of the year because its just gonna be spend on my couch eating soft breakfast foods. Ugh. Also for those of you who are in stages #2 or have a completed Jpouch….do you eat everything you want now? I’m still scared of some foods (though I’m getting more daring). I talked to the Vickster and she said over time I can bring back in foods from the “Do not eat” list, like veggies, nuts, fruits ect.
But my thoughts are, well the intestine thats doing the work now, will be doing the work later. So if it can’t handle it now, how will I eat it later? Thoughts? Is a blockage the same now as it is with a pouch?
Can you move the surgery date up? I think a 2 month wait would just about make me end up in the loony bin. Then again, I worry a hell of a lot more than normal people, and 2 months is A LOT of Google time (which I’m sure you know is no bueno).
If it were me, I’d do it ASAP and be moving forward. But I am not in your situation so I can’t imagine what I would really do. It’s sort of like giving parenting advice. I am a GREAT parent because I don’t have a kid. 🙂
I would but I can’t move it up. Not allowed. Healing time or some crap like that. Lol. Actually I did get them to move it up a month already. Was supposed to be sept.
As you already know, I am an “eat everything” person. I have had many an instance when I have not chewed my veggies well enough and had trouble evacuating, but I just leave the potty for a bit and give it a try later. So far, no real troubles in the 4 1/2 years since my pouch was created (knock wood!).
I felt exactly the same way as you describe. The ostomy allowed me to feel like a real (healthy) persona again, and I was afraid to move away. But I had to give it a try, and I am glad that I did. I wish I had a crystal ball to see your future, but I am hoping that it is bright and happy and healthy with your fully functioning pouch.
I have had a functioning J-pouch for over a year now, and I can eat almost anything I want to–as far as I know. For awhile, after one of my operations (and loads of complications), my stomach wasn’t tolerating meats very well, so I basically became a vegetarian. To this day, I don’t eat much meat, except for fish, mainly because I don’t miss it, so I haven’t checked to see how my body might respond.
As to blockage-causers, such as popcorn, nuts, and some veggies, I’ve found that eating them in moderation and taking care to chew SUPER thoroughly has kept me from having any trouble. I had a couple “mini-blockages” from peanuts and corn when I had my ileo, but by being careful, I haven’t encountered that with my pouch. I think it’s more of a question of HOW you eat these foods than a question of WHAT you eat (not so different from the average person who’s trying to eat healthily, I guess).
A few things I’ve found helpful:
1) Balance diarrhea-causing foods with “heavy” foods (such as a potato with your veggies).
2) When eating veggies, eat small amounts at a time, and eat dense, nutrient-rich vegetables instead of “watery” ones. Iceberg lettuce is torture for the pouch–if I eat a salad of iceberg lettuce, I will have at least 3 trips to the bathroom where the pouch is completely full of just water. Romaine lettuce and spinach are *okay* in very sparing amounts (say, a few leaves on your sandwich).
3) One word: BAGELS. If you think you’ve eaten too much of a diarrhea-causing food, try binding it up with a bagel (or, like with potatoes, eat a bagel with your vegetables).
4) Corn is a biggie for blockage risk, so eating several ears of it in one sitting is probably not going to feel good later…I do love corn, though, so I find that mixing it into other vegetables or recipes helps my body process it together. This problem was worse with the ileo than with the pouch.
5) Last thing, and this has worked wonders for me: any OTC gas-preventing tablet. I buy the Wal-Mart cheap brand (Equate) of Gas-X in gel tablet form–2 with breakfast (since I drink coffee), and one each with lunch and dinner. I don’t know if other pouchers have this problem to the extent that I do, but without these pills, I get PAINFULLY, obviously bloated, and the gas is difficult to pass sometimes.
Hope at least a little of this is helpful!