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Had Reversal

I had my reversal/ileostomy take down surgery last Friday May 6th. Was definitely not as bad as the first surgery(the resection of 22cm of colon). I had the PCA pump for pain management but stopped using it about 12 hours after surgery. I didn't want the pain meds to cause any ileus. I was on clear liquids for the first day, then moved to full liquids the next day after telling my doctor I was not going to poop with clear liquids only. I think the cream of wheat did the trick. The hospital has the worst sugar laden/high fructose crap food as clear liquids-none of which I ate. I finally "went" the second evening of being in the hospital so I was released the next morning(Monday the 9th). I have a 3 inch incision with a few staples. At first it was all liquid D but now things have firmed up. I would recommend probiotics, baby wipes and some kind of butt soothing ointment. I went to work today, kinda had to. My job involves a lot of walking but I just took it slow. Going to stay at home and do computer work the rest of the week. For me this surgery was a little harder psychologically. I felt so good and healthy with the ileostomy that it was hard to go "backwards". I felt like death going into my first surgery so coming out of it feeling like crap wasn't a big deal. Now I have to cross my fingers, hope my colon cooperates and my Crohn's stays at bay.
 
I wanted to update since I'm at my 4 week post surgery mark. The first 10 days after surgery were rough. The incision pain didn't bother me(I had gone off the pain pump about 12 hours after surgery and then went off Tylenol 3 days after). What was rough was the rectum pain. It felt like I constantly had to poop. Like a turd was stuck halfway out of my butt 24/7. When I tried to pee I couldn't. The act of sitting on the toilet even to pee made my rectum try to force something out even if nothing was there. It was like my rectum was dry heaving. I learned that if I stood up some that I could then pee from that position. I averaged about 7 BM's a day those first 10 days after. Most were semi-solid and some I would have to run to the bathroom to make it in time. The rectum urges/pain started to subside after 10 days. I went down to about 4-5 BM's a day.

The incision didn't give any problems-I just changed the bandage once a day. At about 3 weeks I didn't have to use a bandage anymore and now the swelling is minimal. As for food, I ate oatmeal, oat bran at about 1 week post surgery(small amounts). I gradually added fiber back but generally it is fiber that I know didn't give me a problem before surgery-spinach, green beans, chickpeas, red peppers). My BM's are now still at around 3-4x a day. I've had a couple days where I've had diarrhea. Both times when were when I was out of town-once after eating at a First Watch restaurant(those omelettes might be made with liquid eggs which are a chemical stew). Also when I'm out of town I am not taking my probiotics or drinking my homemade kefir. I was out of town this week and as the week progressed my diarrhea got worse. I came home yesterday and had my kefir. This morning my BM looked great. So something is going on when I'm out of town. I'm going to have to start bringing some of the room temp stable probiotics with me when I travel.

I'm hoping things keep progressing and the # of BM's per day drops and look more normal. I've had a few pain twinges in the small intestine where they did the reversal. This has been after I've eaten. I never had a problem in this area before my surgery and I'm hoping that these twinges aren't a harbinger. I'm feeling pretty good overall and have gained about 5 pounds after the reversal. I just have that paranoia that the Crohn's is lurking in the shadows ready to rear it's ugly head at any moment. I have a check up with the surgeon this coming week and then I'll make an appointment with my GI to determine a long term strategy. Not looking forward to going on Imuran.
 
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