Life With Out My Colon
I haven’t had my colon for years so this whole site is about my family life without my colon. But this page is a more specific to that point. and is the follow up to my page about the surgery. Isn’t this just a great topic
It was about 12 weeks before the second operation. Things after this operation (the take down of my Ileostomy) were a little less dramatic compared to the first operation (the Colectomy). Although the whole in my abdomen was – I thought – much bigger than the quarter size I was told it would be. The Dr. could not sew it shut. The wound had to heal from the inside out. It seemed huge to me. It was packed with gauze and had to be changed out regularly. Though changing the gauze was not particularly painful the sensation was incredibly unnatural and nauseating. It was suppose to take 10 to 14 days to heal but I am sure it took longer than that for me. Maybe it just seemed longer.
As I said on other pages I was still a little paranoid and very worried about my ability to do much of anything. I was very concerned about about my ability to lift and hold my son once he actually arrived. I was feeling a little week still and very vulnerable with the open wound from my temporary stoma. The Dr. assured my that I would be able to handle it. I was not completely convinced but would find out soon enough.
Standing straight up was still a challenge I had not yet masted. It seemed like years sense the last time I was upright. I was about 6′ before the operation but at this time I was about 5′ and knew well what my feet looked like. More than one of my friends pointed out that I had become shorter. It was probably only a couple of months before I started to standing upright but it seemed forever.
Alexander was to come into this world in just a few weeks. Pattie (Panayota) had all but decreed that Alex would be born on the weekend as she had training classes for work she had signed up for and they lasted until Friday. So Friday night she went into labor. She had decided to have Alexander “naturally” – in other words no drugs. Alexander arrived weighing more than 8 pounds. 3 years latter when Melinda came into this world Pattie had no problem taking the drugs.
The morning after Alex was born the nurses not knowing that I had been in for surgery were playfully making fun of me (the new dad) for looking like I was the one that went through labor. I still could not stand upright and was very thin. (Its seems odd now to think that my surgeon was worried about my weight being to low as I am over 200 pounds now and trying to loose some of the extra ) Pattie and I left the hospital the next day. We were told several times we could stay a couple more nights, and it was a nice hospital. But we had spent enough time in the hospital and wanted out.
As for my diet now: I find that I do need to watch what and how much I eat. soda of any kind dose bad things to my system and cola’s are the worst. I stick to water mostly. I was slow to start eating very much as I had heard about patients that have had to go back for more surgeries because of obstructions. One of the woman that I met told about how she was so excited to get to eat real food that she went out for Chinese and ate alot. The next day she was in the hospital with an NG (nasogastric) tube to have her stomach pumped (but at least no surgery). I know first hand how unpleasant it is to have an NG tube inserted while your awake. Not wanting to deal with that I took it slow getting back to my eating habits. Because of this I did not put on much weight for a few months. I need to get back to those eating habits.
My trips to the bathroom seem to have more to do with what I eat then the amount of Loperamide Hydrochloride I take. It seems every one that has had a Colectomy is on this over the counter drug. I am not consistent with it during the day but always take two or three tablets before bed time. I am in the bathroom about 8 times a day but that is most likely because I eat to much and eat to much junk food. I know better and now that I want to loss some of this excess weight. I am cutting back on my junk food and increasing my veggies. I will be keeping track of this on my blog. For some reason if I am writing it down I am more honest with myself about what I am eating and how much exercises I am getting in. As for the night time If I do not want to get up in the middle of the night I have to stop eating by about 7:30pm. If I eat late or I eat junk food late in the day I will be getting up during the night, some nights several time’s. If I don’t eat late and I don’t drink any thing late and I take the Loperamide Hydrochloride I can sleep 7 hrs straight with no problems (most of the time). Whats interesting about that is that I hear all the time how it is healthier in general to avoid eating late. It just seems like some times knowing what is best doesn’t get me to do it as a habit. Again keeping a diary of some kind will make me more accountable to myself and less able to rationalize poor eating habits.
I have yet to get back to training the way I did when I was younger. This is mostly because of children, work , family life, I am older or some other excuse. But it really does not have a lot to do with the fact that I don’t have a colon. It makes me hesitate when I think about trying to go for a triathlon as I know I get dehydrated easily. Some times I can feel a little pain from the scare on my abdomen where the Ileostomy was. some times when I run I feel my insides – the j pouch – in a way that is uncomfortable and a bit worrisome but I have not had any serious complications. And it has been over 11 years now. However the combination of the deferent surgeries and my extra weight makes abdominal crunches next to imposable for me. This is one of my goals this year, to slowly get my abdominal muscles strong again. And to dump that extra gut that is mostly on my left side. My right side is where my Ileostomy was and the scar tissue seams to hold that half of my gut in a somewhat so I am a bit lopsided.
I had to go in for a hernia operation a couple of years back. My surgeon (Like I own him) was elated that it was just a normal hernia and his work had not come undone. He has been inside me way to many times.
MORE TO COME
