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Reply to "Surgery in February"

Hi Reenie,

Hope things are going well for you and preparations for your upcoming surgery are still in the works. I had my k-pouch put in and rectum removed at the same time by Dr. Dietz at CC in 2016 — after a large surgical hernia repair in 2013, a J-pouch in 2011 and an end ileostomy in 2010. I was looking something else up when I saw your recent post. After reading through the responses, I can add the following:

— I’d run your post op physical expectations past Dr. Dietz and your local doc. I know each case is different, but based on my multiple open (not laparoscopic) surgeries, it was recommended I not return to any serious abdominal workouts or weightlifting (inc. none of the kick boxing and Pilates I used to do.) I have also heard a number of folks on the site talk of experiencing complications after returning to their workouts, so I’d be concerned about lifting 80lbs on a regular basis.

— As for length of stay: I hate being in the hospital so I arrived in the best shape I could get, started managing the waters cath myself after the first day, got walking asap and got home in 5 days. I don’t know that I’d recommend it, but it is possible. I definitely could have used more support at home than I had. On the other hand, as others have indicated, some stay 2 weeks or even a month. How far away you live and whether you have any local support should also be considered (see my last comment.)

— I work from home, so it is harder for me to comment on returning to outside work. I was a lot more active by 8 weeks, so that would probably have been a my expectation. Again, though, given the nature of your work, I’d suggest that you talk with your docs about return to p/t and lifting... that’s a whole lot different than desk work. I don’t think I lifted more than 10lbs for the first 6 months and still probably rarely lift more than 40-45.

— Lastly, I wish I had known that I basically had no local support with the k pouch when problems arose. I ended up with difficulty intubating as my stoma kept shrinking, despite having kept the waters setup in place for longer. I ended up needing to leave it in for a week at a time intermittently for the first 6 months to keep my stoma from closing up (major hassle.) So bring home a second water’s cath just in case! And make sure you have the nurses numbers handy :-) I wasn’t prepared for problems and it made the difficult days so much harder. Realizing I’d have to drive to Cleveland if I needed anything because local Gastro docs or the ER couldn’t help was less than pleasant.

Best wishes for a great outcome and quick recovery! My life is vastly improved over a dysfunctional j-pouch and I hope this works well for you :-)

Jennifer

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