Hi all

Hi Claire,
Welcome to the club...you should post any questions that you have in the general section of the forum...you will get a lot of responses there...I hope that everything is going well for you for now.
Sharon

Hi Clair!

I had my takedown on Mar 8, so we are both going through the early stages. So far, things have progressed as expected. The first two weeks were tough with about 20 bms per day but now, after a month I am down to 10 per day, including two night loo visits.

First week my butt was on fire, but they said this was because of bile and that things were just starting to move and that it would slow down, which is has. Though with all the loo visits, there is some irritation. so I have been using barrier creams and trying to be as gentle as possible while wiping. Using my low cost water squirt bottle as a bidet which has been helping a lot.

I was apprehensive about going anywhere where access to a toilet was difficult in the first two weeks, but now I'm way more comfortable getting around. I can totally hold it.

I'm still feeling tired. Not sure if its because of my post surgical diet or the surgical healing, or both.

How are you doing so far?

Hi Claire...welcome to you...I'm new to the site as well...found it at a really low point a few weeks ago...these people are saviors...I had my surgeries back in 1977 (they were experimental at the time) and for the most part things have been great. I'm 51 now with a beautiful daughter and am SO glad I had it done. You will find tons of help with this group. Also, may i recommend the humor section...some days we just need it. There's some really great stuff in there . I think there are quite a few folks from the UK as well. Welcome!