Hi Tigerstripe, this happened to me last December. I had the second (of two) surgeries to close the end ileostomy & create the jpouch. I was recovering well and hoping to go home on the 5th day, but instead wound up with peritonitis , urgent surgery and a loop ileostomy. I was extremely ill and was afraid I would die from that infection. But I went home after 11 days with a loop ileostomy. That ileostomy was very very difficult for me - I had to change out the appliance every day and still had terrible skin ulcers. I went back for my fourth (out of a planned 2) surgery 6 weeks later and everything went OK. My surgeon did warn me that about 7% of 2-step surgeries get a leak, so I guess I was just unlucky.
You may want to order some samples of convex wafers (they are usually free, but send for them right away) as I've heard they leak less than the flat ones. Since you have at least 3 months to wait, you want to be as comfortable as possible. I
After my 4th surgery my recovery was unremarkable. I'm 5 months out now and can run, weightlift and work full-time. I do tire easily, and wonder if that is permanent. I actually worked out with both the end and the loop ileo, and did start back to full time work about 2 weeks after I got out of the hospital.
I did work from home with the loop ileo as my skin was too painful and I had too many leaks to deal with getting dressed in business attire and commuting to work. The visiting nurse classed me as 'housebound' and therefore I was able to get home nursing visits every other day.
I went for a pouchogram study prior to the final takedown surgery. It was no big deal. It showed that I had no leaks. Just be warned to make sure the radiology staff understand the test you are having. In my case they kept insisting I had to do a bowel prep and I had a frustrating time explaining that I DON'T HAVE a colon to prep. Finally I found a tech who knew what was going on, and she handled my test perfectly.
