Skip to main content

Let me preface by saying I am looking for honest answers but not alarmist answers--

My J-pouch removal and total proctectomy is scheduled.  My surgeon is very experienced, and he is telling me that I can expect to be out of the hospital in 4 days.  Does that sound right?  It seems very short and I'm scared they'll push me out before I'm ready!

Also, the ostemy nurse is telling me I will have no food restrictions when I get home, and both surgeon and nurse seem to be saying I won't need narcotics for pain relief much past the first few days.  Does that sound right?  My J-pouch operation was back in 1999 and things were different then--I was in the hospital for 2 weeks on morphine drip, and even after that I was in a lot of pain for over a month.

Original Post

Hello!

I had my J pouch diverted in 2016 with a temporary ileostomy formed and had surgery August 2019 to remove my J pouch and form my Barbie butt. My stoma was kept the same as my 2016 surgery. I was out in 4 days with a prescription for a few oxycodone. Technically, you won’t have food restrictions. That being said, I would still be careful with what you eat for the first couple weeks. A week post-op, I ended up back in the hospital for a week with a bowel obstruction and the dreaded NG tube. Most of my post-op experiences have ended up like this so I was not shocked. I didn’t feel great, so I wasn’t eating much that first week out so I know it had nothing to do with my diet but just a result of surgery for me. I remember the pain being bad post-op and me fighting with the nurse about her not wanting to give me narcotics and the opioid crisis. I see both sides of the opioid crisis now (thanks to The pharmacist series on Netflix) but at that time I was livid. They had given me some sort of pain block at the site which I agreed to pre-op but I didn’t know that meant that they would only want to give me Tylenol post-op! I remember being on morphine for a good 9 days when I got my J pouch back in 1992 so I couldn’t my believe this nurse was trying to give me Tylenol 2 days after surgery. By the fourth day when I was discharged, I don’t remember being in terrible pain. I was much more with it at this point and was afraid to take the oxycodone because I know narcotics slow down the bowels and I was already prone to post op bowel obstructions. I took a few of the oxycodone that first week but didn’t have any narcotics after I was admitted with the bowel obstruction and thereafter. The healing of the Barbie butt went amazingly well and I was sitting on hard surfaces 4 weeks out! I have been cut down my abdomen so many times that I think my body is just used to that pain at this point which probably sounds crazy. I love toradol post op (think it works great for these weird painful sensations I have at the abdominal incision line for hours post-op) but they wouldn’t give it to me b/c my decreased renal function which I feel is a result of the ostomy and the crazy fluid requirements. Sorry for babbling but I hope this gives you reassurance that you won’t need the narcotics for long. Surgery itself won’t be easy but the post-op pain a few days after surgery was not bad. Best of luck to you!!

Last edited by LORI726

Add Reply

Post
Copyright © 2019 The J-Pouch Group. All rights reserved.
×
×
×
×
Link copied to your clipboard.
×