was pretty painful because it had been decided that I wasn’t suitable for an epidural,
so I had to survive purely on the morphine pump. Fortunately, the pain subsided pretty
quickly. For the first few days after my surgery, I was quite upset. It had all come as
such a shock. As I said, I had never appreciated how severe UC could be. Many people
say they feel so much better after they’ve had the surgery because they no longer have
to live with the symptoms of UC. However, I’d been lucky enough not to have suffered
severe UC symptoms (until the two weeks immediately before the surgery) so I hadn’t
had time to think about life with a stoma. I spent a lot of time searching the internet
reading about other people’s experiences. Unfortunately, a lot of people generally only
write about negative experiences as they are reaching out for help, so this can give a
rather distorted view. I didn’t fare too well on morphine, it made me rather depressed.
But once I came off of it, my mood lifted and I could see the light at the end of the
tunnel. Okay, a stoma and an ileostomy bag weren’t my first choice. But at least I
was alive!
I went home about a week after surgery but was readmitted twice (once in the early
hours of Boxing Day) with blockages. I have since learned that my bowels wake up only to
fall asleep again a few days later while everything is settling down. I was meant to start a
new job early in January but had to postpone this to the beginning of February.
Fortunately, my new employer was incredibly understanding, and even sent flowers! I
spent the next few weeks recovering and even managed to fit in a weekend trip to Paris
and a week away in Crete. Thank goodness high waisted bikinis were in season – no one
had a clue that I was hiding an ileostomy bag under there! Apart from the inconvenience
of changing the bag and the slightly restricted diet (I used to live on salad), life was
actually pretty good and each day got better.
I had always intended on getting a J-pouch when I was first told that I needed surgery,
but life with a stoma wasn’t that bad and there are a number of consequences that
J-pouches bring. At the appointments with my surgeon and nurse I would go armed with a
huge list of questions. In the end, I decided that if I didn’t give a J-pouch a try I’d regret
it. So, in June 2013, I had the surgery to construct the J-pouch, turn my end ileostomy
into a loop ileostomy, and remove my rectum. I spent just over a week in the hospital
after this operation. Unfortunately I had ileus and started vomiting bile and had to
have an NG tube inserted. There’s no shying away from the fact that NG tubes are just
unpleasant and I’d rather not have one again! Once I was released from the hospital,
recovery was pretty quick and uneventful, apart from an overnight admission for
another blockage.
Three months later, I had a pouchogram which showed that I didn’t have any leaks and
the pouch was ready to be connected. Yay! In September 2013, I had my takedown
surgery. It was on a Friday evening. I went to the toilet for a number two for the first time
in nine months the following morning. It was amusing to be so excited about having gone
to the toilet. In the next few days, I slowly reintroduced food and things were going well.
I had control and didn’t suffer any accidents or leakage. The need to go to the toilet is a
little unusual, it’s like a pressure in the lower pelvic/tailbone region. The first few days
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