Two bags down:

Ileostomy bag – removed at surgery. Urine bag came with the surgery – removed this morning. One last bag, the IV, should be gone by Saturday. J-pouch (new rectum) – soon to come online.

I’m here at the hospital and recovering in peace and comfort. I was upgraded to a first class suite because the oncology ward was full. Nicer colors, nicer art, quiet and peaceful. The liquid diet so far is settling, and I should expect my lower bowels to be working by later today or tomorrow. The only question with that happening is if a blockage develops in the intestines at the new seam. So far, no sign. Yippee!

Creamy mush

Much better than last time, this procedure was far less invasive, only dealing with turning the ileostomy back in and reattaching it to the lower intestine, all done laparoscopically (through a little tiny hole in the abdomen). The whole procedure went smoothly. There were a few bouts of nausea and some pain until the medications were balanced, and now feel quite energetic. I’m on to “full liquids”, meaning creamy stuff and mush.

What do they put in this stuff? It’s not the creamy mush my mom used to make.

Back pain of the previous few days has subsided, yet turned into back discomfort from lying in bed for too long. I’ll take it, the discomfort is better than the pain was! Compression socks inflate around my legs every few seconds to keep my blood vessels from clotting, and I exercise my lungs with one of these:

Spirometer

The incentive spirometer is assigned to exercise the lungs after a patient wakes up from anesthesia. The lungs have a tendency to fill with fluid, then develop bacteria which causes pneumonia if they are not exercised. I use this crazy-looking device every hour by inhaling air from the tube.

So, the update for the first day is: doing good!!!

Looking forward to shedding the last ‘bag’ (IV) and to using the new ‘j-pouch’ (new rectum)!

Hello everybody!