OstomyMan

It’s weird having a spot that doesn’t feel. There’s a spot just below my ostomy on the “inside” (side closest to my belly button) that doesn’t have any feeling. If I push it, I can tell from the pressure change on surrounding parts, but about a 2″ square is still numb. This was explained as a possible side effect of the surgery and that the feeling might come back. But not so far.

It’s almost been a year and it’s still numb, but it’s not really a big deal. I hardly ever notice it unless I’m taking off my bag. For whatever reason, pulling the last bit of tape/adhesive off of that spot actually hurts. It’s weird. Any pressure just feels numb, sort of like when you have dental work done. But when the skin is pulled by the tape it hurts. Don’t know why that is, but it’s a small price to pay for the dramatic improvements since the surgery.

I’m sure I’ll revisit this topic a bunch of times over the next couple of years, but right now I don’t think I’m going to get a J-pouch right now. Maybe some day, but right now it doesn’t seem like the correct decision for me.

In talking with the surgeon about it over the last many months, he told me that pouch’s have about an 80% success rate, but that they don’t really improve the quality of life for the person since the removal of the colitis is really what improves the person’s quality of life and after that, having either a bag or a pouch is just a matter of preference.

So far I’m quite happy with the pouch. It’s easy to deal with. I’ve only really had one major problem and that was when I went rafting for the first time. I guess getting a J-pouch could simplify things a bit since I wouldn’t have to change bags, but I would still be going to the bathroom as many times so that’s really only a small improvement. And I don’t think it’s worth having to take the time off of work or the expense of a surgery.

And there’s no guarantee that it will work. During my last sigmoidoscopy, things are still very inflamed. And that’s almost a year later. So even if I decide to do the surgery, I think it will be in a couple years after I give what’s left of the colon/rectum time to heal or at least calm down.

Life is good right now. I am healthy. I have a great little girl and a wonderful wife pregnant with the next one. I have friends and can once again do things with them. Basically I’ve hit the reset button and right now I don’t want to hit it again.

When I first got my ostomy back in February, one of the main things I was told to be careful of was food blockages. I was told to make sure I chewed everything very well and I needed to be careful of fibrous foods like mushrooms and lettuce.

My wife and I were a little bummed because we are really big fans of mushrooms. So I behaved myself for a while and didn’t eat large quantities of fibrous foods. I tested the waters cautiously, but never really had a problem. So for almost a year, I happily chowed down on whatever I felt like eating. I did usually chew pretty well, so I guess I did well enough let everything digest well.

But then last week, I finally had my first experience with a blockage. It wasn’t an extreme case like I have read that many people have with excruciating pain, but it was annoying. I felt sort of sick to my stomach for most of the afternoon and evening. I didn’t want to eat anything. I tried laying down, but it didn’t do much good. I read that I should drink a lot, so I drank as much as I could.

And I read everything I could find on the internet about the symptoms of a blockage since I wasn’t sure that’s what was going on. I found the full range of suggestions from drink to go to the hospital. It didn’t do me much good and just made me worry.

I think I finally did drink enough and things were able to finally digest enough (I had gobbled some mushroom-laden stuffing earlier) to pass through. Once the blockage passed, I immediately felt better and was good to go again.

So, while my experience didn’t compare to others I have read about, it did remind me to chew better because it was quite unpleasant.