Hello everyone: Tomorrow will mark one week since my ileostomy reversal. The week has been really difficult. Constant diarrhea, a butt on fire from all the liquid stool, and some pain where the stoma used to be. Just when I get cleaned up from a stool explosion and apply ointment to my skin, I have another blast of poop and have to start the whole process again. We're talking multiple times per hour. My surgeon's office said go on the BART diet so I'm eating white rice, applesauce and toast (allergic to bananas) but if it has slowed down the output, it's hard to tell. Not getting hardly any sleep because I have to get up so many times to go to the bathroom and I'm scared of soiling my sheets if I don't keep on top of things. Emotionally, I feel at the end of my rope. Having withstood chemo and radiation and the first surgery for the ileostomy, I'm not sure why I'm feeling so defeated now. Most everything has gone well and so far no sign of major complications. I'm not taking the stronger pain medication they gave me because I heard that Oxycodone can slow down the healing process. Tylenol is my only medication for now. I'm lying in bed at night feeling completely helpless and alone. I have a wonderful husband and daughters, but I don't like burdening them more than I already have with dark thoughts. How have any of you experienced the reversal process? Any thoughts on how to keep your emotions from running away with you?
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Ostomy surgery is stressful both for the patient and the caregiver, and creates a major life change for both people in a relationship.
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