I have an upcoming colonoscopy in which the exam will be thru my rectum and also thru my stoma. How do I prepare for this? I have plenty of bags to change into, do I need a heavier pad to wear for the mucus I have daily? Is it a long procedure.
Also am scheduled for a reversal in January, what has been people’s down time for that?
The colonoscopy takes about 15 minutes once they knock you out. Just follow the doctor’s instructions and you’ll be good. I suggest a fresh setup when you start drinking the magic potion and then again once you’re all done with your procedure cause it’ll take some abuse when you’re emptying every 15-30 minutes. Take an extra change of supplies with you just in case they need it while you’re out of it.
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Hi Crossley. Ya know, I think it’s all about feelings. I don’t mean the pain feelings which could control everything. I mean the feelings inside our heads, our hearts and even our souls. I mean the feelings of who we are now compared to who we were; how we accept our situation or maybe we don’t. My wife asked how I felt and I said, “like crap”. She asked what hurt and I answered, “Nothing hurts, well, everything hurts, I don’t know, It all sucks.” That was a long time ago. You question if your feelings are normal. How normal is it to relocate your butt hole to your belly where it’s usually in the way of your belt and, you know. But that’s where we are and for lots of us we are so much better off than we were before, physically. Emotionally, psychologically, well, that might be a different story. I believe talk therapy is wonderful if we could find a real empathic or sympathetic listener. So guess what! I found MAO and began “talking” with a keyboard with some of the wisest, kindest most sympathetic and compassionate folks on the planet. Regardless of where we’ve been, lots of folks here have been there and worse places and found their way back healthier and happier. We really do help each other.
Keep “talking”,
Mike
I had one last year and the prep went well. The doctor knocked me out so I missed the whole thing. I wanted to see what she did but they said I was having pain - never felt a thing. The doctor didn’t disturb my skin barrier and just put the same bag back on. I had extra with me but didn’t need to use. Nothing new with my movements when I got home.
Hello Shirleed.
I recently had this procedure but was a bit reluctant to share my experiences because I have had obvious problems with my rectal stump and (if you have a healthy rectum) my experience will probably not be repeated in your case.
I have to go back for another endoscopy because they found various things wrong and the prescribed preparation did not work for me - so they couldn't see everything they wanted to.
The procedure seemed to go well and I got the opportunity of seeing on the monitor what (more precisely) was wrong.
However, the endoscopist did not prepare me for what happened post-procedure, and I felt let down because of that.
Apparently, the endoscopy procedure in the anal stump can involve them jetting water in there to clean it.
In my case, that caused bleeding and mucus discharge alongside the surplus water for about 3 days, which I was not prepared for.
If I had known what was going to happen and for how long, I may not have panicked quite so much, and I would have been better prepared to 'manage' the potential mess.
The problem was that anal discharge of that amount & texture cannot be caught effectively by incontinence pads and the grot ends up running down one's legs. UUGH!
My 'management' solution was to adapt my Dansac Nova Mini caps (by folding them & slitting the protruding edge) so that when the protective layer was removed, it stuck to the inside of both my legs and acted like a small regular 'bag' to catch the output.
There is a picture of the device on my profile (just in case).
I hope all goes well for you and you don't have the same problems that I had.
Best wishes
Bill
