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weewee
annie_nu2
Hi, I am kind of new to this, too. I don't know many of the answers yet, but I have learned more just by reading what others have written than from any of my doctors. If you don't know what questions to ask, I guess the doctors can't answer them. Anyway, good luck and read what others with more experience are "Talking about" and it may give you a better handle on what is and what isn't. I didn't know about the lifting limits or why they were given, but I am kind of a weakling since the surgery so I haven't pushed any boundaries and now I am glad of that. Thanks, Annie
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sweede
Hi Montana Red Neck lol,
I can understand your fustration Weewee, sometimes it does feel like people read a post that one has written and simply "ignores" the question, but in most instances this is not quite the case, often the case is that people read the post and simply haven't got an accurrate answer for your query, some read the post with interest as they are potentially interested in a reply to the question as they may be in a similar situation/wish to prevent a similar situation happening to themselves and have not yet got to grips with the "view new posts" fuction on the main forum page, so they keep popping in through out the day to see if it has been answered yet. Some are just browsing the forums for useful tips, as you should do also. However we do it, we are still gaining valuable knowledge concerning life as an ostomate.
Unfortunatly the post counter appears to log every view whether it be from the same viewer or not, and doesn't nessesarily mean that 60 people have simply decided not to give you advice, or care about your concerns.
This being said i myself veiwed your post yesterday morning before i went for my colonoscopy but didn't have the time to have a crack at answering your post, however, fortunately a few users of the forum, did have a few tips for you and it seems like you are on your way to resolving your query about heavy lifting.
Ok now that my head is clear from the meds used during my scope, i will have a crack at answering your origional question on limitations.
You had your operation on the Jan 12th, so you are almost 2 months post op. Generally as a rule of thumb it it recommended that for the first 6 weeks after your op that you lift nothing heavier than a kettle full of water, no lifting children, dogs, suitcases, arduos housework, no nothing!!!
This is some times not quite as praticle as it sounds. As often is the case that ostomates live alone, have young kids that need to be cuddled/tended to or generaly need to get on with day to day living as soon as possible. Some people simply can't afford the luxury of just chilling out for weeks on end.
So the next best option is take extra special care in everything that your are doing, for there is a HUGE risk that nasty situations could arise from over-straining your by now eggshell like abdomen.
Stitches bursting, hernias devloping, stomas prolapsing, and a pelethera of other soul destroying medical situations can arise from over exherting yourself. And they are very real credible situations too my friend, so try not to go there.x
The next milestone is the 3 monther. Rule of thumb, it is recommended you not to do any physical activity until your have past this milestone and been checked over by your consultant and stoma nurse collectively, an appointent is made round about the 3 month mark for precisely this purpose. To see if your body has healed sufficiently enough for you to start having a resmbelence of lifes activities once more.
I'm not a very good follower of my own advice from time to time as come the 3 month milestone of my operation to have my urostomy transformed into an internal urinary pouch, i scaled Ben Nevis(u.k's highest mountain) and I DO NOT RECOMMEND THAT AS A CREDIBLE MARKER TO ASSESS YOUR RECOVERY BY, i'm a nutter plain and simple, i should not have been out training and mountain biking 2 months post op. thats all there is too it, don't do it!!!!
Anyway after the 3 month marker, if you get the all clear from your surgeon and stoma nurses that your wounds have healed succesfully, you can undertake light duties and start thinking about going back to work.
But this really has a lot to do with how you feel physically and mentally. Any stoma nurse worth their salt would have, before you even left the hospital, assesed your mental state.
They do this by assesing how have accepted your stoma, how your are coping with managing your stoma and spoken to your close family members, fishing for anything that might indicate that you are not coping too well with what you have just endured.
I can't stress enough how important this is, as this will determine how much intervention your will need from your stoma nurse and make clearer the next steps they should take, so it is important that you are as honest and open as you can during the first few days, weeks and months after your operation.
Ok given that all is ok, you can start thinking about getting back on track once more, generally there is nothing you can't achive physically that you couldn't do before stoma surgery, in some circumsatnces ostomates can achive a much better quality of life post-op, due to the fact that certain bowel diseases that led to surgery are no more restricting their abiltyto achieve a "normal" lifestyle
. But..... and there is always a but, the risk of a hernia (especially a peristomal hernia) or an "over exherting oneself" injury is still a credible factor at any time down the line, and more so in the year following surgery. So be sensible and don't go lifting or dragging heavy objects around all day, because you are just asking for trouble.
There are a few thing you have to learn to tune into living life as an ostomate, you have to educate yourself on the average lifespan of your chosen pouch, things like flange deterioration and wear and tear due to constant bending or movement have to be sussed out, as they are 2 of the main factors in combatting embarressing situations in public, allergies is another important factor as blisters and sores appearing on the peristomal skin is an agonising situation to try to combat. Watching what you eat and sussing out the fact that certain food stuffs can produce diffent types of stool output and odors is benificail, as is choosing the right wafer that is durable enough for your lifestyle, the wafers thing is often easy enough to work out quite quickly, simply contact every ostomy manufacturer that is listed in this forum and ask for samples of thier pouches, often they give you up to 10 smples for you to try out at no cost. The other trial and error aspects that i have just mentioned, can be semi resolved by trawling thro the forum and other ostomy forums available on the internet.
Right Weewee hopefully this is enough pointers to get you started back on track and ease your fustrations, if there is anything, and i mean anything you want to ask, or need advice on then just ask, often adding the words "Please Help" if it is something that needs to be addressed right away often produces a rapid response from other users. Things like "any suggestions welcome" at the end of posts, often gives the reader the the opportunity to have a stab at offering their point of view on the issue.
If it is purely a medical matter that you wish to query and want to find some kind of answer so you have an idea of what to speak to you G.P about, then there are a few nurses that visit the form every few days or so that can give you expert medical advice, altho i can't stress enough that you should contact your G.P or stoma nurse before trying anything you are unsure of, don't be tempted to simply try out offered suggestions, valid as tho they may seem, the suggestions offered may unbeknown to you, condratict your personal medical situation.
Take care Weewee and welcome to the forum, you will soon gain a lot of new friends i'm sure, i as one new friend, am delighted to meet you.x
I can understand your fustration Weewee, sometimes it does feel like people read a post that one has written and simply "ignores" the question, but in most instances this is not quite the case, often the case is that people read the post and simply haven't got an accurrate answer for your query, some read the post with interest as they are potentially interested in a reply to the question as they may be in a similar situation/wish to prevent a similar situation happening to themselves and have not yet got to grips with the "view new posts" fuction on the main forum page, so they keep popping in through out the day to see if it has been answered yet. Some are just browsing the forums for useful tips, as you should do also. However we do it, we are still gaining valuable knowledge concerning life as an ostomate.
Unfortunatly the post counter appears to log every view whether it be from the same viewer or not, and doesn't nessesarily mean that 60 people have simply decided not to give you advice, or care about your concerns.
This being said i myself veiwed your post yesterday morning before i went for my colonoscopy but didn't have the time to have a crack at answering your post, however, fortunately a few users of the forum, did have a few tips for you and it seems like you are on your way to resolving your query about heavy lifting.
Ok now that my head is clear from the meds used during my scope, i will have a crack at answering your origional question on limitations.
You had your operation on the Jan 12th, so you are almost 2 months post op. Generally as a rule of thumb it it recommended that for the first 6 weeks after your op that you lift nothing heavier than a kettle full of water, no lifting children, dogs, suitcases, arduos housework, no nothing!!!
This is some times not quite as praticle as it sounds. As often is the case that ostomates live alone, have young kids that need to be cuddled/tended to or generaly need to get on with day to day living as soon as possible. Some people simply can't afford the luxury of just chilling out for weeks on end.
So the next best option is take extra special care in everything that your are doing, for there is a HUGE risk that nasty situations could arise from over-straining your by now eggshell like abdomen.
Stitches bursting, hernias devloping, stomas prolapsing, and a pelethera of other soul destroying medical situations can arise from over exherting yourself. And they are very real credible situations too my friend, so try not to go there.x
The next milestone is the 3 monther. Rule of thumb, it is recommended you not to do any physical activity until your have past this milestone and been checked over by your consultant and stoma nurse collectively, an appointent is made round about the 3 month mark for precisely this purpose. To see if your body has healed sufficiently enough for you to start having a resmbelence of lifes activities once more.
I'm not a very good follower of my own advice from time to time as come the 3 month milestone of my operation to have my urostomy transformed into an internal urinary pouch, i scaled Ben Nevis(u.k's highest mountain) and I DO NOT RECOMMEND THAT AS A CREDIBLE MARKER TO ASSESS YOUR RECOVERY BY, i'm a nutter plain and simple, i should not have been out training and mountain biking 2 months post op. thats all there is too it, don't do it!!!!
Anyway after the 3 month marker, if you get the all clear from your surgeon and stoma nurses that your wounds have healed succesfully, you can undertake light duties and start thinking about going back to work.
But this really has a lot to do with how you feel physically and mentally. Any stoma nurse worth their salt would have, before you even left the hospital, assesed your mental state.
They do this by assesing how have accepted your stoma, how your are coping with managing your stoma and spoken to your close family members, fishing for anything that might indicate that you are not coping too well with what you have just endured.
I can't stress enough how important this is, as this will determine how much intervention your will need from your stoma nurse and make clearer the next steps they should take, so it is important that you are as honest and open as you can during the first few days, weeks and months after your operation.
Ok given that all is ok, you can start thinking about getting back on track once more, generally there is nothing you can't achive physically that you couldn't do before stoma surgery, in some circumsatnces ostomates can achive a much better quality of life post-op, due to the fact that certain bowel diseases that led to surgery are no more restricting their abiltyto achieve a "normal" lifestyle
. But..... and there is always a but, the risk of a hernia (especially a peristomal hernia) or an "over exherting oneself" injury is still a credible factor at any time down the line, and more so in the year following surgery. So be sensible and don't go lifting or dragging heavy objects around all day, because you are just asking for trouble.
There are a few thing you have to learn to tune into living life as an ostomate, you have to educate yourself on the average lifespan of your chosen pouch, things like flange deterioration and wear and tear due to constant bending or movement have to be sussed out, as they are 2 of the main factors in combatting embarressing situations in public, allergies is another important factor as blisters and sores appearing on the peristomal skin is an agonising situation to try to combat. Watching what you eat and sussing out the fact that certain food stuffs can produce diffent types of stool output and odors is benificail, as is choosing the right wafer that is durable enough for your lifestyle, the wafers thing is often easy enough to work out quite quickly, simply contact every ostomy manufacturer that is listed in this forum and ask for samples of thier pouches, often they give you up to 10 smples for you to try out at no cost. The other trial and error aspects that i have just mentioned, can be semi resolved by trawling thro the forum and other ostomy forums available on the internet.
Right Weewee hopefully this is enough pointers to get you started back on track and ease your fustrations, if there is anything, and i mean anything you want to ask, or need advice on then just ask, often adding the words "Please Help" if it is something that needs to be addressed right away often produces a rapid response from other users. Things like "any suggestions welcome" at the end of posts, often gives the reader the the opportunity to have a stab at offering their point of view on the issue.
If it is purely a medical matter that you wish to query and want to find some kind of answer so you have an idea of what to speak to you G.P about, then there are a few nurses that visit the form every few days or so that can give you expert medical advice, altho i can't stress enough that you should contact your G.P or stoma nurse before trying anything you are unsure of, don't be tempted to simply try out offered suggestions, valid as tho they may seem, the suggestions offered may unbeknown to you, condratict your personal medical situation.
Take care Weewee and welcome to the forum, you will soon gain a lot of new friends i'm sure, i as one new friend, am delighted to meet you.x
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Hollister
You've checked off everything on your travel checklist. So, now it's time to pack your ostomy supplies and anything else you need. Do it the right way with these smart tips.
Past Member
"....was heading for my colostomy and didn't have time to crack the...".......Sorry. It's funny to me.
Words of Encouragement from Ostomy Advocates I Hollister