Water Soluble Enema

Hi Irina (aka )

Happy days  I use sudocream but if things get eye-wateringly sore then I use a small amount of haemorrhoid cream as it has a slightly anaesthetising effect. The stoma nurses told me that I could use the barrier spray from my bag days but I didn’t try it.

i have yet to find the ultimate strong yet soft toilet paper - the fancy ones with aloe Vera and camomile seem to disintegrate! If I get really sore then I switch to using my leftover dry wipes then a baby wipe then dispose in a poo bag in the bin - not great for the environment but needs must.

Glad to hear that you sound to be coping ok

Take care

Karen x

Hi Irina,

So happy to hear everything is going well. I was chuckling reading the bit about trying to smooth and straighten the bag, as I did exactly the same thing!

I did not have any issues with the skin on bum that I can recall; not sure if I was just lucky. But this is what I did: Splurged on some quilted toilet paper, clean with a baby wipe after wiping with toilet paper, then apply some barrier cream. I just had a dig through my left-over supplies, and the one I used was called "Medi Derma-S". I was given a box of 20 sachets by my stoma nurse who came around to check on me after the reversal op.

Hope it all settles down soon!

All the best,

Yolande

Good evening all,

A week post op and doing very well. No diarrhoea at all after first day. It's practically normal now, just more often, about 4-5 times a day. Nowhere near as bad as I expected. 

Hospital only provided me with a sick note for 2 weeks, then over to GP if I need longer. I'm not convinced that it's ok to start driving even after full 2 weeks. I know about being able to jump on the brakes without pain etc, will give it a go end of next week. Isn't it too soon though? I need to drive to work, which takes around 20 minutes, or catch 2 buses - not ideal. 

Still need to keep an eye on the wound, the site is sore and sensitive. Interestingly my GP practice refused to provide post op wound care, simply said we don't do it, we don't have a treatment room. Even though I have a hospital referral letter to them, I was told to attend a clinic on the other side of town. I asked if I should just change the dressing myself? The answer was-  if you could that would be much better, our clinics are all booked up and if we were to do it, there is a lot of admin work also. Great!!

Still, not complaining. After 18 months with a bag, cleansing the small wound with chlorhexydine and putting a fresh dressing is nothing. But should I really?

I was wondering what did the others do? And how long it took to heal? Mine is still weeping a bit (its purse string, like Karen's). I'm still worried about infection. Should I just march to my GP and get a doctor to check, if nurses cannot? Contact a stoma nurse? Feel like I'd be wasting her time, as this is rather something for a practice or district nurse. 

Sorry for the rant and thank you for your advice as always. 

Irina

Hi Irina

Great to hear that you’re doing so well - I missed my 1 year anniversary on 9/3 and realised yesterday that I was back in hospital this time last year with a leak!

I can’t believe the attitude of your doctors! Did they think you weren’t registered with them or something? They don’t have a treatment room? If the wound was completely clean and looked to be virtually healed then yes I’d be happy to change the dressing myself but if it is still a bit weepy then I think I’d want it checking every few days. Do they not have nurses at the surgery that you can make an appointment with? Mine has a practice nurse who can prescribe and sees people for minor ailments and a couple of normal nurses who do flu jabs, remove stitches etc. Surely one of these would be able to look at it? If your surgery is too far away for you to get to then I think it’s quute acceptable to expect a district nurse to pop in and have a look at it

Yes I think 2 weeks is too early to be driving - I would have thought at least 4-6 plus as you start to get back to a normal diet you may find that you cannot tolerate certain foods like before and it’s better to be dashing to the loo at home than at work.

So glad to hear that you’re back into a normal routine so quickly and hope you get the wound situation sorted out - I had about 30 dressings still all sealed up at home so took them to my doctors last week - she was so grateful!

Take care

Karen x

Hi Irina,

Glad to hear that everything is going well. You will find that the bm's will settle down a bit more with time; I started with 4-5 and now on 1-3 (depending on what I eat!), where it seems to have stabilised.

What sort of work do you do? I started working two weeks after the op, but I am an office worker and I had the option of working from home. I realise that not everyone has that option. And the first week of working I did feel exhausted by the end of it, and I was sitting on the sofa with my laptop all day! So definitely I would say you need more than two weeks. And driving I would say at least four weeks. I only started driving four weeks after each operation.

Unfortunately I don't have much advice on the wound dressing. After both my resection and reversal op the wound was glued, so there was no dressing to change. I hope you get it sorted soon!

All the best,

Yolande

Good evening, 

Thank you Karen and Yolande for your advice and support.

It is our Lancashire CCG changing the whole  process  of accessing this kind of treatment. They introduce a new booking system and ask patients to be patient and allow extra time for staff training!! In the meantime all clinics are booked up solid. 

Anyway, got an emergency appointment 1st thing Monday. Unfortunately was diagnosed with a wound infection and immediately prescribed and started antibiotics. Then reception staff at our surgery managed to book me in a clinic -- emergency again - at the opposite end of town later that day. Hubby had to drive me there and finally I saw a lovely nurse who did it and taught me what to do. 

This infection made me very unwell over the weekend, but feeling much better already and the wound is beginning to heal. It looks stitched up internally, but not glued. 

All great on the bowel front, nothing to grumble about. 

I am also an office administrator, and ready to go back - emotionally, not physically yet. Looks like I may come back just after Easter. Working from home isn't an option for me, need to be in. 

Looks like only now I'm beginning to enjoy my stoma free life. Onwards and upwards. 

Irina x