Same old!

Heating on. Oh no. I’m in shorts. Get your bags packed and head south. 
I hope your constipation eases. It’s horrible. Sorry I’m not much help as Ileostomy’s are fast and furious. I thought that colostomy’s were business as usual however I’ve heard others say they have boughts of diarrhoea for no apparent reason. 
Take care 

You've been more help than you'll ever know Ann, thank you!

Enjoy the sunshine, fingers crossed  we get some soon!

Best Wishes,

Moira x

Hello Three, glad I was some help!  As I understand it (but only as I understand it) a slightly watery paste is normal; it comes out of the stoma at varying paces but often quite slowly, as our systems move everything along.  As we have no conrol over matter being passed out of the stoma we see our system at its running speed, not the quick 'over and done' pace of a normal rectal evacuation.

Another thing I was told is that (for me, but by impication all sufferers unless told otherwise) everything above the colostomy point is normal and should function normally - whatever 'normally' means for that paricular patient.  I was told in hospital I was 'lucky' because my stoma is so low that I can eat or drink anything; all processes except for stool formation are complete.  (My stoma is so low that the pouch folds on my thigh when I sit.)  

This includes not digesting nuts.  I take it that the limited possible dilation of the working stoma compared to a normal sphincter may cause diificulties with nuts if they're not sufficiently fragmented.  (As an aside, in IT we used the phrase 'apple-pipping' to try to impress on a programmer that a thing like an order reference should come out of the system exactly the way it went in.)

To be blunt, your system's 'normal' seems to be a bit 'abnormal' - it's as irregular as it ever was, but you're studying it as never before, perhaps unwittingly trying to force it be regular when it never was.  Is this business with yoghurt new to you or is that something that's always happened?  If not it may be worthwhile talking to your oncologists about this, after keeping an accurate diary for a few days.  Input - what you ate and drank when, what medications you took and when.  Without trying to link inputs to outputs, what bladder and stoma outputs you had and when.

Hope things get better soon. 

Hi Bagpuss,

I wrote a long reply to you but my internet went off when I tried to send it, so I don't know where it's gone! In short it was to thank you for all the help you've given me! I've learned more from you in two letters than I have from anyone in the last 14 months! I think, you're basically telling me that my body is functioning the way it did before the operation or its trying to! My nurse recommend either stool softener or senna every day but I'm nervous about going out now, I'd be terrified if I did that!

Again, thank you, it's so much appreciated,

Best Wishes, 

Moira

Hello Moira,

You're very welcome, but please bear in mind I'm only telling you what I understand as related to me.  I'm not qualified in any way to do more than share experiences.  From what you say we can make laypersons' guesses about your body working as it did before, but that's all they can be.

I hope I've given you some useful stuff to help you when talking to the pro's!

Please let us know how you get on.

Cheers,

Roy

Hi Moira 

Just a thought before my op I had serious issues going and tried senna resulting in no help then I used max strength which had results at a cost. Very uncomfortable day. I was blocking at the time but didn’t realise
I just remembered Dulcolax. I had gel in a capsule so I don’t know if that’s okay with colostomy but they were so gentle and I just went normally. No pain or diarrhoea. 
Hope you find the right meds for you 

Hi Moira,

He seems to feel sick before the stoma works, but only sometimes!!! I don't think there is any use ringing the stoma nurse who will say take a laxative.  As you say, I get more help from here!! He's had prune juice for 2 days, and a little output this morning was normal consistency, so we'll see!

Well Moira 

How are you doing now ? 
Is Brooke babbling I really hope so and do you have some sun up there coz down here it’s sweltering

Hope alls going well with you 

Take care 

Hi Ann,

I had a good result from the senna on Sunday and, since then, Brooke has been babbling away! No, what I'd call, big utputs but a little every day! I haven't had much of an appetite so I expect that's why?

As for the weather, YIPPEE! We had our summer, 2 whole days of nice weather, with actuall sun, I may add! Today is warm but cloudy and tomorrow and all next week, the forecast is wet, windy and just not nice!

We're going to London again in September so hopefully it'll be as nice there as it was last year! I couldn't take the temperature down there at the moment!

Best Wishes,

Moira x

Hi Moira 

it’s good to know that you’re having some sun up there. We’ve been greedy with it in the south 

I hope that Brooke keeps Babbling even if she needs some encouragement from Senna 

We are off to Ireland Monday so I will be packing my raincoat and thick cardie