Hi everyone, just checking in. I am 2 weeks post-op from colostomy reversal today! I'm doing really well. I'm walking 10-15 minutes 4 times a day and cooking for myself. Oh, I wash my dishes too, but that's the extent of my cleaning. LOL. Gotta take it easy. Since the doc gave me the green light last week on being able to eat anything I want, I have incorporated a few foods into my diet so I have a little more variety. However, when Stomie arrived, I was terrified to eat anything because I was so scared of getting a blockage that I never returned to my normal diet. Having said that, and because of diverticulitis, I think for me, it will be a long time before I return to my normal. I still have rectal pain when passing gas and pooping. It's not constant nor very painful. It does hurt when I go into a sitting position but goes away when I am comfortable, so I'm still moving slowly and resting a lot. I don't need any pain medication. Every now and then I can still feel bubbles in my abdomen, but it's not frequent nor painful anymore. I use the abdominal binder every day. I put it on when I wake up, take it off midday for an hour or so, and back on until I go to sleep at night. I have soreness and a bit of swelling at the incision sites only and not all over my abdomen as I previously had. That feeling like I did a ton of stomach crunches is gone. The pain under the stoma site is gone and I can sleep on both sides, although it's definitely more comfortable on the non-stoma side. Pooping is still erratic, in that, daily, the consistency, the frequency, and the timing are not the same. I don't have diarrhea anymore. Sometimes it's almost formed and sometimes it's loose but not watery. When I have the urge, I feel a little pain in my rectum, so I go right away; I don't hold it. I no longer use an adult diaper, which I was using when I left the house and to sleep at night. There is one thing that I've noticed, and that is swelling in my pubic area. I didn't have that out of surgery, but I guess now that I am up and walking more, it's coming back. I had it the whole 8 months with a stoma, and the doc always said it was from the surgery. My pubic area swells up quite a bit, but it isn't painful and there is no discoloration. I will talk to my primary doc next week at my appointment. I did do some research, and it appears as though swelling in the pubic area happens quite frequently with tummy tucks and can remain for several months after surgery. I figure this might be my case since stoma reversal and tummy tucks are in the same vicinity, but we'll see what the doc says next week and I will report it. I hope everyone has a wonderful week!
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I wonder if the fluid is a seroma? If so, I think it just eventually reabsorbs... Glad to hear you are doing well! I get occasional pain in my old stoma site but am not sure if it's from my new hernia (which is in a different place now after surgery) or just phantom pains. They don't last, so that's good. I went back to work today... 8 weeks flew by!
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Thank you, KittyBou! Kylie and I send our love to Rocket too!
8 weeks post-op already, wow that did fly by! Congrats!! I'm so happy you recovered well (except for that stinkin' hernia)! I'm going to have to ask my doc about a seroma. I've never heard of that, but I will definitely be asking. Thank you for that!
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