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Revenge of the Butt Burn

WARNING: This post contains graphic details of the aftermath of surgery and what people with Inflammatory Bowel Disease deal with on a regular basis. If you are squeamish or do not like "TMI" this post is not for you. 

Twelve and a half weeks ago, I had the takedown surgery for my j-pouch. Things are going relatively well and I seem to be healing up ok!

 The intestinal gurgling, though still present, has dramatically subsided. The pain associated with the gurgling has also diminished a great deal.

 I still wear diapers at night while I sleep in case of accidents, though I haven't had one in about three weeks. I'm thinking about not wearing them for a while after I run out of these and see what happens.

 My incision site is looking very well. The other day I did have a tiny pocket of blood surface, but according to my ER doctor friend (affectionately called J-Doc), it was probably due to me being more active (I confess, I was jumping into a boat and climbing out like a Ninja--don't judge! It was fun!). He said what several other people have... scars/wounds can change constantly for up to a year! All the same I've been putting lotion and Mederma on it daily for about 6 weeks now (I'll show you the progress in a future post).

 This week I started doing yoga. Something I haven't attempted since before all my surgeries. I can tell that I've lost about 75% of my flexibility and this really made me angry. I guess I'll just have to be patient. No need to be 100% yet... I hear it takes about six months to get back to something that resembles normal!

 As far as butt burn goes, it has been very unpleasant. I wasn't sure what the deal was. I had stinging, burning, itching and redness that I couldn't explain. Shallow baths of diluted apple cider vinegar were of no help and the diaper creams and my trusty Calmoseptine seemed to make it worse. I am using a bidet instead of TP to clean myself after I go to the restroom, but it only got worse. Then it started spreading and the burning got more intense.

 Thursday night I nearly had a heart attack when I saw blood on the TP I blotted myself with. My first thought was, "I have Crohn's..." As it turns out, the blood was coming from broken skin near the irritated (and very red) area.

 I went to the doctor yesterday to check my bloodwork and asked her about it, hoping she could give me some insight. Basically I have a diaper rash (like, seriously, the kind babies get!).  She gave me about two weeks' worth of cream and some pills so here's hoping it eases up.

 She checked my blood for B-12, vitamin D, and electrolyte deficiencies. After that, I was given a B-12 injection for good measure since I have those little sores at the corner of my mouth (Angular Cheilitis for those who want to be specific). By the afternoon I was bouncing off the walls from the energy. I'm wondering if that B-12 shot is actually a serum made from Superman's blood. Anyway...

 She told me we may have to do monthly B-12 injections for a while and that I needed to get liquid sublingual B-12.

 Overall, I thought she was very nice, but I was a little frustrated because she didn't fully understand what the ileal pouch anal anastomosis was. I had to flat out tell her, that I no longer have a colon, but a j-pouch. She looked surprised, but said, "Ok." I know I probably shouldn't be upset with her, as she's not a GI or colo-rectal surgeon... (Note to self: Make blog post about j-pouches and the IPAA surgery) but I digress.

 My days are about to get a lot more hectic here in the coming weeks. My husband and I just bought a house and should be closing on or before November 7th. So excited! I will post pictures as soon as I'm able.

 I hope you're all feeling ok and that you're having a great weekend! Take care and NEVER stop fighting!!!


 

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