Hi Shay

Here's Ernies list. Hope it helps. Am so glad you got
through your surgery without problems, you must feel
so free, I know I did.

Sudocrem is excellent but try not to use it all the
time. It can reduce the effectiveness when you need it
most (sore bum). I find that wiping with dry, then wet
tissue followed by a quick dry and application of good
old vaseline works fine until I eat something that
causes "the burn".

I'm almost a year post op and still have one or two
off days but in comparison to my past they are little
more than a nuisance.

The list follows. Am not staying on long, have just
done 3and a half hours in the car and am pooped!

Have actually unsubscribed from the group now, you can
get me on babeof71@.... I was just bombarded
with emails and it was driving me mad so now I drop in
once a week or so!

Love
Helen x

Ernies List

I have tried to compile a list of things helpful to
we Jpouchers. If you
want, please email me your suggestions & I will add to
the list. If
anything has been a great help to you or has caused
you trouble, let us
know!
Thanks,
Ernie



Skin Barriers

calmoseptine good but also has lanolin in it
Burn Jell with 2 % Lidocaine.
Aloe Vista
Desitin
A&D cream with Aloe
Lantiseptic
Lidocaine ointment to stop pain.
Butt Paste
Analpram for more serious stinging inside. This used
for one to 2 weeks
does much for healing the bowel/pouch after severe
irritation.
Take 6 cod liver oil capsules & squeeze into 1/4 tube
of zinc oxide. Mix &
spread on butt rash/soreness to heal quickly! Might
be a little messy but
may be just the thing!
Many people have an allergy to lanolin, which is found
in many
ointments/creams. If in doubt read the label of all
skin barriers you use.
If after several tries you find the one with lanolin
cause problems, discard
it.
If you use calmoseptine or any other ointment I have
found if I get a carmex
tube empty it out,
and get a medicine syringe (the one with out a needle)
from the pharmacy,
put the your medicine in the syringe and then line it
up with the carmex
tube and squeeze. now you have a travel size
medicine tube that fits in your pocket. If you use a
powder you can put it
in an eye dropper it works great. Jami


foods that are usually okay
Bananas are about the best food.
Tapioca, Cornmeal, Applesauce, not spiced,
Marshmallows, Pretzels
white Rice, Jell-O, gelatin, Pasta, Potatoes without
skin, Boiled milk,
Peanut butter (smooth)
Cheese, oatmeal, cooked carrots,winter squash,
yams/sweet tators.
Baked Snack foods are better than deep fried. The
finer one chews his
foods, especially hard crunchy foods like snack foods,
the better it is.
When not chewed well, some can scratch the inner
lining of the bowel. Baked
snack foods help absorb the fluid in the bowel where
as the deep fried does
not help as much.
Papaya, Mango, marshmallows
Doritos, not spiced but like the cheesy ones, chewed
well help also. Many
can enjoy this snack with good benefits.


Foods that may cause burning & more diarrhea

all tomato sauces, spices, chocolate, nuts, raw
vegetables
Alcoholic drinks, orange, lemon, grapefruit, whole or
juice
Remember, this may change as the body adjusts! After
you begin to feel
that you are doing fine, try one questionable food at
a time & see how it
goes. Very likely you can get by with a small amount
but may have trouble
if you over do on it.

Things that may cause more butt burn
colored toilet paper, Charmin toilet paper is bad for
some people, harsh
toilet paper, not cleaning well
hot peppers, tomato sauces, nuts, spices, or in other
words, the same as the
list above.


Helpful aids!
Smart water, may find in local health food stores.
Electrolyte drink,
tastes like water, no sodium
Gatorade
Yellow tomato may be better because it has a lower
acid content in it!
Try some of the high energy bars made for athletes or
Ensure/Boost drinks
Charcoal tablets/capsules may help greatly to relieve
gas discomfort/pain.
Take several hours either before or after taking any
other medication as the
charcoal may latch on the medication, making it not as
strong as it should
be. But taken otherwise can do a lot to stop gas
pain!
whey protein supplement may help build strength in the
early post surgery
months. Can be mixed in milk/juice or other..

Do you want to know if your vitamin supplements are
helping you? Place the
supplement in a glass of water. If dissolved or
almost dissolved in 1/2
hour, there is a great chance your body will utilize
this supplement. If
after 1/2 hour the tablet is still whole of mostly
whole, it will not do you
any good, or very little good.

Helpful hints for changing the ostomy bag & for skin
irritations under the
appliance.
Always clean the skin surface thoroughly!
To give more time with less chance for leakage, eat 2
or 3 large
marshmallows about 15 minutes before changing the
appliance. This acts to
form a temporary bowel block, allowing a few more
minutes to change the bag.
If one has a choice, it is best to change the
appliance in the morning,
after a night without food & before eating breakfast.
For skin scalding:
Get a bottle of Milk Of Magnesia. Let set to allow
separation. Pour off &
discard the mostly clear liquid. After the skin
surface is cleaned, take a
cotton ball & dip in some of the thicker Milk of
Magnesia, (MOM) & gently
dab over all the area that is scalded & or is under
the appliance. Let
dry. To speed drying, gently fan with a card, paper
or fan.
After this is dry, only a minute or two, apply the
stoma adhesive & the
appliance as per instructions.
If you are having to change the whole bag appliance
more often than every 5
to 7
days, or if you are getting leakage either out of the
bag or under, causing
scalding, check with your stoma nurse or doctor. It
may be another type of
appliance will work better for you. Also, if you are
getting scalding
around the stoma but still the appliance holds well,
it may be the hole has
been cut too large allowing secretion to touch the
tender skin surface. The
appliance needs to fit snugly around the stoma.

If wearing the iliostomy bag bothers you, there are a
few things you can do.
I found the cargo pants, with the baggy crotch very
useful. I could pull
the waist of these pants clear up to my rib cage, thus
completely covering
the bag while still not putting any pressure on the
bag or on the appliance.
I used suspenders to hold the pants up high! I then
wore my shirt on the
outside. Anyone looking at me only saw me in a pair
of slacks with my shirt
on the outside, thus nothing unusual. It was a little
more of a bother when
I needed the toilet though, but still worth it.
I also found sweat pants easy to wear because usually
I could bring them up
over the appliance. For me, I could not wear my jeans
or slacks because
either the belt would push up under the appliance,
putting pressure on the
appliance to dislodge it or the belt went right over
the bag, thus making a
restriction in its flow into the bag.

One can buy some colorful, soft flannel & make
covering pouches for the bag.
This is especially nice when being more intimate,
where the bag really may
interfere with ones relationships!
I also would wear this cover if I was up and about &
it was possible that
the bag might be seen.

To help control or stop watery diarrhea
Metamucil either the type to mix & drink or in wafers
help some people to
control the diarrhea. This may also cause more bulk
to get rid of & may
cause more gas in some people.
Over the counter Imodium helps some with diarrhea
Lomotil a prescription similar to Imodium but
stronger.
Codeine to help diarrhea but use care not to end up
taking too much Tylenol
over a long time: may cause liver damage.
xifaxin. has helped some to get over pouchitis , to
firm up the stools & to
reduce the number of toilet trips.
put about 10 drops of denatured tincture of opium in
about a 1/4 cup of
water and just chug it. This for some, helps control
diarrhea with no use
of codeine

Dehydration & low electrolytes are common & need to be
avoided. One needs
at least 6 to 8 glasses of water/juice daily, even
when the stool is
diarrhea.
Dehydration or an imbalance of electrolytes may cause
weakness & also
nausea & vomiting

Try these panty liners to place in your under
pants/briefs. They absorb
leakage, can be changed with ease & do not cost that
much. For some, a
cotton ball pressed up in the crack, but not in so it
will hold the spinctor
open, helps. Sometimes just keeping a couple squares
of toilet paper inside
your briefs/under pants helps & this can be discarded
with every toilet
trip.

It is good to practice strengthening the anal spinctor
muscle. Work at this
several times a day but allow a rest after a few
minutes of exercise.







--- James Watts <shaybe68@...> wrote:

> Hi Helen,
>
> Just a note to let you know that I have just been
> discharged from
> hospital after my reversal. It went very well and I
> had no post op
> problems. I have a very good surgeon and he said
> that as I am 38, the
> recovery should go very well. It's very weird not
> having the bag
> attached with the strangest bit so far is that when
> i go to the
> toilet, I keep making sure that I'm not going to
> pull the band that
> holds the bag firmly around my waist down even
> though it's no longer
> there!
>
> The best advice I've had is to use Sudocream and
> don't leave home
> without it so will see how everything goes. I didn't
> get Ernie's list
> a while back but I am new to Yahoo so maybe I wasn't
> looking in the
> right place so I hope you can tell me where it is
> posted.
>
> Thanks for your advice in the past as I was quite
> nervous about the
> whole thing and will let you know how it goes. Talk
> to you soon and
> take care.
>
> Shay
>
>
>


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