Spent the night in the hospital

[lhawk0730]

Hi Judy, mom responded really well to the reversal. She has days where she spends quite a lot of time in the restroom. And she has days where goes hours and hours between needing one. But she prefers that to the bag (which she hated). I dont have all her exact restroom details, as she has rightfully taken back her dignity in having some privacy again! Psychologically, she is handling everything better since reversal. Physically, its like night and day. She drinks half the fluids as before. Her blood work has been great. She will started her 3rd round of Xeloda today. She has good days now where she gets out. She didn't have good enough days to go out for pleasure before. I hope her experience helps you.

[Lee]

Hi Judy

OMG, you poor thing. You have been through so much. I hope (and pray) you are finally on the mend. Thank goodness your Dr had the forsight to request the blood work. I hate to think where you will be without that.

Please take care of yourself. I'm thinking of you,

((((GENTLE HUG)))) to you,

Lee

[JudeD59]

Thanks for the info, Ihawk!

Lee, you are such a sweetheart. I feel like I've been through nothing compared to so many on the board and I hesitate to complain about my little aches and pains. But then I think that I can either suffer in silence or come on here and get great advice from people with experience so here I am, posting again.

Miss Molly, my friend, are you still out there? I have a question for you. I showered and changed my bag today. The ones from CyMed haven't arrived yet and I didn't sleep well last night because the whole bag area was so sore. So I took a piece of the Tegraderm and cut a hole the size of my stoma and put it over the whole area, then put my bag on top of it. OMG what a difference! It feels so much better already and there isn't that constant pull on my skin. Of course it's still sore since it has a lot of healing to do, but the difference already is amazing. My question for you is--You said the Tegraderm had to be changed every 24 hours, but my box says you can leave it on up to 7 days. Is it because it's under the wafer that it has to be changed every day or are there different types of Tegraderm and some can stay on longer?

I said earlier in the thread that I didn't think I would know if I had diarrhea because of the bag, but ever since I left the hospital, my bag has filled much quicker, has been 95% liquid, and yellowish even though I'm eating regularly. Should I take liquid Imodium or try to eat rice, bananas, and other foods that are more binding or should I call the doctor?? Someone in another thread said they always have a couple days of mostly liquid when they first come out after a visit to da big house. Is that true? I'm mostly worried because I don't want to get dehydrated again.

Thanks in advance for any insight you can give me. You've all been such a big help already.

Judy

[JudeD59]

Forgot to mention that I plan on changing the whole setup tomorrow anyway because I want to make sure there aren't any leaks and the tegraderm isn't making things worse. I was just curious about the 24 hr. versus 7 day thing.

Judy

[MissMolly]

Judy:
I am tickled pink that the Tegraderm has offered you a modicum of relief. This bodes well that the CyMed products will work well for you, as the micro-skin wafer/flange is similar in composition to Tegraderm.

To answer your questions . . .
The reason to change the Tegraderm every 24 hours is to avoid trapping wound exudate under the Tegraderm.

A healing wound excretes serous fluid and dead WBCs and lymphocytes. Removing the Tegraderm serves as an effective debridement of the wound bed. Pulling the Tegraderm off and away cleans the wound bed, allowing for the budding of new, healthy granulation tissue.

After removing the Tegraderm, take a shower and allow a gentle stream of warm water to run over the wound bed. You can clean the area with a glycerin-based soap, using the tips of your fingers. Do not use a wash cloth to clean or scrub the area. You can use a small gauze pad to clean the outer edges of the wound, removing any crusted exudate. The wound will heal with new granulation tissue from its outside edges inward to the center of the wound.

Another idea . . .
I routinely use witch hazel to clean parastomal skin which is intact (no cuts or open areas). Moisten a cotton ball with witch hazel and dab on the skin. It is soothing. Be forewarned: Do not use witch hazel on skin that is highly irritated or open/cuts/fissues. You will experience an intense and unpleasant stinging sensation.

If dehydration remains a concern, consider the Cera-Lyte products. Cera-Lyte is superior in osmolality, absorption, and electrolyte replacement than Gatorade or Pedialyte. Cera-Lyte 70 is the product formulation recommended for re-hydration for ileostomies. It comes in single-serve packets as a powder that you mix with water or juice. It tastes quite good and is refreshing.

I believe the website is: http://www.ceralyteproductsinc.com

Sending you healing energy.

[Sams wife]

I said earlier in the thread that I didn't think I would know if I had diarrhea because of the bag, but ever since I left the hospital, my bag has filled much quicker, has been 95% liquid, and yellowish even though I'm eating regularly.

Judy

Did you call the dr? Hubby's was greenish. Doc said food was moving to fast. I think that's about the time he ended up in hospital too. But a week or 2 after that he had to skip a chemo treatment because of thrush. After fluconazol, everything got better. He couldn't even eat. That was before colostomy tho. Maybe nurses at Onc know if its fluids or diareah.
Make sure you go get fluids if you need them.