Four month J-pouch update
May 8, 2009Everybody is still wildly concerned about what life is like post-j-pouch surgery. This video discusses how my pipes worked four months after my takedown surgery. Not too much different than at three months, or really two months. The changes and improvements I’m making are happening much slower as time goes on, suggesting that I am nearing the point when this point in time will be my new normal.
Keep fighting,
~Dennis
Question: For the j-pouchers, what did your life look like at four months? Respond to this post please!
Hey Dennis. Do you drink coffee? If so, any adverse effects not part of the regular day-to-day J-pouch maintenance?
Hi Adam, sorry, I do not drink coffee. I don’t like hot liquids because I always burn my tongue!
hey Dennis, I had my takedown about 2 weeks ago, and what I have to look forward to is really bothering me. What is the best i can hope for, what is the timeline, and what are the perminate problems i will continue to struggle with ( butt burn, anal abcess, etc..
Check out all of my videos about my j-pouch to get an idea of what I have gone through, which isn’t necessarily typical. It seems most people average 4 to 6 bms a day, and once a night a few times a week, which is very good. Check out my video “J-Pouch Frequency isn’t that bad” to get an understanding why. I reached this level fairly quickly in a few months but it might take up to a year to really feel like things have normalized.
There shouldn’t be any “permanent” problems. The burning comes and goes depending on what you eat and how you manage your j-pouch. It’s definitely not something I deal with every day. I’m not sure what causes abcesses and fistulas and the like to develop.
Also Dennis, what are the odds of having an Ileostomy perminately?
I’m not sure about the odds. You’ll want to talk to your hospital or surgeon and see what the odds are at that hospital. I went to Mayo Clinic, which I have the bias as the best hospital for this kind of surgery. At Mayo Clinic they follow up on their j-pouch patients and find that after 20 years around 95% of them still have a functioning j-pouch. You’ll want to ask your surgeon about these kinds of statistics. But it seems most people that I’ve talked to can avoid an ileostomy.
hey dennis