Intestinal Blockage: Hands Down the Worst Pain I Have Ever Had in My Life

I have had Crohn's Disease for nearly 30 years.  I have had numerous surgeries, delivered a baby via natural childbirth (after 27 hours of labor and 7 full hours of active pushing), and had some doozy surgical recoveries.  I have never in my life had as much pain as I had starting Sunday night.  All over some stupid fruit salad.  Fruit salad that I have eaten dozens of times year after year.  But Sunday night something changed and I had a partial intestinal blockage.

Yoga!

Exercise is a challenge for me.  I want to exercise and I enjoy the boost of energy I get when I exercise regularly, but it has been a major challenge the last 10 years or so to find a method of exercise that I can do on a regular basis that doesn't result is serious hernia pain or hurt my bottom at my rectum surgery site,  or squish my ostomy, or knock my wafer loose.  I think I have finally found the perfect low impact exercise for me:  YOGA!!

I have always been afraid to try it because the poses that require me to lay on my stomach or bend to much and squish my ostomy.  I went to a class years ago where the teacher pointed out everything that I and everyone else in the class did wrong.  I was terribly discouraged and never went back.  My experience this time has been completely different.  I spent a good bit of time talking with the teacher about my limitations and rather than pointing out how I was doing it wrong, or refusing to let me be a part of the class, she instead came up with alternative poses for me to do that worked the same muscles but didn't stress my hernias or ostomy.

I cannot tell you how excited I am to find exercise that I can do that doesn't leave my hernias constantly hurting.

What kind of exercise have you found that works for you?

I'll show you mine if you show me yours

I remember back when I had intestines.  Back in '01 when I was sick as a dog, rarely going anywhere, and when I did I had to drive--I needed that control of being able to find a suitable bathroom at the drop of a hat.  It seems that need for control is still there in some small part.  I have been in the ostomy game now for over 12 years and feel like I have a pretty successful ostomy routine down pat.  I will show you my routine and preferences if you will show me yours.

I prefer these bags to dispose of my appliance after changing. I use 4x4 gauze propped under my stoma during the bag change. I don't want to take the chance that kleenex or toilet paper might have lotions in them that might transfer to my skin affecting how the bag will stick.  I prefer to sit down rather than stand (I am surprised by how many standers there are out there.  What happens if it starts to run during the change?).  I have a stash of designated bag changing hand towels that I sit in my lap just to be safe.  

I like the Coloplast line above all others.  I use the Coloplast Sensura cut-to-fit with convexity.  I really like the velcro closure most of all.  Intestined folks don't stick their hands in the toilet to touch their poop so why should I have to?  Coloplast's velcro enclosure is the only system I have found that I can empty without coming in contact with poo.

I have tried every paste and seal out there but always seem to go back to the Eakin Seal.     

                                                 

I set aside some time every few months to insert one wafer, one bag, and one eakin seal into the little black bags so they are ready to be used rather than running around looking for everything I need when it comes time to change my appliance.  I have found this to be particularly helpful if a leak occurs.

So there it is.  My micromanaging overly organized approach to ostomy care.  Can you say uptight?

What is your routine?

Dr. Sunanda Kane discusses Crohn's Disease and Pregnancy

I had an epiphany last night...

Last night my husband was giving me grief over how much television I watch--right before he took off for the bathroom, for a length of time I will not divulge here simply because this is not meant to embarrass him. I do watch more than the average bear but more than anything I DVR more than the average bear. Now, there may have been a few instances of binge watching that took place this summer when Matt was traveling for his job and it was too hot to go outside, but my binge watching ended once it cooled down again. I promise. Really. Except for Breaking Bad and Orange is the New Black but I am caught up now so binging isn't necessary. Anyhow, after getting the grief it got me thinking about something. I don't get ANY time to myself. I remember back when I had intestines I had more time to myself than I ever wanted stuck in the bathroom. I took every magazine you could think of--People, Us, Entertainment Weekly, Reader's Digest. I was very well-read at the time, if by well-read you mean fluffy junk reading. Now, my alone time is catching a television show while Wylie naps. Or watching part of show while Matt visits the bathroom. It is my quiet escape. My me time. There are plenty of other things that are more productive that I could be doing during those times but at the end of the day, television is what I like to do to escape. It isn't by any means all that I do to escape or relax.

Lessons learned two years down the road...

When I got pregnant with Wylie back in 2011 it came after a year of wicked flare brought on by a stupid GI doc that decided that I should come off ALL of my meds and go on steroids before trying to get pregnant.  Who knew that was the worst possible thing to do?  I certainly didn't, and I trusted my doctor.  I went in to what I thought was the flare of a decade that resulted in pain, tests, hospitalizations, etc.  The fact that we even got pregnant with all of that going on in my body is amazing.