Ileo-what??

After a few weeks in the hospital with no progress, the surgeon made his way up my floor and into my room. He came up and spoke with me alone and then with my parents and I. He was very nice and seemed very knowledgeable. Stated there was a surgery that he specializes in where he removes the colon and constructs what they call a J-pouch out of the small intestine. The pouch will act as the colon over time, absorbing nutrients and liquids. The only real difference would be that I would go to the bathroom about 6-8 times a day or more depending. He made sure he didn't make light of the surgery because it is a very serious operation and removing your large intestine is a big deal. It was a lot to deal with and digest. He let me think it through and do some research.

I immediately started googling j-pouch surgeries and found an amazing website www.j-pouch.org which has been a life saver even till this day. I talked to many people through that site and read many life stories of people who have had the surgery and how it saved their lives and how it was ten times better than dealing with colitis or crohns. At that point, I knew deep down that I would most likely go through with the surgery. I did a lot of thinking alone and aloud with my family and friends and finally came to the decision that the surgery was my only hope of getting better, leaving the hospital, and ultimately saving my life. And so the process began.

My surgeon sent up an Ostomy nurse who specializes in these surgeries as well. Without a colon, I would have a temporary ileostomy. Ileo-what is exactly what I said and had NO idea what that was. Those of you who don't know as I didn't, it's where they pull out part of your small intestine (called a stoma) so that it's literally protruding out of your stomach, on either side of your belly button. Mine is on my right side. This is where your stool and gas will come out while the j-pouch is healing. Attached to your stomach will be a special bag that you can empty whenever it gets full and you completely change the bag every 3-4 days. I could take a picture and show but I think these details are enough. Feel free to google if you need a visual :)