I'm about 10 weeks post-op with an Indiana Pouch, with the stoma in my navel. Pardon for posting in the women's section, but I thought that these were much more common for women.
So here's what I've been running across so far and have questions about:
1. I've read several posts about people catheterizing standing up. Is that really the norm, because I've gone the opposite direction. I always sit down, because 25% of the time, a little or a lot of urine comes out around the catheter, getting my front wet. Is this just a new pouch issue?
2. I wear a Poise pad held in place with an abdominal binder, in case I have an eruption. Many times when I go to the bathroom, I'm pretty dry, but I almost always have some urine and I always have several globs of mucus on the pad. That seems like it would make it pretty much impossible to ever go without a pad. Does this get better, or do you always leak some and need protection?
3. Every couple days I get some blood spotting on the pad. Any concerns with that, or is this pretty typical?
4. Anybody active in sports? I started running with my doctor's approval, but even just a few minutes of running on the 3rd day caused enough rubbing on my shirt that I bled more than ever - actual drops of blood instead of just spots. Covering the stoma with a band-aid has made it manageable, I think, but is this a permanent issue?
Thanks for any comments.