Here we are night before RC

definately a long time since i have been on here. Gator is my husband. I'm sure no remembers but I am back. He did well after his rc on 03/29/2009. Stayed in hospital for 8 days. There are alot of things I wanted to post and ask at that time but, just took care of him and tried to easy his worry. His Dr. told him he was doing amazing at every appt. He really seemed surprized that he was not having problems. Not really sure where to post at now. because he does have questions that I know some body out there has had to deal with. The site is great by the way. Love the upgrades. I had to register as new user for us. Couldn't remeber name or PW. Don't have same email so just started over but was lucky to find this post I put on. And Pat your site was a god send for Indy pouch info. Thank you all...

WOW ! I'm impressed you are already home from the hospital. I was in for 10 days. My surgery went well but due to all the pain meds, I had little appitite and so my bowels wouldn't cooperate...and we all know they won't let you leave the hospital until you pass gas and have a BM. When I did eat, whatever I eat came back up so I couldn't get my digestive system to settle down until day 9....woke up on day 10 and announced to the doctors that i was going home. Several times while in the hospital and after I arrived home I was contacting Pat to calm my fears. My RC was in July 07 but now it seems like ages ago and I feel like a pro...you will also, in time.

Easy to digest foods is key. You really have to be very picky about your choice in foods. Chicken noodle or veggie soups are good. One friend brought me some frozen fruit and a blender with yogurt to make smoothies...that was good for me as long as I didn't get too much citris...even now, too much OJ or pineapple juice will irritate my system. Pat suggested scrambled eggs...good protein. Peanut butter, also an easy and good source of protein...some mornings a spoonful of it was all I could manage. I love brocolli but found the pouch didn't like more than one serving of it at a time. As others have said, you will have to be cautious and carefully test foods to determine what works well for you and what doesn't. I suggest you take it slow and esy for the first couple of months...and forget fast foods if you're inclined to indulge in them.

I feel I must apologize to you because I did tell you earlier about my website and I fully intended to get there earlier this week and add some additional information to be helpful to you. I am going to go there now and work on it in the hope that I can be of better assistance to you. If you want to contact me personally there is a place for that on my website and I would be happy to answer any questions you might have...I have found that the forum offers great information from warriors who have been there and done that...and we relate to some more easily than others....anyway, my site is: www.bladdercancerwarrior.com I hope to work the site during the next few hours and update it with more details on life with the Indy pouch...check it out if you feel up to it. Melodie

I'm so glad you're home! And the bowel issue WILL get better, although it's all you can think about now (except for the pain control).

The nurse story was cute. I remember the first time a nurse was told to catheterize my husband. I don't know if she or my husband was more embarrassed when she reached for his penis, when he had a navel stoma.....

Try oatmeal, or another whole fiber cereal. We had a discussion on the list last year, and someone also suggested a whole grain cereal from Canada.

Stephany in Iowa

Be careful of things like naval oranges and artichokes. I learned the hard way about the staples used to connect my intestine back together. Wound up with a blockage that put me in the hospital for a few days. Luckily, it cleared on it's own (with meds and no food for three days) but surgery wasn't required.

I had eaten two naval oranges and all the fiber from oranges blocked up right at the point of the resection. Doc said he had someone do the same thing with strawberries but the way he described it they hadn't really chewed much.
He also recommended chewing more than you think is necessary. Most of us don't chew our food well enough.

For a while, stick with very easy to digest food. Things need to heal so you don't want them working overtime processing food. That's also why they say many small meals instead of fewer large meals for a while.

I found I was kind of sensitive to some foods for a while after the surgery but I can pretty much eat anything again. My RC was Oct 8, 2008. Dairy got worse for a while but then settled back down.


Mike

Now it is all over, and they let you out! Yippee! Now it all begins....Really begins.
Before I got bladder cancer I had absolutly NO clue about my body. I ate what I wanted, and acted as if I was 18 when it came to listening to my body.
Then i came home from the hospital and I couldn't hear over the yelling my body throwing at me! So, I listened. I experimented with food that I always ate before and found out that they no longer liked me.
As time goes on you will find that these early raging body functions will calm down. I found that I never considered certain foods as daily necessities.. bananas, orange juice, and lots of fluids.
I wish you well and gald to hear you are home....You WILL get better!

Hi Nanny,

So glad to hear you're home. This is the time in your life when you need to be really good to yourself. There is a lot of healing that needs to happen. I was told that eating a sufficient amount of protein helps with the healing.

As for the bowels and BM's. Had an incontinent issuein the hospital but it settled down after that. Your body has gone through a lot. Of course on the other end of the spectrum, they don't want you to strain so try to keep things moving. I took Sennekot or Colace as needed. But if your incontinent issue doesn't resolve itself I would definitely let my doctor know.

As Pat said, the banana a day was a habit I got into and I'm still doing that today.

Just know that you will heal. Your body wants to heal. You just have to allow it to do what it naturally wants to do.

As Melodie said - one day at a time. And celebrate the progress you are making as you go along.

Gracie