Jpouch Feels Much Better; So Do I

My jpouch definitely feels better having had the exploratory surgery last Wednesday.  I measure this by pain (gone!), urgency (greatly diminished), and frequency (way, way down).  In fact these were all true starting one day after the procedure.  I attribute this to the antibiotics, which I'm still taking.  I've been using the steroid suppositories twice a day for several days now, which must also be helping a lot.

Less pain means, of course, less pain.  I finally stopped taking the serious pain killers, and have even reduced the amount of Advil I need.  Less urgency means greater peace of mind, less running pell-mell through the house risking stubbed toes, upturned furniture, and the like.  And lower frequency means more sleep!

I can actually begin a project, or an email, or a conversation, or dinner, and feel confident that it won't be interrupted every 20 minutes.

And when my jpouch feels better, I feel better!

Sore Throat is the Worst, then Leg

My neck and hips were hardest struck by the drug the anaesthesiologist pumped into me (unnecessarily?). Yesterday I couldn't lift my head or my left leg.  It was really hard to get out of bed!  All day yesterday I had to use my hands to lift my left leg up onto the couch, the squatting platform, the chair, etc.

This morning I felt encouraged by waking up with much less pain in my neck and hips.  Decided to see if I could get through the day with just Advil.  Was okay for a few hours, but then the wicked sore throat came back with a vengeance. So I'm back on Dilaudid (twelve times stronger than morphine!) for now.  The irony of taking pain killers to treat side effects of anaesthesia has not escaped me.

Until today, the sore throat's been worst on the left side. I figured that was the side they jammed the hardest with the (unnecessary?) breathing tube. So I'm surprised to find the right side of my throat hurting most now. However, My Landlord the Doctor informs me that this is not uncommon. She also warned me that the sore throat could continue being this bad for another week!

This post doesn't really seem to be about my guts, does it.  Well, in other complainy news, my left leg is horribly swollen; haven't seen it this bad since the leg micro-surgery last summer. With the current hot, dry weather, my leg should be nice and unswollen today.  I fear side effects of the ciprofloxacin I'm taking for pouchitis.  Heading for my Normatec "leg pump" shortly.