Mark & Megan's photostream

Here is the upclose shot of the stoma site (sorry blurry but I couldn't get it more clear), it is not so pretty yet, but looks good considering his intestine used to be hanging out of it. The scar is raised on some parts and a little sunken in in the middle. And he no longer has that circle around the stoma area where you could see the ostomy bag wafer would sit.

Some tenderness on this scar, on the top area it feels like there is a staple or something poking out, it weirds Mark out.

Full surgery documentation now located at: www.jpouch.net/photos/surgery-1/

Here are the scars after 10 wks past takedown, and for the other 4 scars it is now 5 months! And his scars are looking really good.

He is still taking 2 immodium in morning and cup of metamucil. And he takes that same "cocktail" in the evening before dinner. A few weeks ago he didn't take the immodium or metamucial, and he was in the bathroom a lot more. Made him realize that those are necessary for him to regulate his movements. He is averaging about 6 times in a 24 hour period. Some days are more/less than others. He does have some butt burn, but comes and goes, I'm sure it has to do with his food. We eat tons of tomato based sauce/foods and maybe those are the issue but he still eats them!

Okay, so here is Mark after 10 Weeks Post Takedown. As you can see he is coming to life. It has been years since he snowboarded as his UC did not allow board sports easily (ski lift, bathroom, urgency...not a good mix).

He is actually volunteering to help a program that takes kids snowboarding who use modified board equipment due to movement paralysis of some sorts. He is really excited about this and he can't wait to snowboard again.

Here is the stoma site healing up after 3 weeks since take down. Isn't that strange how the stoma ghost is still around the suture. Anywho, the wound is healing well, no infection and just itches at times.

Hello Winter! We had two cords of wood sitting there waiting to be stacked that arrived prior to takedown and it sat there through surgery. The good news is that 3 weeks after takedown Mark felt great and was stacking wood. He is going back to work on week 4 (surgeon approved him to do his type of work after 4 weeks). However, he has been doing office type work since early week 2.

At the end of Week 4 after takedown, all is going really well. Mark went back to physical work this week on an interior remodel. He was able to work full days and felt good. He was surely tired at the end of the day and is resting this weekend. His moods are much improved now since we are getting back to living a "normal" life. His movements are about 2 at night and 4-6 during the day. He is on 2 immodium in morning and glass of metamucil, 2 immodium at night before dinner and glass of metamucil. He thinks the fiber is helping thicken him enough so he can fully evacuate. And the immodium he thinks is helping his frequency decrease.

No complaints, 5 weeks in jpouch life and is going well!