Update after Laparoscopic LAR

Hi everyone,

It's been a while since I posted anything.  I just had Lapraroscopic Low Anterior Resection (LAR), I think that's what its called on November 13th. I had a tumor in the lower portion of my rectum. The surgery was to remove my rectum just above the spinter muscles and attach my colon to the lower portion where my rectum was. The surgeon said he was pretty sure he was going to be able to save my normal function, but would at least have a temporary ileostomy, which I was dreading, and having to work with it, temporary or permanent was scary to me. A coworker said his father had a temporary ostomy, and it was a big blow to his father's self-esteem. The surgeon said if I wake up from surgery and the ostomy is on my left, its permanent, and on the right its, temporary. I thought going into surgery, I was not going to check after surgery, because I was scared to know. Well, what's the first thing I did after surgery, check for ostomy placement. Everything went perfect and I have a temporary ileostomy. I think now, what was I so worried about, its not that bad, even that its temporary, if I have a permanent, its very doable. I think the unknown scared me, not knowing what to expect. Laz, you were right, its not that bad either way. It's definitely not going to be blow to my self-esteem, I'm just going to move forward, its different but not bad. I think more confusing is all the different products out there. I'm sticking with what I received from the hospital, since that's all I know right now. I've been home since Monday November 18th. I had to stay an extra day due to an overactive ostomy the first couple days, I had an output of 2500ml in 24 hours, good thing I was on IV fluids. Its definitely more under control now, just have to be on a low fiber diet, I will miss fresh vegetables and fruits for just a little bit. I'm feeling better and better everyday, I was only on pain meds from Wednesday (surgery) to Saturday morning, I hate taking any meds if I don't have too. Even though the fentanyl made me sleep like a baby . The tightness in my stomach from the incisions, is feeling better each day, I have a three inch incision under my belly button, and four other smaller holes around my stomach.

My best advice to everyone going in for  surgery, is to stay positive, there is always someone who has it worse then you do, look at the positives, not the negatives. 

If anyone has any questions or comments, I'm glad to hear them.  

Rob