The one nice thing about having an Ileostomy is you can actually see what you absorb.  Take for instance vitamins.  I now know that the one I take, 3/4 of it gets absorbed and the rest is able to be pressed flat and broken up while in the bag.  At least I know that I have a good vitamin considering it doesn't come out whole. 

So I am now taking Metamucil and just really not liking it.  I just have to take so many pills now and it's crazy trying to keep them straight.  At breakfast I have to take 1 vitamin, 1 Imodium and now have added Metamucil (for the next three days I take 1 pill twice a day, then 2 in the morning and 1 in afternoon for three days and building up for 15 days and then I'll be on a set schedule).  Basically I take vitamins and Imodium three times a day with meals.  Plus I also take Sambu Guard a few times a day and also want to add a stress reducing pill that's all natural.

Now I know that I said I'm only going to do the "Natural Way Only" but with this lifestyle change, I'm following my doctor's advice to the letter until after my second surgery and I feel a lot more comfortable with how my body reacts to things.

Not to be gross but if you have the same type of surgery I did and you are able to have your small intestine reattached to your rectum, for the first few weeks (if you're a woman) you need to wear a pad 24 hours a day, especially at night because even though you did the bowel prep, there's still stuff in there.  It's weird because I remember the Friday after my surgery late at night I had this sensation that I had to poop.  I didn't need to but that feeling was very weird.

When I get home that Sunday night and a few days pass I started waking up and there was this black stuff all over my pad and this disgusting smell.  As long as you have your rectum, even with having a temporary Ileostomy, you will still be producing mucous.  Now all of the black stuff, which is a blood clot, is gone and it doesn't smell at night (no more changing the sheets twice a day) and when I do have something coming out of my rectum I now know that it is just mucous. 

I have been doing more research about my diet since my diet is the same as someone who has a permanent stoma (colostomy or ileostomy) that I really am trying to increase my protein, carbs and salt intake to help with hydration.  One thing that a few places say is that after the second surgery is done to really stop eating after 7pm so that way you don't have to get up so many times to use the bathroom.  Right now I'm lucky because my bag and these deodorizing drops make cleaning up not so smelly but once I have the second surgery it won't be so easy.  I know for the most part how fast my food is being passed through so but I don't know how well I'll be able to mask the odor after the bag is gone.  I've been told that I can take charcoal tablets to help so I guess we'll see.

So today things went ok except for the fact that we were a little late getting to school and I'm still upset about a charge from his school that I don't think I have to pay but the owners are on vacation for the next three weeks.  I guess we'll see.  Anyway I dropped him off at school and we drove home and while I was doing laundry and cleaning the kitchen I asked "O" to color in her coloring book instead of watching TV.  Now that I'm done cleaning and in need of a break we are watching Dora as I'm trying to get all my work done.

We have been talking about moving to Chicago a little more with the kids and they are getting excited about doing it and we have already decided that we are going to live somewhere downtown but now the mystery is are we going to get a three bedroom or a three bedroom with den.  Since we'll be going back to a small apartment and there's a good chance that the kids will be sharing a room, "N's" getting excited because he's understanding that we are going to be getting them bunk beds and he gets to sleep on top.  Last night he didn't want to go to bed until he had his bunk bed and so "The Hubby" told him that we would go look at IKEA at one of the bunk beds.

I'm against it because that means we'll have to move it and we're not even sure how many rooms we're going to have.  Either way "N" will be getting a new bed with new mattress since I don't like what he has now.