Another silly question

After having an open RnY, do most people have trouble reaching to wipe their bottoms? I saw a bottom buddy being advertized on someone's website and thought - do I need one of those?!!!

Hay Eileen, I thought the same thing and i asked on the Main board here and alot of them replyed. Bring a wooden spoon and wash cloth to the hospital with you. Great idea and Im sure it works but I found this long back scrubber at walmart and it's not a bru****s a soft scrunchie and it can reach your back and bottom for easy wash. OH what am I saying you wanted to know about wiping your bottom! Well I guess the wooden spoon and paper wraped around it will work just fine and is probably cheaper that a bottom buddy! Your other question you asked was a wonder that I was alson wondering about. How dose your stomach stop leaking inside after the drain is removed. I think I will email Rosella and ask her in detail. Good luck to you . My date is Sep/22/04. cher

Thank you, Cher, My surgery date is 8/13, so I only have 30 days to go! I'll go to Walmart and look around. That bottom buddy does look expensive! If you hear back from Rosella about that leaking question, please let me know. I have aol, so I can send Rosella emails, but she can't email me back. Good luck to you, also!

What a subject! You don't poop at all for awhile because you are not eating so cleaning up because of that really isn't an issue. I suppose a wodden spoon with a wash cloth would work and it is a lot chepaer than that bottom buddy! Oh the things we have to do to be healthy! As far as the drain goes your old stomach still functions. the large intestine is still attached to it and it removes the bile form your body. so you do drain inside and that is normal. As far as the drain hole draining it is very little and closes up within a day of two. You will have two tubes coming out of you after surgery. The first one is taken out the day you leave the hospital and the drain bag hole a week later. That hole closed up quickly also. It is just amazing how fast a person heals. Rmember to ake some kind of bathrobe/corveup. The hsopital gowns are very samll and don't cover your backside. I had a cotton robe that I put one arm through and placed over my other shoulder. That way I could walk all around and look fairly decent. I saw others walking around with their butts exposed. I may have just had surgery but my vanity was not removed! I think if you try your best to look good on the outside you feel better on the inside.

Wow, my spelling is atrocious! It is midnight! Off to bed. I can now sleep on my side. What a relief.

Thanks, Canela. I knew that the old stomache is attached and that it drains into the intestines, but I was wondering about the small hole - 1/4" - left in the old stomache where the drain tube gets pulled from. Also, thanks for the suggestion of taking a light housecoat. I don't want my tooshie exposed either!

Dr. Aguirre explained to me that when they remove the tube, the skin/muscle/fat immediately shut off. Trying to think of what to compare it to......okay - kind of like when you poke a hole in a thick piece of rubber. You pull the needle out and it closes up to where nothing will get through. That is how the stomach is with the hole, and the abdominal wall as well. Even though the hole went through the abdominal wall, you won't see inside you because it just snaps shut. You just see the outer part of the hole is all. Hope that helps answer your questions! Dina

Again, thanks Canela and also Dina! That makes sense to me now. I so appreciate your support and willingness to share with me.

Okay I have been thinking about this. Remember when you got your ears pierced and you HAD to leave those earrings in for a while or the holes would close up. Well, its the same deal here. The hole closes up. Just closes, just like that. Quickly, without even saying a word.

I know that I'm late in replying but I'm on vacation and just checked the boards. I took a pair of kitchen tongs to Mexico with me. You just wrap the toilet paper around them, reach back, wipe, and then make them release the paper. Works great! And yes, you will be too sore to stretch and twist far enough to wipe adequately! The first time I went to the bathroom in the hospital, I had to ask my mom to wipe me - and I'm a 55 year old woman and mom's 79! It was terribly embarrasing (I'd left the tongs at the hotel), but I didn't want to dribble down my legs. After that I used the tongs. Charlotte