Dawn, haha, yea the holidays would definitely suck without all the grubbin's! And I'll have to try that seasonal latte this year. I wonder if I'll be ready for coffee or tea soon. I won't have it until after my follow up. I am guilty of doing a light work out at home today with half the weight amount I'm used to, and a lot of ab excersizes like old times. It didn't feel bad at all :) I'm not going any farther than that physically until after the follow up as well.
Dawn, you really cheered me up reminding me and making me believe that I do have a chance to get at that gravy, turkey, stuffing, french fries, etc this thanksgiving and Christmas :D thanks!!
And yes hopetoheal and Dawn, the bm last night was beautiful... But that bm was scheduled for this morning!! And for some reason this is the first day in atleast a few years that I didn't have a bm lol... I'm sure tomorrow morning I'll be woken by the urge lol.
Oh and about the beach affecting my bm making it seem hard, hopetoheal made me think how she said she always keeps up her intake of water, and I then realized for the 2 hours of driving, and 2 hours spent at the beach, I only had 1 1/2 - 2 bottles of water even though I had a cooler for an army! I now realize that de-hydration was definitely the cause of the hard bm because 2 bottles of water in +38 degree Celcius weather in 4 hours is not enough for us.
Wish you all a goodight! :)

Thanks so much, Dawn, for the encouragement. You're right that this has been a long, hard fight for me, so I'll just remember where I was a few months ago and be happy about how far I've actually come. I am much more mobile these days.
Adam, it's true that we need a lot of water - but it's so easy to foget that when you are busy lol. I hope you had that beautiful BM you were looking forward to. And I hope you are both having a great day. :D

Lmao thanks hopetoheal, my bm this morning wasn't that great. It began as a bit hard but then became soft the rest of the way. It was probably because I didn't have one the day before, but two in the day before that. Today I had another one at night! It was the most beautiful one yet!
I'm confused about this two in one day habit, because I'm afraid that if I don't have atleast one the next day, it'll be constipated over night, and turn into a bit of a hard stool. I know I probably should have been having ateast two bm's these past few years, as I was always holding them in all day, and they were monster sized stools because I eat so much. I wish there were bm specialists. This may be something I'll take up with my family doctor. Because two bm's in one day, and none the next, cannot be healthy to my system, especially when I eat the same amount everyday.
But today was great for me; there was a bunch of stuff around the house I had to take care of from a while back, and now that I'm off work, I finally got around to it. I also went for an hour long walk after my bm tonight, and it was great. I know it may seem a bit early, but I think it's okay because a couple nights this past week I've had incredible gas pains in my lower abdomen with a lot of gas after. The excersize is helping that out a lot.
I also love how I get to stay up late :) goodnight!

Hey Adam - I'm sorry you had a not-so-great BM - but congratulations on the second great one!
I understand the whole getting the BMs regulated business. I've been struggling with that too! From everything I've read it seems that it's not that unusual to go a day without a BM. Anywhere from 3 a day to 3 a week is considered 'normal'. Even so, it really depends on individual body rythm and comfort. I wouldn't want to go only 3 times a week! I expect that once you get your activity levels back up you will go back to have one or two a day. Your doc may be able to help with that, but I wonder if a nutritionist/dietitian would also be the right kind of specialist. I'm going to be seeing a nutritionist in the fall to help me gain more weight and get my digestion sorted out.
A number of other boardies here have talked about the 'hard-tip' stool. I've had that too. I think once the BM patterns get sorted out, that gets better. Also, the advice I've seen here is to keep drinking lots of water. I wonder if the hard-tippers are probably more uncomfortable than they otherwise would be because we are very sensitive. I'm sure I've had BMs that started off hard before, but I just didn't notice it because the ole butt wasn't so delicate. These days, I really don't like those steel-toed stools!
It's great that you're up and moving around. That'll help stimulate the BMs. I've been walking too - but not as much as you. I just have to remember to drink a ton of water when I get back inside. This heatwave is really dehydrating!
I hope you have better BM experiences today! :D

Adam,
I would imagine it's harder achieve a pattern without stool softeners or/ and fiber supplements. I guess it all really depends on the digestive system.
There are rare days that I barely have a bm and the next day I go normal amount. Even with the miralax once in awhile I'll have a out of the ordinary bm pattern.
Before my LIS, hard tip stools were noticeable but since the surgery, I haven't really noticed if I have them or not

Thanks hopetoheal and Dawn :)
Well yesterday I had two bm's like I said and today none lol... Looks like I'll be having two again tomorrow! I don't mind this pattern at all, but I think having 2 bm's one day, and none the next, is causing the "steel toe stool" (lmao) possibly because it is being constipated.
I know I get enough fiber that's for sure, through the fiber 1 cereal and the fiber 1 bars that together give me 70% of my suggested daily fiber. And the other snacks and meals I eat also have fiber, like the beans and veggies in my soup, the whole grain bread, and nutrigrain bars I dip in sweetened apple sauce.
But I think the true cause of this weird pattern may be because of my changed sleeping habit. This bm pattern started just a few days ago, and it was about the time I started spoiling myself but staying up late and waking up late. I will force myself upbas early as possible tomorrow morning (really this morning as I'm typing this at 1:42 am lol) to not only change my sleep pattern but to cut off the waiting of my bm because I know it will be brewing in several hours.

Oh and hope, about the water thing... If I ever leave my house, whether it's for 10 minutes, or 5 hours, I make sure I chug down a full glass of water before I leave.. Not onoy that, I bring a cooler with ice packs and 3 or 5 bottles of water in there, depending on how long I'm expecting not to be home.
But even if I'm outside for 10 minutes, I'll bring a bottle of water out there. When I went for my long walk last night, one bottle of water was enough to carry, as I drank a lot all day, and chugged a glass before I left.
I can't even imagine to know how it feels to have gone through what you have hope, having lis once, then a fistula surgery after! Itbmust be very frustrating and scary at the same time. But at least it's over now. I know you don't want to go through it ever again, so being careful soon after surgery. But don't be scared to go out in public, you'll do just fine as long as you be careful and take it easy and do only what you expected of yourself, like a realistic goal. You'll be there in no time hope!

Hey Adam - Thanks for the support and encouragement. This whole thing has left me pretty delicate. But I will do as you and Dawn say and just go slowly and remind myself that I will get better. :D
It sounds like your fiber and water intake are ideal, so I think you're right that your sleep patterns might be messing with your BM cycles. That happens to me too. :D
One thing that occurred to me as I read your menu is that Drs often suggest the "BRAT" diet for people with diarrhea. That is: Bananas, Rice, Applesauce, and Toast. I didn't know that applesauce could constipate some people. Perhaps the applesauce might be slowing things down a bit for you? It doesn't sound like you eat very much of it, but who knows? My butt issues have definitely impacted how I react to food now.
I hope you have a great day, BM or no BM. :D

Thanks hopetoheal, I woke up early this morning and had a bm this morning as anticipated - it was okay, a bit steel toed, but it didn't hurt as much as the other day so it's getting better I hope. It's pretty late now and I'm going to bed soon, and there doesn't seem to be that second bm lurking :) So I am hoping and anticipating it to come early tomorrow as I promised my boss who is in a jam that I'd finish some work that he can't get to. I have to wake up at 4 30 am, but if it doesn't happen, I'm going to bring all the material I need and stop off at any tim hortons or mc donalds to have the bm and clean.
About the applesauce, the first time I bought it, it wasn't the organic applesauce, and it had cinnamon in it too. I know for sure cinnamon is bad for us because it will dry up everything. The bm after I had the cinnamon applesauce it did feel hard. So I let my famiy get at that and I bought the organic sweetened applesauce and all my bm's have been soft. So I suggest to not be afraid of the sweetened organic applesauce! It's pretty much all organic apples in there. And make sure it's sweetened because it tastes so great I didn't know what I was missing!
Goodnight!

Hey Adam - thanks for the info on organic applesauce. I will definitely try it. I didn't know about the cinnamon - I've been putting it on my oatmeal. But that is actually good for me because my BMs have been a bit too loose lately. Now they are better and now I know why! :D
I had my follow-up today and got good news. The doc says I'm healing well and very close to being completely healed. Some goo/pus still oozes out when I stretch the wound, but the wound itself is healing properly. He also stretched the wound and it didn't hurt, just a bit uncomfortable when he used more pressure. The doc said that 4 to 6 weeks to heal is normal and in the meantime I should continue with the baths and the stretching. I have another follow-up on Aug 31st. So, that's the story: I'm not quite healed, but very dern close! :D
I really hope your 4:30am (yikes!) wake up this morning didn't mess up your BMs too much. I'm glad the last steel-toed one didn't hurt too bad - that must mean the butt is healing and getting tougher. I hope you had a great day.