Tubeless

I had my procedure yesterday to clean out the abscess.  The doctor noted the presacral abscess was smaller than we originally saw last week, which means it looks to be on the mend.  The sinus into the actual abscess was smaller than a straw and actually too small for him to put a drain:  That's even better news, as I don't have to deal with rectal tubes!  The inflammation in the pouch has also receded, so it seems the pouchitis (or what we thought was pouchitis) is getting under control.  As a result, we are also tapering the steroids.  Good news all around!

Since the gastrogafin last week, the pouch and the abscess have felt much better.  Other than taking narcotics yesterday after the scope, I've been able to go through most days without pain.  Maybe the barium pressure washer actually blew out the abscess and lord knows what mess had been hiding in there.  (Sorry, no pictures.  I'm disappointed, you can count on that.)  It's obviously clean now!

We will be monitoring the abscess over the next few weeks to see if it continues to heal and close on its own.  If that does not happen, we'll have to deal with surgery and restitching, but those are bridges we'll cross if/when we get to them.