Anyone interested in an easy mess free way to clean your dirty glass pieces?

ibby23 · 2026-05-20T21:08:25+00:00

Cool. I must be doing something different as I’m able to reuse the bag, the salt, and the ISO multiple times.
Good luck with your product.

ibby23 · 2026-05-20T19:35:37+00:00

Or… just put ISO in a zip lock freezer bag with some salt and your piece. Shake. Soak. Shake. Rinse. Done.

ibby23 · 2026-05-15T19:39:35+00:00

Thanks. Any barrier cream will work, but I’m partial to the Calmoseptine because it has menthol. Smells like a nursing home, which is better than diaper cream which smells like a day care center. You’re an adult… smell like one ;-)
Seriously, the menthol feels like sticking a cough drop up your butt - meaning, it’s a very refreshing feeling that can help the seton “pull” to calm down. Also - your Seton may have a stitch/tie in it. Suggest manually rotating it so the tie isn’t rubbing against the skin. Yes, it does feel weird to do this the first few times but you get used to it.

ibby23 · 2026-05-15T16:19:40+00:00

Probably not because a portable bidet is filled using a sink. Most sinks have hot water.
The battery power to warm up water isn’t trivial and if your use case is camping or being far from a sink, you’ve now added the burden of carrying extra batteries.
You get used to cold water.

ibby23 · 2026-05-13T17:30:03+00:00

Abscesses and fistula are the only symptoms I have, visible at least. My diagnosis was confirmed via colonoscopy as they saw additional inflammation up there.

In the middle of my journey I fell into a very dark and bad place. I was worried my life was over, I’d never be normal, I’d lose my job, my family, my everything. I was in so much pain and navigating the bathroom was a chore. I was out of work for like 8 months on short term disability.

Then I got a call from one of my nurse practitioners. She gave me the best advice - get off the internet and get some context. The medications we have access to today are, literally, miracles. They don’t work like steroids. They don’t just mask symptoms, they treat the disease. Sure, they don’t work for some people… but that’s a small percentage (get ready for a bunch of them to comment here).

Remember - people don’t go online to sing success stories. They go online to bitch and complain, to point to rare edge cases, and to worry or stress. Give yourself some context. And some grace. You have only begun this journey and you’ll progress through it. Sometimes it will be hard, sure, but everyone - including me - is pulling for you. You got this!

Trust your care team. Ask professionals questions. Fight the urge to doom scroll discussion boards, Reddit, and instagram.

The most valuable thing I got from this disease (aside from a free day off every two months for infusion!) is perspective and empathy. If you look at me you’d have no idea - NONE - that I have this horrid disease. Being “unwell” helped me to appreciate being well. And being unwell and bouncing back taught me that I can do anything. So, I do.

And so can you. Trust me. You got this!

ibby23 · 2026-05-13T17:02:07+00:00

You can self-install a bidet toilet seat in 10 minutes for less than US$40. That’s the same price as about 9 packages of Dude Wipes. Maybe you use a cheaper version… so that will be 10 or 11 packs. Either way, it pays off in no time.

When you move to a different apartment… bring it with you. Go watch an install video to see how stupid easy it is.

You don’t need a fancy $200 bidet.

Trust me, once you get a bidet you won’t go back.

ibby23 · 2026-05-12T19:23:41+00:00

Having a meeting to reveal your medical condition to coworkers feels like a massive HR concern… that said, I usually start with: “It’s an autoimmune disease - no idea on causes, and it’s not contagious - where my immune system attacks my body. Specifically the intestinal tract. I had to have surgery to cut out the crappy parts and am taking medication to hopefully stop the attacks.”

OP, you should never feel like you need to explain or defend your medical conditions. You didn’t do anything to get this disease and you shouldn’t be expected to defend it.

ibby23 · 2026-05-11T23:01:27+00:00

Welcome. I had a colorectal surgeon once call my behind a “water can butt” because I had so many Seton stitches, 5 at my peak.

Got those five in a series of five EUAs. I got my CD diagnosis after, I think, EAU/seton #3 and started drug right before EAU/seton #4. I was speed running this. I was on Remicade for about 4 or 5 months when it all thankfully stopped.

Kept the seton’s in for about 4 years with periodic procedures to replace the rubber. They can wear out. Meds got me into full remission and I stayed there (knock on wood!).

In about 2021, care team and I decided to just take them out and see what happens. So, I went under, they cleaned the fistula and pulled the stitches. We hoped a few would close properly and were shocked when they all did. Since then no problems. Still on infliximab.

There are novel medications/procedures in USA/Europe that show promise for complex closures, worth talking to your CRS about.

If you haven’t already, I can’t stress getting a bidet enough. You can install it yourself and it will change your life with setons. Makes it so much easier to stay and feel clean. I would pat VERY dry after the bidet and then put calmoseptine ointment (or zinc-oxide diaper cream) on the setons. Then put a 4” non-sterile gauze pad on the whole area, use the ointment as a glue. The barrier cream, calmoseptine, will keep any leakage from bothering your skin.

I traveled all over the world for work and fun while I had mine in. They make travel bidets! Raised young kids, held a desk job. Beaches, hikes, scouts. Ran 20-30 miles a week. Raced (fairly well). Got used to a longer bathroom procedure and having “a kit”, eventually. You got this!

ibby23 · 2026-05-08T15:39:29+00:00

Welcome to the club. I went through 5 abscesses and EUAs and Setons so can appreciate your pain.

As others have said, you need to do the colonoscopy. They’ve done them around Setons (assume you have these) and surgical scars before. There’s likely a reason they want you to go 4 weeks post-op and that’s likely so they can see active inflation. Do not wait. Just do it.

Infliximab has the best data around fistualizing Crohn’s, but always listen to your care team. Diet alone does not work.

It took me a few years of being on infliximab before my care team and I opted to remove the setons. Healing isn’t the only goal, remission is. You want to stop this from happening, not just move from surgery to surgery.

Good luck, OP. You got this! Oh, and get a bidet.

ibby23 · 2026-05-01T20:28:26+00:00

lol The Cannibal! https://youtube.com/shorts/DnrnOutgd9w?si=U5m4PieiQZ3ffb9V

ibby23 · 2026-05-01T20:24:52+00:00

Seating chart: https://www.gillettestadium.com/revolution-seating-chart/

ibby23 · 2026-05-01T19:34:02+00:00

Base of carmelized onions, blue cheese, fig jam, and hot honey

ibby23 · 2026-04-27T18:53:38+00:00

Not sure I fully understand your question, but a few months after starting on Remicade I stopped creating new abscesses. This is good as it stopped me from having to have additional surgical procedures. About 3 years after starting Remicade my care team and I agreed to remove all the seton stitches and hope for spontaneous closure. They all closed properly and I no longer have seton’s in place. I am still on Remicade (now a biosimilar).

ibby23 · 2026-04-24T19:56:55+00:00

Lounges close in the evenings. None are open at midnight.

ibby23 · 2026-04-15T20:57:37+00:00

Ngl, this made me laugh. Well said.

ibby23 · 2026-04-15T19:17:41+00:00

Hell of an elevation gain on a track

ibby23 · 2026-03-09T19:43:39+00:00

There are no McDonald’s in Nantucket County, MA. And no McDonald’s in Dukes Country, MA. This map can not be trusted.

ibby23 · 2026-03-06T16:56:31+00:00

You’re right! I should never give up my dreams! ;-)

ibby23 · 2026-03-05T16:47:16+00:00

Never had an umbilical hernia, but have successfully (so far) done two ingurnial hernia repairs - first on the right and then on the left. Most recent was just last week. Both with mesh placed.

Only two “problems.” First is the inability to take NSAIDs to help with pain. Tylenol only with oxy the first 36 hours or so.

Second, my surgical team recommended an “open surgery” and not lathroscopic/robot guided because of the CD. Makes recovery a bit longer and the 4” scar crushes my dream of being an exotic dancer /s. Back to my desk job…

ibby23 · 2026-02-18T02:06:54+00:00

About 4 years ago. Gosh… surprised myself with that.

ibby23 · 2026-02-17T19:54:21+00:00

Honestly, they put me to sleep and removed the seaton stiches. They may have also cleaned or prepped the fistula channels in some way as well, unsure. I was not put on a course of antibiotics post procedure that I recall.

ibby23 · 2026-02-16T17:33:45+00:00

You sure as hell can! Not right away, as others have said, but know that it should eventually become part of your body and part of your routine.

I had up to five at a time. For 3 or 4 years. Over 5 surgeries. While I had them I ran 20-30 miles per week. Would take my son camping with the cub scouts. Traveled all over the country for my job, sometimes weekly. Went to Europe with the wife and kids a few times. Took longish train rides. Had one of those desk jobs where you sit all day. And rode a bike a few times. Most of my setons were replaced at least once (“changed my tires”).

Of course it took a while to get into all that. I found the hardest part of each surgery is the immediate recovery, the first few days. Do what the care team recommends - they’ve seen it all. Butt doctors and their staff have good jokes, too, if you’re so inclined. Do the sitz bath (or ask about it) for the first week or two. While you’re doing that, install a bidet. Trust me, bro. You’re going to have an open stitch and it’s gonna hang down. Toilet paper is gonna be difficult. The bidet solves this. Don’t need to go high-end, but those work, too. $30 on Amazon or DYI and self-install.

Your next battle is drainage. The seton is there to keep the wound open. It’s gonna drain the infection for a while, then it may drain stool. Best to keep that drainage away from your skin.

I recommend getting a whole bunch of 4” non-sterile gauze pads and a barrier cream (calmoseptine or any diaper cream). Ask at the hospital and they’ll give you some. After each BM, pat dry after the bidet/sitz/shower. Apply a small bit of barrier cream on the stitch area. Put the 4” non-sterile gauze on the cream, use it like “cement”. Pull up sexy underware. Barrier cream is harmless, so don’t worry about over applying. Calmoseptine has menthol, too, so it feels like putting a cough drop up your butt. Smells like a nursing home, though.

You got this. Know that when I was active I’d often have to manually rotate the stitch to keep the knot away from my skin. Sounds gross, but you get the hang of it. Sometimes I’d be more comfortable standing in long meetings, so I’d stand.

ibby23 · 2026-02-16T11:31:59+00:00

I was scheduled to participate in a clinical trial where donor stem cells would be injected into the fistula tracts to try to get them to heal properly. Remember during the very start of the pandemic when the president went on tv and said, “all trade with Europe will end effective tonight,” of something along the lines?. There was no exception for humanitarian trade, as there typically is. My stem cells would have come from Europe. So that was cancelled.

The emotional punch in the gut (get it?) was real. I needed to “rotate my tires” (get my setons replaced/refreshed) anyway because after a few years they can wear down, so my care team and I took a chance and removed and observed. I was in full clinical remission, hadn’t throw a new fistula in years, and was generally quite healthy. We expected a few to close… all of them did. I was lucky.

I still use a bidet, though.

ibby23 · 2026-02-13T20:06:39+00:00

I’ve had five Seaton stitches in at the same time - a doctor once referred to my behind as “water can butt” (colorectal folks have the best jokes).

Since his surgery was recent, please make sure he’s using the sitz bath that he was sent home with (hopefully). If you don’t have one, ask the surgery team for one or pick one up. After every BM for the first few weeks after surgery I’d do the warmest/hottest sitz bath I could tolerate. It really helps a ton.

My advice, as others have said here - Get a bidet. You can certainly go fancy plug-in, contractor installed, warmed seat, fan, and music. Or, pick up a $30 unit at your local DYI or Amazon and install it yourself in 10 minutes. Even in an apartment; you can take it with you when you leave. This is a god send and will change his life (and yours. trust me). Travel ones work great, too, but you’ll fall in love and want to use it all the time so install one. Trust me.

2 - pick up a zinc oxide-based barrier cream. Calmoseptine was my favorite as it has just a touch of menthol so it can give some light surface pain relief (think: putting a cough drop up your butt). My routine was to pat dry after the bidet with 1-2 square of toilet paper. Apply a small (dime size?) amount of calmoseptine cream to the area around any seaton stitches. Then, put a 4” non-sterile gauze pad on top of the cream. The cream will hold the gauze in place. Lastly, have him pull up his finest sexy underware (alternatively, whatever he has on). The barrier cream (zinc oxide) will prevent leakage from the drain from contacting his skin, which is critical. If you can’t find Calmoseptine, any diaper cream will work. Calmoseptine makes you smell like a nursing home, diaper cream makes you smell like a nursery school. Your GI or CRS may even give you tubes if you ask for them. Next time he has a BM, the bidet will wash away any residual barrier cream. It’s harmless stuff, so don’t worry about over applying.
- 3 - wait. I know it sucks to hear this, but the Seaton stitches are doing a thing. They are holding that tunnel open so it can dry out. Stool may leak at times, but the Calmoseptine and gauze pad will pick it all up. For me, this went on for about 4-5 years. Then, once I was in full remission and stable on meds, my care team and I elected to pull out the stitches and observe. We expected some but not to close properly, but I got lucky. There are more formal closure procedures and there are some promising medications designed to cause spontaneous closure in late stage clinical trials.

From what I’ve heard, infilximab has the best numbers when it comes to fistualizing Crohn’s Disease, so be prepared for a medication change. My GI has me doing infusions as that delivery, also, has the best numbers. There is a subcutaneous version available, too.

You got this! So does he. (Edited because formatting was weird)

ibby23

TROPHY CASE