I'm feeling so much better, that I thought I should post an update. It's now 11 days after the surgery, and 5 days since I've been home, and if my condition were improving any faster, I probably would overdo something, and get into trouble. LOL.
I measure progress in little steps, but as we all know, little steps are the rule, until we're able to take larger steps. Last night, for the first time, I skipped a pain pill, and even though I didn't sleep very well without it, I made it OK, and I feel fine this morning. In all, I believe I've used 6 or 7 of them, since I left the hospital, mostly at night. Hopefully, they are behind me, now. The pain is always there, of course, but usually less than 1 on a scale of 1 to 10, (the exceptions occur when I have to cough, of course, or someone makes me laugh).
I was able to put on my jeans standing up, this morning, also for the first time since the surgery, and last night, I found that I could bend in the middle enough to be able to change socks by myself, now. I'm walking much better now, and I'm able to go much farther, without having to stop to rest. I'm eating well, and what's left of my digestive system seems to be working well.
I feel like I've won the lottery. Not only am I still alive, but I've discovered that an ileostomy is not nearly as difficult to deal with as I had imagined. After living with a colostomy for over 4 years, I was accustomed to having to deal with odor control, (changing a colostomy pouch can be enough to gag a maggot, sometimes), and I routinely took an internal deodorant capsule, (Devrom - thanks to Marsha for bringing that to my attention, several years ago), with each meal, and I used an aerosol odor-neutralizer when changing pouches, etc. Imagine my surprise to discover that an ileostomy involves virtually no odor.
Yep, all the odor originates in the colon, (where all that fermentation takes place). Upstream from there, I wouldn't say that the fragrance is quite as sweet as a baby's breath, but it's not far removed from that description, and it's certainly not objectionable, IMO. It smells like - well, like processed food, I suppose, rather than the lung-searing odors that come from the cesspool that we call a colon.
Of course, there's more volume to deal with from an ileostomy, (compared with a colostomy), but the tradeoff is well worth it, in terms of olfactory tranquility. 
All in all, things are coming along better than expected, so I'm a happy camper. As usual, I'm finding that there is a silver lining behind every cloud - all we have to do is keep our eyes open, and recognize it.
And, to add icing to the cake, we're having a beautiful day here today, (at least until the wind arrives here later this afternoon, when the next norther blows in).
Thanks, I so appreciate everyone's support.
Love,
Tex
in Hongkers
Just kidding...........I know that it will be a while before you can do that, and am just very relieved that you survived a huge health scare and are doing so well at this point in your recovery. You are an inspiration, with always looking for the positive. Next thing I expect is that you'll be throwing a "going away" party for your colon....... 
