Continuing on....At this point I had lost nearly 80 lbs. and weighed a mere 140 lbs. I haven't been that thin since 8th grade. SO I met with my surgeon in the middle of October 2007. Our first meeting I gave him my background and let him know that we had tried everything up to that point and he agreed. I have great Doctors. He gave me some information and talked about the surgery a little bit and scheduled another appointment for the following week. So my surgeon gave me a bunch of information about the surgery that I was going to have. It's an anal anastomosis with ileal pouch. Big words that basically means the Doctor removes my entire colon (the only way to get rid of the disease) and creates a pouch out of the end of my small intestine to take it's place. This would be done over 2 surgeries - the first to remove my colon and create the pouch and the second to internalize everything. The main functions of the colon are for storage of poop, er, waste and water absorption. Over time my small intestine would start to take over these functions, but it will never be the same as a good colon.
So I go to see my surgeon again and he answers the million questions that Erika and I have about the surgery and life after and how it's going to affect us. After the first surgery I would have to have a colostomy bag (poop bag) to give my newly created pouch insides time to heal. I didn't care. At this point I was anxious to have surgery. That's how bad it was. So we scheduled the surgery for the next week.
October 22nd was the day of no return. Erika and I went to Cottonwood hospital at 5:30am. I got naked....for a minute, then i put on a hospital gown that shows your butt. The nurse hooked me up to an IV. We waited, watched a dumb little movie. The nurse came back and showed me how to use the pain button. then they wheeled me up to the operating room where my surgeon talked to me for a few minutes. Then, my best friend, the anesthesiologist came and put me out.
After a four surgery I was wheeled into the recovery room where I gradually came to. The surgeon let me know that everything went perfectly. The rest of that Monday was pretty easy. I slept most of the day and was on so much pain killer that I didn't really feel anything. At this point I also had a colostomy bag and a catheter in my yoohoo so I didn't have to get out of bed to use the bathroom.
For the next 5 days the nurses and my wonderful Erika took care of me. I was stuck in bed for the first 3 days, but I eventually got up and started moving around. Apparently the more you can get up and about the quicker you'll recover. I didn't get jello until day 4. Living off an IV sucks. For the most part the nurses were pretty nice and did a good job caring for me, but there were a couple Helgas that I could have done without.
Finally day 5 rolled around and I was starting to feel OK. I was moving around and they put me on solid foods. NASTY solid foods, but solid nonetheless. The nurse came and showed me how to change my colostomy bag and how to take care of my stoma. I wasn't looking forward to it, but it had to be done. For those who don't know a stoma is the part of my small intestine that the surgeon pulled through my stomach so all of my waste exited there (except I still peed normally). It exited into my colostomy bag. Once the nurses and Doctors deemed me fit to go home and made sure that I had the proper knowledge to take care of myself I was discharged. This was Saturday morning. If I had stayed any longer I would have been transferred to the new hospital in Murray since cottonwood was closing down. I was one of the last patients there!
The first 2 weeks out of the hospital were rough. I had no energy, my whole body felt like I got trampled by wildebeests and I had to wear a colostomy bag. A colostomy bag needs to be changed every 2-3 days depending on the type of bag you wear. I preferred the designer Hollister bags. Just kidding. The first few times I had to change it and touch and clean the guts that were sticking out of me took a little getting used to. I just about fainted those first go rounds, but I managed to keep my composure and complete the task at hand. Believe me, it takes a LOT to get me down!
One of the hardest things about changing my bags was that I had to time it when my stoma wasn't active. When things don't exit where they're supposed to they just go when they want to. No more sensations of having to go # 2. I never knew when I was going to start pooping (so to speak) or farting for that matter. My stoma just did as it pleased. The challenge hear was not embarrassment. If you know me then you know what I'm talking about. No, the challenge was that my stoma would start oozing and excreting stuff, pooping, right after i cleaned it or while i was in the process making me have to clean again. It was a bit frustrating, but I eventually got the hang of things.
The last few weeks before surgery number 2 weren't great, but I was already feeling much better than before I had surgery. The bag made some everyday things difficult (and every night things, too if you catch my drift), but it was something I could have gotten used to if I had to. Lucky for me I didn't have to. Plus, it was kind of fun to gross out my nieces, nephews and sisters with it! I tried to keep some humor in my life. Keeping my spirits up was sometimes hard to do. Surgery # 2 would reverse my stoma and everything would be internal and I would poop the same way everyone else does again.
After a few visits to the surgeon he determine that everything was healing wonderfully. Being young and otherwise healthy I had an advantage to recovering quicker. We got surgery number 2 scheduled at the new Murray hospital for November 27th and I showed up early in the morning again. Once again I am out of time so I will have to continue the saga tomorrow.
So I go to see my surgeon again and he answers the million questions that Erika and I have about the surgery and life after and how it's going to affect us. After the first surgery I would have to have a colostomy bag (poop bag) to give my newly created pouch insides time to heal. I didn't care. At this point I was anxious to have surgery. That's how bad it was. So we scheduled the surgery for the next week.
October 22nd was the day of no return. Erika and I went to Cottonwood hospital at 5:30am. I got naked....for a minute, then i put on a hospital gown that shows your butt. The nurse hooked me up to an IV. We waited, watched a dumb little movie. The nurse came back and showed me how to use the pain button. then they wheeled me up to the operating room where my surgeon talked to me for a few minutes. Then, my best friend, the anesthesiologist came and put me out.
After a four surgery I was wheeled into the recovery room where I gradually came to. The surgeon let me know that everything went perfectly. The rest of that Monday was pretty easy. I slept most of the day and was on so much pain killer that I didn't really feel anything. At this point I also had a colostomy bag and a catheter in my yoohoo so I didn't have to get out of bed to use the bathroom.
For the next 5 days the nurses and my wonderful Erika took care of me. I was stuck in bed for the first 3 days, but I eventually got up and started moving around. Apparently the more you can get up and about the quicker you'll recover. I didn't get jello until day 4. Living off an IV sucks. For the most part the nurses were pretty nice and did a good job caring for me, but there were a couple Helgas that I could have done without.
Finally day 5 rolled around and I was starting to feel OK. I was moving around and they put me on solid foods. NASTY solid foods, but solid nonetheless. The nurse came and showed me how to change my colostomy bag and how to take care of my stoma. I wasn't looking forward to it, but it had to be done. For those who don't know a stoma is the part of my small intestine that the surgeon pulled through my stomach so all of my waste exited there (except I still peed normally). It exited into my colostomy bag. Once the nurses and Doctors deemed me fit to go home and made sure that I had the proper knowledge to take care of myself I was discharged. This was Saturday morning. If I had stayed any longer I would have been transferred to the new hospital in Murray since cottonwood was closing down. I was one of the last patients there!
The first 2 weeks out of the hospital were rough. I had no energy, my whole body felt like I got trampled by wildebeests and I had to wear a colostomy bag. A colostomy bag needs to be changed every 2-3 days depending on the type of bag you wear. I preferred the designer Hollister bags. Just kidding. The first few times I had to change it and touch and clean the guts that were sticking out of me took a little getting used to. I just about fainted those first go rounds, but I managed to keep my composure and complete the task at hand. Believe me, it takes a LOT to get me down!
One of the hardest things about changing my bags was that I had to time it when my stoma wasn't active. When things don't exit where they're supposed to they just go when they want to. No more sensations of having to go # 2. I never knew when I was going to start pooping (so to speak) or farting for that matter. My stoma just did as it pleased. The challenge hear was not embarrassment. If you know me then you know what I'm talking about. No, the challenge was that my stoma would start oozing and excreting stuff, pooping, right after i cleaned it or while i was in the process making me have to clean again. It was a bit frustrating, but I eventually got the hang of things.
The last few weeks before surgery number 2 weren't great, but I was already feeling much better than before I had surgery. The bag made some everyday things difficult (and every night things, too if you catch my drift), but it was something I could have gotten used to if I had to. Lucky for me I didn't have to. Plus, it was kind of fun to gross out my nieces, nephews and sisters with it! I tried to keep some humor in my life. Keeping my spirits up was sometimes hard to do. Surgery # 2 would reverse my stoma and everything would be internal and I would poop the same way everyone else does again.
After a few visits to the surgeon he determine that everything was healing wonderfully. Being young and otherwise healthy I had an advantage to recovering quicker. We got surgery number 2 scheduled at the new Murray hospital for November 27th and I showed up early in the morning again. Once again I am out of time so I will have to continue the saga tomorrow.
Pre-surgery - waiting for the nurse - feelin' goooood
Post-Surgery - contrary to what you may think I don't ALWAYS look good
Back at home - If you're wondering, yes, that is where my poopies went! Luckily, Erika cleaned and changed it for me....SIKE! I'm a big boy, i took care of myself.
Front view of my stoma. How many people can say they've played with their own guts? You can also see the other 3 scars from the surgery. They make a compass. You can barely see the southern one.
Side view - my belly is sticking it's tongue out!
1 comments:
Thanks for writing this.
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