It rained here in Maine yesterday. Not the driving, gusty rain that leads to flooding and running from car to work or work to car, but rather a lighter walking-in-the-rain-with-the-one-you-love sort of rain. It was the first rainy day in a week or more, and still a half-dozen people at work complained. I have a couple of CDs I bought by the Mystic Moods Orchestra where music is mixed with the sound of rain and other sound effects, like the tinny patter of rain hitting the roof or trash cans or something like that. I mean, I paid for those. They can be relaxing to listen to, or soothing when I am writing in one of my novels, or even romantic if the mood is right. So I guess I can appreciate rain when it is free.
People complain about having an ostomy also. Why shouldn't we? Why us instead of the next person? As long as it doesn't drag your thoughts down. Complaining about anything excessively can get in your way, dampen your attitude (to stick with the rain metaphor) and prevent you from thoroughly overcoming the surgery and getting your life back. I don't know what percentage attitude counts towards recovering from ostomy surgery, but I am guessing it has to be at least 25%. The rest is skin care, proper flange/pouch, medicines, etc.
What about me? I adjusted quite well to the surgery - never let it get me down. In a way, it should have been harder for me - I was never sick a day before needing the surgery. The surgery didn't get rid of pain, didn't improve bouts with colitis - it was preventative. With familial polyposis, there was an extreme likelihood of cancer by age 35. On the other hand, not being sick perhaps helped me adjust because I wasn't coping with other symptoms while trying to recover.
So I am back to attitude. You can't define how helpful it is in recovery, but I know in my 20+ years of attending ostomy support meetings and producing our newsletter, people seem better for the support, and listening to other stories and advice, and just knowing many others have regained a normal life with an ostomy, so that tells me that attitude must rate even higher than 25% towards recovery. It works that way in all aspects of life. In raising a child with multiple disabilities, we found the movie Rain Man made us laugh at things that frustrated us about our daughter's obsessive-compulsive ways. Nothing like seeing the humor in things to raise your attitude. Maybe that is why there is so much humor in the books I write - even the ostomy novel! What is funny about that?!?
Well look, the sun is up and it has stopped raining.
Hi Narrator - I don't dispute what you are saying... I think having a positive attitude about it all is very important. I had my ileostomy done 6 years ago in order to divert stool away from a fistula wound that wouldn't heal - had no problem having it done, it was a means to an end and would be temporary... However, 6 years on and 20 odd anesthetics later, I am now really quite unwell. All the trauma I have had has led to diabetes, sleep apnea, pernicious anemia, a huge hernia, restricted mobility, unemployment, memory and concentration issues, social isolation, loss of self, fibromyalgia (?), depression, and anxiety, etc. - just saying, life sometimes isn't as easy as it sounds... xx
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