Week 2 Recovery Update: Setbacks and Progress

Sorry Darla, I've been following along with everyone here and almost forgot to post anything about my own progress!! LOL! Well, I guess things are coming along nicely but also slowly. I did make a few mistakes by having a few larger meals with family only to regret it later. I'm back to my proper recovery diet with more but smaller meals and hopefully I won't make that mistake again. What really happened was that my system wasn't quite ready and able to deal with full dinners and I paid the price with bloating and cramps.

I have also had a small problem with my stoma repair and my own MD has asked me to see her nurse today to have a proper dressing put on and a possible antibiotic if what she fears is an infection. Like Darla, I had only to replace a surgical strip every second day after showering, but yesterday I noticed green gunk coming out and the stitches had given way. So, I went to see her and this morning I'll go have the dressing applied and get the antibiotics if required.

So, all in all, I'm certainly back in the saddle again and moving along nicely. I'll let you know later what the situation is regarding the stoma wound. So here's wishing everyone here today some of those wonderful rainbows and smiles Reefus keeps sending me! An inspiration to us all!! Take good care, Colm

Hi Colm sending you healing thoughts and prayers, and hoping your journey to good health goes onward and forward... tc ambies...

Look on the bright side! You had the appetite to eat a large meal. :) Sorry to hear about your potential infection. Hope they clear it up quickly and it doesn't cause you any further issues. How are you sleeping? Are you walking? I'm having trouble with stretching out my tummy... standing up straight... It just feels so tight around the incisions. Anyhow, I am happy to hear you are back in the saddle again. Thank you for the update! My best to you :) Fable

Hi Colm-Ooh, I know the feeling with bloating and cramps... just about everything does it to me at present, and I haven't slowed down at all yet, even with adding Metamucil and Imodium to the mix! I am going back to my surgeon on Monday, and he will probably put me on that opium medicine he alluded to during my last visit. Anyway, like Fable said, at least you had a good appetite, and someone must be cooking some tasty stuff! Please do keep us updated on the stoma situation. My crater is still doing well... completely scabbed over with no discharge of any kind. It sounds like if there is an infection brewing, you caught it in its early stages and will be able to shut it down quickly with proper care and medication. All in all, it seems like we're all doing reasonably well, and for this, I am most thankful! We are all so blessed to have one another as we journey onwards towards our recoveries and our new normals. Sending prayers and good thoughts your way, Colm, for continued healing and peace in both body and spirit! Blessings! Darla

Ladies, thank you so much for the words of encouragement! I really appreciate them! Well yesterday I ended back up at the hospital in Surgical Assessment. My Doctor's nurse took one look at it and decided that I should go straight back...I must've frightened her somewhat as my covering plaster had become all green and wet, having only changed it an hour or so earlier. I thankfully didn't have to wait too long at the hospital before a doctor from the surgery team came to have a look and then all the fun started with prodding, swabbing and isolation. Oh, I thought to myself for a while that they were going to keep me in, but in the end after dressing the wound and prescribing some antibiotics, I was back on the road once more. So I've had a fairly good night's rest and feeling not nearly as bad this morning, thank heaven! Fable I love your comment on watching your system's movements......I often wonder the same! LOL! And yes to both you and Darla about my appetite ;-)............I was always told my eyes were bigger than my tummy! LOLSo, once again Ambies, Fable and Darla.....thank you so much! Lots of love and best wishes to everyone, Colm

Stories of Living Life to the Fullest from Ostomy Advocates I Hollister

Sorry Fable, I just noticed you'd asked a question after fleeting through your comment! :-( Oh, I know what you mean about stretching your poor tummy!! I notice it most mornings when I get up or when I've been sitting for too long... but I gradually straighten up. What my surgeon said the first day he caught me walking the corridor in the hospital was to lift my chin and the rest would follow. He said this as he took away my only support, a walking frame, and had a smile on his face... little did he know I was cursing him under my breath as I had a long, long walk back to my bed!! LOL So try this and little by little you'll get some of that tummy condition back and be able to straighten up. I can remember this too from the first surgery and thought I'd end up with a crooked back trying to relieve the pain at the surgery site. And as for sleeping, I've had a couple of nights of proper sleep and the rest have been in the company of a good book... it just takes time for all the meds to get out of your system and give you your sleep back. I just end up having a snooze during the day every now and then. :-) Take care, Colm

Well folks, after visiting my doctor yesterday, she's happy with the repair of my stoma site wound. On Friday last I had to visit the Surgical Assessment section in my hospital after my own doctor's nurse wasn't happy to deal with my reopening stoma wound. They took swabs and dressed again for me and then asked me to see my doctor yesterday for an update. So, except for still being a little tender round the actual wound, all seems to be going well once again, Thank God. Better days ahead for everyone! Colm

Colm - SO glad to hear that your stoma site is doing better! That was a little scary for a couple of days! I got lucky where my stoma site is concerned... it scabbed over a few weeks ago and now the scab has fallen off to reveal just a little bit of new, pink flesh in the center of the crater; so I would say that it has completely healed over now! Hard to believe that this spot is now less than the size of a dime! Hopefully, your lingering tenderness will subside very soon. I am SO happy to hear that you are doing so well, overall... when you think about all that could have gone wrong, it just makes you more thankful that things have gone right; and that you are definitely on the mend, now! Congratulations, friend, and continue to keep us in the loop on your progress! Blessings! Darla

OMG, you got it done while I was in the hospital, matey! I hope you got those hernias done too. I think I recall you would leave it for another time :( ....WooHoo! Colm, you've been done, very happy for you... Moozaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa Blaaaaaaaahh hahahaha

Hi there Mooza, it's wonderful to see you back!! But by the sounds of it, you've been through hell and back... Oh, I am sorry! But yes, I got a new surgeon and he wanted to move straight away, so I said, "Why not?". Thankfully, he did manage the hernia repair while he was doing the reversal and all's well so far!! Yippee!!! :-) So take good care of yourself and be careful with all that wonderful sunshine you're getting out there!! You lucky devil!! So, please keep us updated too with your progress! Take care, Colm

And thank you so much Darla!! You're a diamond! I'm delighted to see your progress too, but wish your poor system would slow down a little and give you a break. Yep, I really have a crater where the stoma was.........I was only checking my new dressing this morning and got a shock when I saw the size of it!! Looked like someone had been mining down there!! LOL I can't believe my main opening, almost 12 inches long, gave no problem and is almost healed, but the little stoma repair has given all the trouble of late. But I am much better, thank God. So here's wishing you a wonderful day ahead and do take good care, Colm

I finally started eating regular-sized meals last week instead of 6 small meals each day that my doctor recommended after all the complications that I had, which resulted in an ostomy in October, then a reversal in January. It seemed that I was always eating. So good to hear you are doing well, and I hope you continue to heal and can get back to a normal life.

Thanks, Colm, very glad you got the hernias done as well because you really don't want any more ops. You know, I forgot what it was like having a big operation again; it's been 4 years since the total proctectomy (thingy) was done. Yeah, it would have been nice to have some keyhole operation, but they said my large hernia was much bigger than first thought. Plus, I fell over the beach, like taking a step that wasn't there on my own, not such a good idea. I still have sore ribs and a big toe that I have had about all up both feet, 19 steroid injections since 2008. Geez, I hate Crohn's disease; I really, really do. As to your stoma hole, when I had my first reversal, they left it open to close over on its own. I kinda loved looking at it; it freaked me out, looked like a gunshot wound. I didn't have a big stoma, so the hole shrunk after quite some time; actually, it did take a while. I think the doc said steroids and Crohn's take longer to heal. You know, one says this, one says that. Imagine if the surgeon said, actually, I DON'T KNOW, lol, it would be a pleasant surprise to hear only one reason for a change. Yeah, I had a midline cut 9th time, no feeling whatsoever on the scar now. They said it won't come back, and I lost the feeling with operation number... don't know anymore, but part of where the stoma is, around the hole of the pouch, I have lost that feeling too. Kinda do hope I get feeling back there; if I took too long to change, it might get skin breakdown, and I won't feel it. :( It's been 2 weeks for me too, had a terrible time 3 days after coming home, thought it was a blockage, and matey, I was going to ring an ambulance, and that's something I would never do. No one heard me in agony; kinda happens when they use a laptop with headphones, grrr. Please, if you live alone, don't worry about dying because they won't hear you in a house with 2 others either. I think that's so true now, LOL. Things calmed down after 3 more days, didn't eat or want to, but maybe spasms or something. Will ask when I have my check-up and also need to wear some heart thing soon too. Geez, I know I'm fine with the heart and such; BP always goes very low in my ops, never heart though, but was tested with 2 other heart things and was fine. Kinda over it right now, my pain relief just ain't what it used to be, too many years, I guess. Anyhow, take care, Darla and Colm, enjoy, but things do take a while, so patience, my pretties, LOL. -Note to Self as well xx mooza