After the chemo/radiation work I had about six weeks before surgery so the inflammation and drug effects would lessen and heal For about two weeks after the cessation of the chemo/radiation I was still feeling bad side effects but pain medication seemed to make it tolerable. The problem I had with the pain medication was instead of making me sleepy and groggy I got wired, I fell in love with the world, and had a mellow buzz. It actually got to be quite enjoyable a few hours before bed to take a Vicodin and mellow out watching some favorite TV episodes. I did recognize the signs though and started limiting my intake of the pain meds as I could see a need starting to arise. Having been through that with alcohol I was not going to allow that to start with pain meds.
About week three after c/r I started to note some relief in the anal area as I guess the inflammation was lessening. I still had painful BM's and some bleeding but after week four the bleeding stopped.
The last two weeks before surgery I was actually quite comfortable. It almost made me think, couldn't we stop here. A few days before the surgery the doctor did a flex-sig which stands for Flexible Sigmoidoscopy. It is a short version of a colonoscopy designed to look at only the lower end of the colon. He said while the destruction looked quite complete the damage had to be cleared away and a new beginning made.
I had felt for some time that I would end up with a permanent colostomy because of the previous resection. Both areas of surgery were very low in the colon and I wasn't sure how much was left to reattach. However after four years of bowel problems I was really resigned to a colostomy and actually looking forward to the relief from having to pass a BM through my anal area. The doctor, however, said that if the margins were clean and he could get a little extra movement he would resection. I wasn't worried, either way would be OK, but he was pretty adamant that I should not have a colostomy if I did not need to. His words proved to be correct.
The week of surgery the flex-sig, a CT scan and blood work. This time I had my blood typed and had to wear a wrist band with that additional information in case I needed blood during surgery. That was new.
The day arrived, I was perfectly OK. I talked with the Dr. before and when the anesthesiologist came I told him that last time my experience with morphine was not good. Was there another drug that I could have that would not wire me up so much and cause the severe anxiety attack I had shortly after I got home. The anesthesiologist said there was a drug called Dilaudid that was used if morphine caused a bad reaction. So they switched me to that in the prep room and it worked well. There is a real reason for you to be involved in your care as your preferences or wishes may not be known and you have to speak up. So I went under. The OR was schedule for the max time 5 hours, it went over 6. I had quite a few adhesion and scar tissue from the previous surgery not to include the massive amount of burned scar tissue from the radiation. So I woke in the recovery room with a bag on my right side and a piece of my small intestine poking through my side. It is called an illeostomy as opposed to a colostomy. I guess I did not know what I was going to end up with.
Soon after I ended up in the oncology recovery ward with some fine nurses taking care of me. Terry was there and God love her she was there all of the time during recovery. This recovery went quite smoothly except for the illeostomy bag which plagued everyone even the nurses. It would leak, it did not feel too uncomfortable, but I sure knew I had something stuck to my side. One night nurse, a lovely lady named Michelle, was going to change my bag and went into the lab and got a class A work suit that has a mask and head piece not to say she was covered from head to foot with a plastic outfit, booties and gloves. She will always be known as the "blue smurf nurse." She changed the bag and by this time I was beginning to pass material, but it comes out as a liquid. It is the large intestine that is the water reduction unit, the small intestine is small because everything is like thin pudding. Ah the descriptions.
After five days of recovery, blowing up a lung capacity machine, and enjoying the attentions of pretty nurses I was forced to leave. However, during the transfer of my body from the gurney to the surgical table my left hip had suffered a rug burn. It was quite painful and somewhat bloody. So two days after I came home from surgery I had to go back to a Wound Clinic to have that taken care of. During that time my bag began to leak and the nurses there were experts in bag replacement showed Terry and I some things to look out for.
When we left, I was famished. So we went to IHop. As I got out of the van the bag ruptured. So here I am with liquid running down my leg, Terry has a low sugar reaction and in we go. I sat through a good breakfast with my bag held so it wouldn't leak and I was afraid that I might smell but apparently the clothing protected me. All in all we made it, but that was the first of many episodes at home and in public with "the bag."
More to follow.
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