4 Week Update

It has been exactly 4 weeks since having surgery to remove my colon and I am feeling pretty good!

Since the last time I updated, I have started to feel much more normal. I have slowly increased my activity level and have managed a walk most days for the last few weeks. I started very slow and only walked a little bit in my neighborhood. However, I have quickly transitioned to walking up to a mile and a half at Swift Cantrell Park (right around the corner from my house). It has been very warm lately, so getting out of the house for some light exercise has felt absolutely wonderful! I have been running a few errands every day as well. Nothing big usually, just a trip to the grocery store or to Walmart for some things. I did go over to Sandy Springs/Dunwoody last Saturday to watch the UGA game at Taco Mac with some friends. I was very nervous about being able to stay the whole time and nervous about the bag. On they way there, it was super noisy and inflated like a balloon, so that made my nerves peak. When I got there, it was pretty full, so I went to the restroom for my first bag emptying in public. I was still nervous, but quickly realized it was not a big deal. I even went back to empty before I left just so that I wouldn't have to worry about it on the way home. Overall, I'm glad I was able to see friends and get out of the house. Anything that makes me feel like a normal human being is a good thing at this point!

This week has been a busy week since I am going to attempt to head back to work on Monday (hopefully it is not too soon, but I will just have to take it easy!). I have been trying to get all my last few appointments out of the way so that I can make sure the last two weeks of school before Christmas break go uninterrupted.

On Tuesday, my dad came over to this side of town and we did yard work! He brought his leaf blower/vacuum and I helped him get all the leaves into a pile so that he could suck them up in the vacuum. It was a BEAUTIFUL day out and I was in shorts and a t-shirt at 11AM and was actually hot! It felt great to get out and do something slightly more physical. I was sore a little later and on Wednesday morning, but that is a small price to pay for working on getting my strength back.

Tuesday I went to see my primary care doctor because I have been having some pain while emptying my bladder. I called the surgeon on Monday to ask them about it, but they suggested that since it is so far past surgery that I should call my regular doctor or a urologist (they are assuming it has nothing to do with the surgery itself). It's hard for me to tell if this is a new pain that has just recently developed, or if it has been happening since surgery. Right after surgery, everything hurt and felt weird, so I think I just lumped all the pain together. However, now that I am feeling significantly better, this bladder pain is becoming much more noticeable. My regular doctor was a little perplexed since my urine test seemed to come back negative for anything suspicious, but he went ahead and put me on some antibiotics in case I do have a urinary tract infection (especially since I had a catheter for 5 days in the hospital). He is sending my urine to have further labs done just to double check. I hope that it is just a UTI and nothing more serious. This surgery does happen in close proximity to the bladder, so there is risk of some damage. My surgeon seemed confident that there were no complications during surgery, so if the antibiotics don't help, I'm not sure what the next step would be. Stay tuned for further details....

Today, I visited the Ostomy nurses at the hospital to take a look at my stoma and check on some irritated skin. I mentioned in a previous post that one of the spots where the rod holding my ileostomy in place was sutured is not healing well. During my last bag change, I noticed that this same spot still looked irritated and "weepy". Almost like a big cut that's been covered by a wet bandaid for too long. So, I decided that I would head to see them just to check on it and see if they had any tips to help it heal sooner. When we removed the bag this morning, I was pleasantly surprised to see that this spot was healing very nicely and looked MUCH improved since my Saturday bag change. The ostomy nurse had a medical student training with her, so it was interesting listening to her talk through the bag change. He even asked me some questions about my surgery, preferences for my ostomy bag, and how I like to use the paste on my skin barrier. He was very interested in learning about me and my circumstances. This is probably very important to being an ostomy nurse since all patients have different needs (anatomically and intellectually).

The nurses also complimented my stoma and gave my surgeon an A+ rating on the stoma creation (they said this is a big deal coming from people who see ostomies every day! Also, on a side note, my primary care doctor complimented my surgeon and his practice at my appointment yesterday. It is good to hear these things from others in the profession. The fact that he is respected makes me feel pretty good about choosing him for the surgery!) My stoma was very cooperative and the bag change went off (or on) without a hitch. The nurse shaved the hair where my skin barrier sits and then used what she called the "crusting technique" on the irritated spot. This simply involves layering stoma powder, water or skin barrier, then more stoma powder and more skin barrier. This layering provides room for the wound to heal and also makes sure that next time I remove the barrier, it doesn't pull at the wound and make it worse. Good tip to know just in case something else happens in the future. Overall, it was a good appointment and gave me added confidence about my bag changing skills!

I am very happy with the progress I am making and my outlook on this whole situation has changed significantly since my hospital stay. I was a little depressed right after surgery and was disappointed with how slowly I was healing. I know this is normal for such a huge surgery, but it is still not something that can be suppressed. However, now that I am feeling relatively normal, it is so much easier to let my positive attitude take over and to realize that things could be a lot worse! Yeah, I have a pouch attached to my abdomen that collects my waste (for a few months only), but I don't have ulcerative colitis anymore. Sure, I have some hospital bills, but I don't have to pay for expensive medication anymore. And finally, I may eventually end up using the bathroom more than normal, but at least I don't have colon cancer! This is the cherry on top of an experience that could have been way worse, but thankfully isn't!