So there I was…

Again, sorry it has been quite some time since I updated my site. Certainly not from lack of want, but without going too far ahead, I can say that motivation to do much of anything for a while now has been at an all time low. Just biding my time…but I’m going to try and keep up on this more, as I’m finally heading toward the end…YAY!

That being said, on to my hospital stay from June 8th until June 14th. I’m going to try to remember what I can, but it’s been a few months, so I may be fuzzy. And definitely fuzzy from the hardcore pain meds they had me taking, which leads into….

OOOOOUUUUUUUCH! After the recovery room I was whisked away to general population, so that the teams of recovery nurses could look after me for about a week. And like I had mentioned from my last post, the pain right after surgery was ridiculous to say the least. They were giving me a pretty high dose painkiller, and then had to up it one large stage just to get it under control…not even make it go away! Yes I’m being a bit overdramatic, but boy that pain took a lot out of me, and I contemplated how my life would be if I had to deal with that every day (some people do!). But alas, time was the best pain killer, and after a couple of days it was finally at least manageable. The nurses were able to slowly wean me off of the super high dose painkiller (oxycontin if you care to know), and back down to some lowly Vicodin. The first couple of days were the hardest, dealing with the pain, learning how to tend to my ileostomy (oh yea they installed that from surgery, I’ll get to that in a moment), and in general try to handle life, albeit cancer free (suspected at this point). I was very lucky that Kristine was around and came to see me at least once a day if not twice sometimes, and all while she was working! She would occasionally bring me things, and in general keep me up on the outside world (and also hear me whine incessantly for a couple of days that all I wanted was the pain to go away…did I mention it hurt?). She dealt like a champ, and told me stories about Jack (my cat as you may know) whom she was hanging with back at my place in my absence (see video at the end). And my best bud Brian came to visit a handful of times once I was feeling a bit more up to visitors. He also kept me up on current events of the world as well as personal stuff happening while I was away. We sat a while, chatted about what new experiences I was having that day and reminisced about better times, like how we’re gonna do those things again (and more!) just as soon as I’m all better. I don’t know how I would have made it so well without their support every day, so my hat is off to them bigtime. Thanks guys I love ya lots!! Mom and Dad were in touch often, conversing through text and vid chat, along with various other people having messaged or called me while I was still admitted. It goes without saying, I appreciate ALL of your goodwill messages so much. You all are the best!

By the third day, it was time to remove my catheter (oh yea, had that put in too…first time!). I had absolutely no idea how they went about the removal process, but the nurse came to my bed and after a couple of adjustments just yanked it right out…painlessly I might add. Now I don’t know about you, but something stuck in my…um…urethra for a few days did not feel great, and the thought of what it might feel like taking out was a bit alarming. But, like the colonoscopy that I had dreaded (if you remember) 6 months prior, everything came out just fine (no pun intended…or was it?). But that part wasn’t even the worst of it. As the days went by in the hospital (which seemed like forever), I finally (yet reluctantly) learned how to empty the contents of my ileostomy. That task, while not super pleasant, became easier and easier, even within the limits of my super small hospital room, and sometimes with a neighbor right next to me with just a curtain to separate us. And then came the replacement of the bag itself, to be done every 3 or so days so as hopefully not to aggravate the skin and/or incisions that were made pretty close to where the stoma was placed. I was taught by a specialist who was pretty good at their job, but I still felt a looming lack of confidence replacing the bag myself. So by the time I was released, I at least knew the basic steps just in case either a nurse, or Home Healthcare (I’ll get to that one in a future post), was not around to change it. And I wanted Kristine to see at least through one changing before I left the hospital, so that she knew what it was going to be like when/if she’s around when it’s time to change it (bless her heart for putting herself through this!).

The food while I was admitted was so-so, typical hospital food, lots of oatmeal, pudding, jello, box milk/juice, limp veggies, dry and somewhat tasteless pasta/rice, and some sort of fortified protein, all in varying collection each mealtime. Oh and the occasional lemon or orange slushy thing that was always the food highlight of my day; I had gotten 2 on one day and basically thought I was king of the world. At least I knew what to expect food-wise, because even though I’d never been admitted to a hospital as a patient, I have worked in multiple medical scenarios that had actual hospital food as a cafeteria (for those who don’t know, I worked at Kaiser for a few years, and currently employed by UnitedHealth Group). And my diet (because of having an ileostomy) had to consist pretty much of what a 12-18 month old baby eats for most days there. Thankfully I graduated to something a little bit more substantial by my last day, but that was equally not impressive, and also not so enticing as that was pretty close to what I was to change my diet to for as long as I have the ileostomy. The accommodations of my hospital room and surrounding areas were compact for sure, but the nurse teams made sure patients weren’t made to feel crowded. And of course it was cleaned and disinfected daily, sometimes multiple times by their always friendly facilities staff. After a couple of days, the nurses all prodded…err I mean suggested that I try as hard as I can to muster up the strength to take a walk around. And by walk around, I mean through the hallways around the nurse headquarters and by all my neighbors in other rooms, and basically just keeping on my floor I could go wherever. So I did just that, and by the end I was up and walking around 4-5 times a day. That was a relief, because going into the surgery I had the impression that I would be bed ridden for a few weeks. Now of course they weren’t setting me up for the latest marathon walking fundraiser, but at least I had a glimpse of whatever my actual limitations were going to be, in the interim all the way until the end, reversal surgery.

Last day came at last. My surgeon and her very alert & motivated team would come to visit me daily of course to make sure I was progressing nicely in recovery, and I was. So during the doctor’s visit that Monday morning June 14th I was given confirmation that I was cleared to go home. Kristine was coming back from out of town that day, so Brian did my chauffeuring back to my place, and Kristine came by once she was back in town early that evening. It was nice to be home, back to familiar surroundings. And my cat Jack took a moment to warm up again, as he was no doubt sad that daddy was gone for so long, and had no idea why. Kristine had planned to stay with me for a couple of days, to make sure I was handling things good enough to be on my own. Come to be I do not like being so incapacitated as to require at least semi-constant assistance. More on that later.

Next chapter will be about my experience from the last few months at home, recovering and dealing with some important but temporary life changes. Thanks again for taking the time to read and as always I appreciate ALL your comments, and feel free to ask any questions, I’ll get to answering every one! (And don’t forget to subscribe if you want to be alerted to my new posts!)