Back In The Basement

Since my last post, recovery has been uninterrupted.  I've been feeling better and better every day, but less marginal than the second week of recovery from the second surgery (last week).  I say this because the surgeon had to remind me that I am still early in a recovery stage that typically last eight to twelve weeks.  The doctor gave me the nod to start some moderate exercise in the form of trotting, and in the last 48 hours, I have shot the basketball a bit and worked on some cardiovascular machines at my parents YMCA in Staunton, VA.    

I am on winter break so I've had my opportunity to enjoy more relaxation time, but I spent Christmas in Winchester with my girlfriends family, and then spent the final two nights of Hanukkah in Staunton at my parents.  It was a bunch of driving which was something I've been concerned with due to the seat belt crossing my abdominal section.  I pretty much drive with my right hand holding the abdominal portion of the belt like a cowboy would do at a rodeo.  It's better than having a pillow.  The festivities were fun, the company even better, but I got to enjoy crisp latkes, and an incredibly moist rum/vodka chocolate flavored cake.

I've been listening to sports radio on my drives this week, and it appears that Andray Blatche will most likely be traded before the year is over in my opinion.  I wanted to call in but it was too difficult to get past my GPS on my phone and get to the dialing pad, and then hope I don't lose service somewhere in the Blue Ridge Mountains (BRM).

Oh yeah! On Sunday, Megan and I drove around Winchester for a bit and then decided to go to the Bears Den somewhere around the beginning climb of the BRM, and it was incredible.  Honestly jaw-dropping.  I'm excited to do things now that I can hold it, and for any of you who knew me before this surgery, you know what I'm talking about.  It's the little things that are so awesome, going for a walk after dinner at a restaurant instead of rushing home.  Went into DC last weekend and I wasn't locating the first hotel or restaurant closest to my car because I knew I could put it off.  A miniature hike to some sweet views and a small sweat was worth it and especially when I didn't have to find a port-o-potty.

Still have some recovery photos to post, but decided to post our Bears Den picture this week.  Shit was ill.

Post-Op Follow-Up

I had my post-operation follow-up appointment with the surgeon and it couldn't have gone any better.  The steri strips are all off now.  The two outside strips fell off on Sunday night, and the middle one which I thought was clinging to some scabbed skin fell off in the shower.  I have an indentation, hopefully temporary, about one inch to the right of my belly button.  Well, whatever that thing is that looks like my belly button, it now has a scar that makes it look real strange, at least from my view.  Photos to come.

I now have an educated guess for that pain that, I recently mentioned, is to the left of my belly button.  The surgeon thought it could have been a hernia, then he thought it could have been due to the infections that caused the belly button scar, and finally after some hard resistance on the area, he concluded it was an abdominal muscle tear.  I can't lift weights for about 6-8 weeks, but can start trotting next week.  I'm taking a guess that trotting is less than a jog?!

I'm finally able to eat lettuce and it was been awesome.  I love that crunch and finally can use a few salads for meals to control my weight.  I have to understand that just because I can finally eat what I want, doesn't mean I should celebrate all the time.  I've been granted this second chance, I need to make the most of it.  I'm still unable to drink anything with fizz, my co-worker tried to convince me a drink wasn't carbonated earlier today, didn't pass, I can tell when it goes down.

A Different Perspective

Big Cat Week is on channel Nat Geo Wild this week, and I pity the fool that thinks Shark Week is cooler.  I'm really looking forward to this one.

Recovery, recovery, oh sweet recovery.  Four or five months ago, I knew there would be some different things to expect from this recovery.  A few months ago, I had my small intestine stitched and sewn into a pouch shaped as a "J" and while I had my bag for nearly three months, it was healing with the eventual result of a new colon, or new "exit canal".  The way this pouch was going to heal involved turning my bowels off for three months, which is why I had a stoma sticking out of my stomach.  The stoma was a different portion of my small intestine pulled out of my stomach, cut open and peeled back like a banana.  With a bag attached, for three months, that was what I was emptying into after I ate.

With the above described, I hope people reading this can understand a slight bit of the science of the surgery rather than the gross thought of what happened.  It saved my life as I see it, no more risk of colon cancer, and being 20 years old when diagnosed, and never having my symptoms go into remission, my risk percentage was going to be very dangerous as I got older.  I feel like I have been granted a fresh start.  

A good read for how others deal with ulcerative colitis, check out how Darren Fletcher of the Manchester Red Devils deals with the chronic disease.

While I've been back at work for two days, and sitting in an upright position working at a desk on a computer, I have noticed some new pain.  The pain level isn't that bad, mainly awkwardly uncomfortable, but the pain is there consistently and is about a 1 on a scale 1 to 10.  Oddly, this pain is on the left side of my stomach, nowhere near where the first or second surgery left any marks, so my only uneducated guess is that it's the "J" pouch still healing.  I had some interior stitches to my muscle and fat to sew me back up, but I can't imagine my pain has drifted that far left.  I'm talking my left as I look down when I pee.  I'll have a more educated idea next Monday after my post-op follow-up appointment.  Stay tuned.

Mobility is getting more back to normal, and I am starting to experience some normal bowel movements.  I am thinking to just continue walking thru 2011, and start a slight jog in January, and hope to try playing some hoops late January.

Just a video of me walking for the first time after surgery.  Anyone that's had surgery knows that's the toughest one.  Not a fan of the gown, but this is an all-access site.  Thanks to Megan Wolk for sweet video recording skills.

That's That

It's late on Friday night and I just got done watching a movie after going out to dinner.  We went to King Street Blues which is located in the Crystal City Shoppes, not sure why they spell it that way, but not my problem, just theirs.  But yes, went out to dinner tonight and had a shrimp 'n chicken sandwich, but ended up just forking the shrimp 'n chicken because there was too much bread and not enough meat.

Recovery has been pretty crazy this time around.  The pain is minimal, except for later in the day when the overnight trips out of bed made me fragile and slow for the rest of the day.  It was good that I wasn't at work this week even though I felt like I could because laying down seemed to be the only comfortable position.  I was able to catch up on Boardwalk Empire, FIFA, and Champions League.  I don't understand how people don't enjoy European soccer.  It's on when no other sports are on, 2:30pm Mon-Wed, and then 8am-12pm every weekend morning.  What else do you have to do, watch the three hours of NFL Countdown, get real!  My mother and I went shopping at Trader Joe's before I reassuringly sent my parents home, and it was in the store that I realized that I don't have to constantly know where the closest bathroom is or be cautious of what I ate recently.  As a new healthier person being reintroduced to society, it was a pleasure not freaking out about my ulcerative colitis.  Every once in a while, I have one of these self-realization moments that the reason I had this surgery is actually working out and paying off.

I understand I only had surgery a week ago, but I have planned to return back to work on Monday the 12th. I read in another persons blog that it was taking them weeks and months to return back to normal activity, but I'm looking to start a cardio workout in about two weeks.  Every person is unique and so is their recovery.

Back Home

As I am writing this, my girlfriend is laying in bed because she is completely exhausted from taking care of me while being in the hospital for the last 50+ hours.  But she has been absolutely amazing through every step of the process, she truly is amazing.  According to Dr. Otchy, every now and then he comes across a "superstar" where their bowels wake up from surgery and start working the day after surgery, and yes - I am that superstar! I started having bowel movements yesterday (Saturday) afternoon and it was neither pretty nor painless, but that was expected.

This morning I woke up around 7:30 which is amazing for anyone that stays in a hospital.  You have the blood lab guy come in whistling at 5:30 because for some reason he is happy to be the blood lab guy waking recovering patients up at 5:30 to do blood work, and then you also have the nurse technician turning on the lights to check on your vitals every four hours, and of course they don't schedule the blood work and vitals at the same time.  So I had the blood lab guy whistling,  I've been experiencing these cramps that start about 3/4 of the way up my spine in my back all the way down eventually through my stomach to my new exit canal.  I slept pretty easily through all of the various events last night.  This morning, one of the surgeon's partners came in to talk to me and said that I was looking great and I should get some breakfast in and then lunch and if they stay down, then I will go home today.  Huge news and I was very motivated to make this happen.

Through all the walks around the 5th floor of Fair Oaks Hospital, eating only ice chips for days, breathing exercises, and motivational talks with family, friends, and myself, I am on the road to recovery.

Here I go again

Good evening.  I am sitting at my computer in my room at Fair Oaks Hospital, and today has sure been quite the day.  Started  it off by waking up at 5am to go for a walk and take my last shower with the bag.  I had to quit the walk early because it was freezing.  I have been on Delada since coming out of surgery and simultaneously trying to rid the anesthesia from my body.  I am on cloud nine, but early I was definitely on cloud 10, 11, etc.   My nerves weren't as shaky before this surgery compared to the first one, but anyone going in for abdominal surgery, or any surgery for that matter will most likely share these same nerves.  I woke up in the recovery room around 11am, at least that's when the meds wore off, and it wasn't as chaotic as I remember.  It was a smaller room, not too many nurses running around and it wasn't as loud as I thought.  I was taken up to my room, and it turned out to be the exact same room from September.  Luckily, my parents and girlfriend arrived immediately and I was lost - had zero clue where I was, but I remember complaining over the pain.  Thanks to my parents and girlfriend for being there from the early morning to now.  My sister showed up around 7pm after work, but she's going to spend a majority of the day here tomorrow.

The pain is definitely not as bad as I thought, and I went in expecting the worst and hoping for the best.  I have already gone for two walks, and a third may be happening in an hour or so.  The surgeon and nurses have always said that walking will speed up the healing process, so obviously I am going to walk as much as possible.  Earlier today, I spent much of the day falling in and out of sleep and resting with my arms in the air.    Seriously, I woke up at least four times today and my arms were in the air.  I have also noticed that I have been falling asleep mid-sentence which is crazy and fun, but very very confusing.  I just woke up and saw this on my screen, might as well finish. Nothing too comical today, it hurts to laugh, hurts to cry, and hurts to breathe.  With that being said (thanks Larry David), the quieter it is, the less pain I'm in.  The opposite can be said as well, and people that know me, know that I hate the silence.

That's all for now, we'll see how much there is to update tomorrow.  Big ups to the Georgetown Hoyas for their huge victory over Alabama.