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.
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.
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