On the Mend!!

Well I am so thankful last week is over! Thank you for all the thoughts, prayers and visits from everyone! They really kept me going! So I am going to start from last Monday! UGH!! I don't even want to remember last Monday, let alone write about it! LOL!

April 16th~April 17th~I wake up and realize this is the start of it all! The week I had both been looking forward to and dreading all at the same time! I am going to finally be free of this bag and everything that comes with it, but I have to go through so much pain and suffering to just to be normal again! I had times that I thought, "I can live with this, it isn't so bad!" Then reality would hit, like when I am at the Discovery Science Center with my family as one of our last outings together before the surgery. I end up leaking everywhere and we had only been there for an hour.  I had no extra clothes and I was trapped inside a tiny bathroom stall and didn't know what to do. So, I pulled up my big girl panties and ran out of there as red faced as all get out!! I found my family and off we went.  That's when I realized, I can't do this forever! So for 2 days I had nothing to eat.  I had to drink 4 bottles of Magnesium Citrate and I had to take 8 Ducolax laxatives and, the fun part, 2 enemas!!  Despite my 2 year old trying to shove a yummy, chocolaty, delicious Oreo in my face numerous times and smelling dinner as it cooks, I DID IT!!! The prep was over!!!!

April 18th~ D DAY!!!! It's here, the day I had been waiting for since my first surgery in October!! For fasting and giving myself the stomach flu for 2 days, I was actually feeling good! My spirits were up and I wasn't as tired as I thought I would be.  That morning, my sister, Betsy and her family were all there and Shayla and Aaron were there. (My cousin and her 1 year old son) I had to be there at 11:30am and surgery would be 2 hours after that.  So at 11:10am, we all gathered around and prayed.  That's when it all started becoming real to me. After we were done praying, Jon said we had to leave.  I turned to hug Shayla goodbye, because she couldn't make it to the surgery, and I lost it.  I couldn't help but to cry and think, this could be the last time I see her again! Looking back now I think, "DRAMA!!!" But I was super tired and hadn't had food for 3 days at this point. 

So we get to the hospital, and as always, take it over!! Most people have about 3 visitors waiting for them during surgery, I had about 15 people!! I have such a great support system.  So right after I check into the hospital, we have to wait outside the waiting room because there were too many of us.  As we were all waiting by the elevators, for the nurse to call me back, Dr D (my surgeon) came up to talk with us.  He asked if I had any questions and he was just very calm.  The funniest part was when my 3 year old nephew, Noah, ran up to my surgeon, head butted him in the "special place" and spit water on his shoes!! I really needed that laugh at that point!!! My surgeon just looked up and said, "You really need to get someone in here to clean that up!" and he laughed, then left.  A few minutes later, the nurse came to take me back.  We all got in a circle to pray and my nurse took my hand!!! She looked at me and said, "I am going to pray for you too!" At that moment, I just had a peace come over me.  I wasn't shaking, or scared anymore! I knew this was all in God's hands.  He wanted me, "bag less" and I am going to be!! I was told, when my colon ruptured, that when they put the colostomy in, it was going to be permanent! But, God had other plans!!

The nurse takes me back and I am alone for the first time in a couple of days! It was great quiet time with God.  I just prayed and thanked Him and talked to Him for a long time.  They were going to call my family back 2 at a time before the surgery, but after I got dressed, TOOK A PREGNANCY TEST (HA HA HA!!) and got the IV started.  So that time, just me and God was blissful!! I was so comfortable and peaceful.  Well, if you know my family, THEY DON'T FOLLOW THE RULES.... EVER!! The nurse said she was going to go get my husband after she started my IV. Well, according to my family, they took too long!!! So here comes Jon, the nurse and I just look at each other.  I said, "Is everything ok?" He said, "Ya! Your family made me come back here because it was taking too long!" Yep!! We are THAT family!! LOL!! But we get results!! So Jon was there while she started my IV.  She got it on the first try!!! We both prayed for that! (Yes! She prayed again for me!) Then my sister, mom and Nathaniel came back to see me! As soon as they got there, we got word that they were ready for me.  The next thing I knew, they were wheeling me back to the operating room!

After the surgery was over I was in EXTREME pain!!! The kind of pain where you can't catch a breath! I thought for sure, my insides were on the outside! I begged for pain killers and the nurse told me no because he said I would stop breathing! I promised him that I wouldn't stop!  Little by little, he would give me 1mg of Dilaudid. Finally after about 3 or 4 mg's, it took the edge off.  So after an hour of being in recovery, I was taken to my room.  Then I realized, it is not a private room!! Luckily my roomie had as big of a family as I did. So there would be no complaining in that department.   But, she didn't have a secret weapon that I did! JON'S SNORING!! That poor lady, just got out of surgery, was hoping for a good nights sleep. NOPE!!! I feel so bad for her!
April 19th~ So at about 7am, Dr. D comes in to check on me. Literally, the first words out of his mouth is, "You didn't get a private room? This is not going to work because, 1. Your family does not obey the rules and will not stick to only 2 visitors at a time and 2. He (pointing to Jon) doesn't leave your side and he snores too loud to have a room mate!" Then he told us to wait a minute, then he comes back and says, "OK got you your own room!" It was that easy!! So we talked for a couple minutes and then he left.  A few seconds later, the charge nurse comes in and says, "Dr. D said he wanted you in your own room, so we are fixing one now for you!" That man has some power up in that hospital. 

April 20-22nd~ These days consisted of starting "sips of liquids" on Friday, walking the halls, trying to pass gas and go #2! Well, by Friday I had achieved all the goals! By Sunday afternoon I was FINALLY eating a "soft diet" and was ready to go home.  Dr D wanted me to stay another day, but I had already told the kids I would be home. I couldn't freak them out by not going home.  The problem was, we didn't have a pain management regiment set up for when I go home. So when the pain management Dr showed up at around 1:30pm, I told her that I thought 4mg of Dilaudid every 4 hours and then 30 mg of Morphine every 12 hours on top of that should be OK.  So, out went my beloved IV and the wonderful drugs that went with it!! I was on my way home!

April 23rd~Woke up this morning in TERRIBLE pain!! Not as bad as when I was in recovery, but close.  We had slept through the alarm to take my pills! Boy did I learn my lesson!! Today started my "boot camp" back to health! Here is my schedule, (That I actually stuck to) I am still on a soft solids diet.  So we bought enough food to get us through this week.  I am eating 6 snacks instead of 3 meals.  A snack for example is a yogurt and a string cheese. Every 2 hours, I walk up and down my street.  But, in between time, I rest and try not to push it.  I refuse to take 2 months to heal this time around!! My goal for this week is to not need a wheel chair for Friday's Dr appointment.   

Again, Thank you all for your help with the kids, visiting me in the hospital, bringing food and of course your prayers!! You all mean so much to me and I am ready to have this colostomy bag far behind me!! Love you all!!