Post-Op

Well, I am colon-less and doing well!  It is so evident that I have been prayed for.  My surgery actually went better than normal.  Standard procedure for this surgery is that they would do three small laparoscopic cuts and one larger incision to remove the colon and rectum through.  If they had difficulties, they would make that incision larger for a hand assist or would have to do a large ribs-to-pelvis incision.  In my case, I have no large incisions!  They did the entire thing laparoscopically!  My surgeon hadn’t even mentioned that to me beforehand as a possibility.  But he said that because I’m young and in good shape, they were able to do it.  My anesthesiologist said that my surgery was one of the technically best he had ever seen.  Praise God!  Dr. Clifford Simmang is now akin to Superman in my eyes.  I hope you never need to have any of your guts removed, but if you do, go to him!

Also, my recovery is going very well.  Apparently it usually takes a couple of days for your digestive system to get functioning again after surgery like this, so my nurses were surprised when my ileostomy was up and running just a few hours after my surgery.  My nurse yesterday said I’m doing a great job of getting up by myself, and a home healthcare representative came by and said that I might be discharged earlier than expected.  Yesterday, my anesthesiologist asked if I had been able to eat anything and keep it down, such as Jell-o.  When I told him I had actually had a pork chop and mashed sweet potatoes for lunch, he was amazed.  For such a hard thing, everything is going better than I could have hoped for.  Is God good, or what?

I have been so blessed by my visitors, and several extra chairs have had to be pulled into my room to accommodate.  A couple of times my nurses have come in to take my vitals and have commented that it looked like I was having a party in here.  God has been so good to me in this.  I was worried that since I was having my surgery in Dallas it would be harder for people to come visit, so I am extremely thankful that so many friends are making the effort to come here and see me.  My wonderful husband has been at my side constantly and has not complained once about the many things I have asked him to help me with.  Also, Evie seems to be having a wonderful time with my mom at a nearby hotel.  I was so encouraged when I got to visit with her yesterday at one of the sitting areas here.  She was laughing and smiling and crawling all over the place.  Praise God that my absence has not been too hard on her!

Of course, there are some hard things.  I am in pain, yes, but it is manageable.  I had one rather embarrassing exploding ileostomy bag incident while I was taking one of my victory laps around the floor, and I am very done with being woken up at 3:30am to have my blood drawn.  Nurses are hit or miss.  I actually got so frustrated waiting around for one of my nurses to come and empty my ileostomy bag that I just started doing it myself.  They were a bit surprised, but they’re okay with me doing it as long as I record the volume of my output.  I feel like it’s one of my few ways to be a little feisty, so I’m doing it.  Every time I do something for myself that they haven’t actually given me permission to do yet, there’s this tiny feeling of sticking it to the man.  I like it.

The next three months with my ileostomy will require some adjustment, but it’s not too bad.  An ostomy nurse came by yesterday and talked to me, and as she said, I didn’t want one, I never expected to have one, but it saved my life.  It’s a little weird looking at my belly and seeing part of my small intestine sticking out, but it helps to know that this is just a temporary thing until I have my second surgery.  Even if I had to have it the rest of my life, it wouldn’t be the end of the world.

I so appreciate all of your prayers, and I ask that you continue to pray for my recovery and my adjustment period as I get back to life at home sometime in the next few days.  I know some things will be very hard, but God is gracious.  He has gotten me through this far, and His mercies are new every morning.  May God continue to bless you and your neighbor through you!

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