- Location
- aylesbury,
Hi all,
Having been on the forum for a little while now, just wanted to put my story out there. It's probably gonna be a bit long so I apologise!
I had suffered with stomach pains and bloating for the last 20 years, docs had always told me I had ibs, when hospitalised I was told it was gastroenteritis and For years the pains, weight loss, constant D ruled my life.
I knew there was something wrong even though the docs always made me feel like I was wasting their time. Eventually they gave me mertazapine saying my mind was creating my problems, yeah right. It made me extremely angry an anti depressant was prescribed but i was at my lowest and probably loneliest so happily knocked them back. Spent the next few months with a slight improvement and in hindsight i could have walked off a broken leg without feeling any physical or mental pain. As the months passed my health deteriorated, slowly with weight loss, poor complexion, the worst and smelliest poop in the northern hemisphere, fevers, aches and pains etc etc, you know the story, i felt like I was about 70!
December the 5th 2012, at 1am, becky, my other half and rock, carted me off to a and e There I had my first stomach X-ray and ct scan in 20 yrs. low and behold it showed a mass of tissue in my small intestine. The surgeon on call gave me the low down and said surgery was the only option. He said I would be home in ten days and back to work January. A done deal I said, whip it out and let's do Xmas. Oh how very wrong could I be? Surgery went ok, resection was performed removing terminal ileum and about 40cm of small intestine. A big old scar but not too bad I guess. I felt lousy as hell but for the first time in years my stomach felt different, not sure how, it just did.
Anyway as the days went by and the ct scans added up, it was obvious I had developed a small leak in the resection. Nil by mouth was the verdict and let it heal itself said my consultant. My stomach drain was inconclusive and my wound seemed to be healing. Christmas Eve came along and they had started me back on free fluids and soft stuff for a couple of days. A locum consultant did his rounds and told me to go home and recover.
Thank god I thought, I'm free, 3 weeks in hotel illness was more than enough!
Xmas came round and I enjoyed being at home with my girls and family, Xmas dinner tasted like it fell from heaven and the next few days were much the same!
Dec 30th and here we go again, started to feel rough, my scar started to open up and I had a distinct yellow tinge. Off to the hospital again and whilst in the waiting room my scar popped its fixings and delivered a big ole pile of pooh out into my lap. Thinking I was about to pop my clogs I went into a bit of a meltdown and don't remember too much after that. The surgeon ( colorectal this time, not gall bladder) told me not to panic and that on New Year's Day I would be going back in to get cleaned out and patched up. I woke a week later, numerous surgeries another metre of small intestine gone and now sporting a bag. Hmmm what the hell and where has the last week disappeared to I thought.
And there started my recovery. I had another 10 days in hospital being pumped full of antibiotics, steroids and pain relief and pretty much demanded they let me home to try and recover. My stay in hospital had been horrific but that's a different story, I lost 20 kg in weight over the 8 weeks I had been in, I was so weak and feeble when I came out I could barely walk and my mental well being had taken a massive hit. How could this have happened to me? Why did it happen? And how the hell do I cope with the way I am now?
The answer I guess is we just learn to accept and adapt as we go. i have learnt a lot about the way my body works in the last year and i have watched it slowly rebuild itself. Having patience is a must, it's a slow process, A year on and I am almost back up to weight and back to work, It's been a long old journey and have crossed many hurdles on the way. Still have a long way to go but trying to stay positive is a must!
Well that's pretty much where I am at now. Hope I didn't bore you all too much:smile:
Having been on the forum for a little while now, just wanted to put my story out there. It's probably gonna be a bit long so I apologise!
I had suffered with stomach pains and bloating for the last 20 years, docs had always told me I had ibs, when hospitalised I was told it was gastroenteritis and For years the pains, weight loss, constant D ruled my life.
I knew there was something wrong even though the docs always made me feel like I was wasting their time. Eventually they gave me mertazapine saying my mind was creating my problems, yeah right. It made me extremely angry an anti depressant was prescribed but i was at my lowest and probably loneliest so happily knocked them back. Spent the next few months with a slight improvement and in hindsight i could have walked off a broken leg without feeling any physical or mental pain. As the months passed my health deteriorated, slowly with weight loss, poor complexion, the worst and smelliest poop in the northern hemisphere, fevers, aches and pains etc etc, you know the story, i felt like I was about 70!
December the 5th 2012, at 1am, becky, my other half and rock, carted me off to a and e There I had my first stomach X-ray and ct scan in 20 yrs. low and behold it showed a mass of tissue in my small intestine. The surgeon on call gave me the low down and said surgery was the only option. He said I would be home in ten days and back to work January. A done deal I said, whip it out and let's do Xmas. Oh how very wrong could I be? Surgery went ok, resection was performed removing terminal ileum and about 40cm of small intestine. A big old scar but not too bad I guess. I felt lousy as hell but for the first time in years my stomach felt different, not sure how, it just did.
Anyway as the days went by and the ct scans added up, it was obvious I had developed a small leak in the resection. Nil by mouth was the verdict and let it heal itself said my consultant. My stomach drain was inconclusive and my wound seemed to be healing. Christmas Eve came along and they had started me back on free fluids and soft stuff for a couple of days. A locum consultant did his rounds and told me to go home and recover.
Thank god I thought, I'm free, 3 weeks in hotel illness was more than enough!
Xmas came round and I enjoyed being at home with my girls and family, Xmas dinner tasted like it fell from heaven and the next few days were much the same!
Dec 30th and here we go again, started to feel rough, my scar started to open up and I had a distinct yellow tinge. Off to the hospital again and whilst in the waiting room my scar popped its fixings and delivered a big ole pile of pooh out into my lap. Thinking I was about to pop my clogs I went into a bit of a meltdown and don't remember too much after that. The surgeon ( colorectal this time, not gall bladder) told me not to panic and that on New Year's Day I would be going back in to get cleaned out and patched up. I woke a week later, numerous surgeries another metre of small intestine gone and now sporting a bag. Hmmm what the hell and where has the last week disappeared to I thought.
And there started my recovery. I had another 10 days in hospital being pumped full of antibiotics, steroids and pain relief and pretty much demanded they let me home to try and recover. My stay in hospital had been horrific but that's a different story, I lost 20 kg in weight over the 8 weeks I had been in, I was so weak and feeble when I came out I could barely walk and my mental well being had taken a massive hit. How could this have happened to me? Why did it happen? And how the hell do I cope with the way I am now?
The answer I guess is we just learn to accept and adapt as we go. i have learnt a lot about the way my body works in the last year and i have watched it slowly rebuild itself. Having patience is a must, it's a slow process, A year on and I am almost back up to weight and back to work, It's been a long old journey and have crossed many hurdles on the way. Still have a long way to go but trying to stay positive is a must!
Well that's pretty much where I am at now. Hope I didn't bore you all too much:smile: