- Joined
- Aug 9, 2010
- Messages
- 38
My name is Ramona & I'm from Oregon. I've had an Ostomy/Illeostomy since October 14, 2009 & I love to read, write, watch movies, go to rock concerts, Motley Crue, Poison, Def Leppard being among my favorites. I love to go for long walks on a beach & the concerts is my most favorite thing to do & I've met over 55 rockstars including Joe Elliott, Bret Michaels, Phil Collen, CC Deville & more, too many to list. Here's my story.
My story began actually about 5 years ago. I began having symptoms including bloody diarrhea, that being the worst of my symptoms. I went to the doctor and was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis after having a very painful test, the one where they only go half way up the colon. They didn't give me anything & afterward, the pain was intense. This made me scared of having a full colonoscopy that I desperately needed. The pills were many but I took them & the symptoms cleared up but then the expense of the medicine became too much so I stopped taking them.
I actually was in remission for 2 years, then they came back with a vengence about a year ago. I was in bed 24/7 and was losing weight fast. I went to the doctor, not telling him of the major symptom, bloody diarrhea & he gave me medicine to clear it up. It cleared up & I was in remission for the 2 years.
5 months ago, I began having symptoms again & was in bed 24/7 and went to the doctor once. he gave me some antibiotics and I didn't say anything about the blood in my stool cause I didn't want a colostomy. The pills didn't work & I began to get worse. I was in bed for 2 weeks, only getting up long enough to go to the bathroom & it had gotten so bad, it was like every 15 minutes.
I could no longer eat or drink anything, as it made me nauseous and I'd vomit. Finally I made another doctors appointment a week later & he sent me to the emergency room. By this time I'd become severely dehydrated & they had to give me fluids by IVs. By this time, I had NO kidney function at all & my kidneys began failing.
After an hour in this hospital, I was transported by ambulance to a hospital in Corvallis Oregon where I was immediately put on IVs and I had tubes going every which way. I had test after test, trying to figure out exactly what was going on. In the first hospital I gushed blood from my anus and I had become cold, first sign of bleeding to death.
I was in the bigger hospital for a week with them doing tests & I did have a colonoscopy & they determined my condition as ulcerative colitis. My fear had been them finding colon cancer but luckily none was found. The diarrhea became worse with each passing minute & seemed to be coming out of my vagina and they began thinking I had a tear in the colon. After a week of them trying meds to help my colon get better, nothing was working so my doctors gave me a choice, have surgery to remove the colon or die. I had more than just the Ulcerative Colitis working against me. I had my kidneys that were failing & I have a heart condition that gives me a weak heart.
I just wanted to get better so I signed the papers to have the surgery & I was taken to surgery the next morning. I was terrified. I was scared I’d go into surgery and never wake up. My surgeon even said it was a possibility. I didn’t want to die. By this time, I did have some good news & that was my kidneys were coming back & I started having kidney function again.
But I still couldn’t eat or drink anything & being on IV’s, I didn’t have to anyway. I was taken to surgery & woke up a few hours later. It was hard to wake up too, I struggled to wake up and I woke with a tube in my throat to help me breathe. I panicked when I felt this and wanted it out immediately but they told me I had to breathe on my own for 2 hours before they would take it out so they turned off the machine & kept an eye on me.
Two hours went by, then 3 before they said they’d remove it. That was the longest 3 hours of my life. When they finally did, it was about 2 or 3 days before my voice came back and I could talk without my throat being sore but I was alive. I’d survived the surgery and for that I was grateful.
They removed my colon and during surgery, it had ruptured & they feared infection but put me on antibiotics and luckily I didn’t get one, not Septic like they orignally thought anyway, I did have an infection though. After about another week, I was able to start eating and drinking again & at first, food and water tasted strange cause I hadn’t had it in so long but then it began to taste really good. In total, I had 9 IVs and had been in the ICU for most of my stay except for the last week. I was in the hospital 3 weeks. I’d developed several blood clots but luckily was eliminated with medicines.
The doctors were really impressed with my recovery & I think a lot of it had to do with my determination to stay alive. I didn’t even have pain meds for the first day I came out of surgery. I just wanted to stay awake and know I was alive & would survive.
Bye the end of 2 weeks, my kidney function was normal & I was healing nicely from the surgery. I had graduated to a regular room but I was still very weak. I had to learn to walk again. They tried walking me in the hospital and I did pretty good but it was hard, I tired easily and because of the clots, I was swollen all over.
The meds they had on me eventually dissolved the clots & the swelling went away. I had to wear a catheter for 2 weeks while my kidneys recovered but was able to get rid of it finally. That was very uncomfortable and I was glad to be rid of it. I was finally discharged after 23 days & my doctors said I was doing remarkably well.
I had six doctors, including 2 surgeons, kidney doctor, lung doctor, heart doctor & regular doctor. Lots of nurses too. I owe a lot of my quick recovery to the excellent care I had in the hospital and I literally owe them my life because without them, I would not be here today. I spent another 3 weeks in a rehab center to regain my strength and had wonderful nurses there as well.
Now 10 months later, I am doing exceptionally well and have adjusted to having a stoma, which is located on my right side below my stomach. It was a challenge at first, learning how to change the bag and everything but it’s all worth it, it definitely beats the alternative. I feel as if I’m a true survivor because had I gone to the doctor just two days later, I might not have survived, that’s how close I was to death & let me tell you, it scared me. I’m thankful to be alive & I definitely look at life differently and appreciate it more. Thank you.
My story began actually about 5 years ago. I began having symptoms including bloody diarrhea, that being the worst of my symptoms. I went to the doctor and was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis after having a very painful test, the one where they only go half way up the colon. They didn't give me anything & afterward, the pain was intense. This made me scared of having a full colonoscopy that I desperately needed. The pills were many but I took them & the symptoms cleared up but then the expense of the medicine became too much so I stopped taking them.
I actually was in remission for 2 years, then they came back with a vengence about a year ago. I was in bed 24/7 and was losing weight fast. I went to the doctor, not telling him of the major symptom, bloody diarrhea & he gave me medicine to clear it up. It cleared up & I was in remission for the 2 years.
5 months ago, I began having symptoms again & was in bed 24/7 and went to the doctor once. he gave me some antibiotics and I didn't say anything about the blood in my stool cause I didn't want a colostomy. The pills didn't work & I began to get worse. I was in bed for 2 weeks, only getting up long enough to go to the bathroom & it had gotten so bad, it was like every 15 minutes.
I could no longer eat or drink anything, as it made me nauseous and I'd vomit. Finally I made another doctors appointment a week later & he sent me to the emergency room. By this time I'd become severely dehydrated & they had to give me fluids by IVs. By this time, I had NO kidney function at all & my kidneys began failing.
After an hour in this hospital, I was transported by ambulance to a hospital in Corvallis Oregon where I was immediately put on IVs and I had tubes going every which way. I had test after test, trying to figure out exactly what was going on. In the first hospital I gushed blood from my anus and I had become cold, first sign of bleeding to death.
I was in the bigger hospital for a week with them doing tests & I did have a colonoscopy & they determined my condition as ulcerative colitis. My fear had been them finding colon cancer but luckily none was found. The diarrhea became worse with each passing minute & seemed to be coming out of my vagina and they began thinking I had a tear in the colon. After a week of them trying meds to help my colon get better, nothing was working so my doctors gave me a choice, have surgery to remove the colon or die. I had more than just the Ulcerative Colitis working against me. I had my kidneys that were failing & I have a heart condition that gives me a weak heart.
I just wanted to get better so I signed the papers to have the surgery & I was taken to surgery the next morning. I was terrified. I was scared I’d go into surgery and never wake up. My surgeon even said it was a possibility. I didn’t want to die. By this time, I did have some good news & that was my kidneys were coming back & I started having kidney function again.
But I still couldn’t eat or drink anything & being on IV’s, I didn’t have to anyway. I was taken to surgery & woke up a few hours later. It was hard to wake up too, I struggled to wake up and I woke with a tube in my throat to help me breathe. I panicked when I felt this and wanted it out immediately but they told me I had to breathe on my own for 2 hours before they would take it out so they turned off the machine & kept an eye on me.
Two hours went by, then 3 before they said they’d remove it. That was the longest 3 hours of my life. When they finally did, it was about 2 or 3 days before my voice came back and I could talk without my throat being sore but I was alive. I’d survived the surgery and for that I was grateful.
They removed my colon and during surgery, it had ruptured & they feared infection but put me on antibiotics and luckily I didn’t get one, not Septic like they orignally thought anyway, I did have an infection though. After about another week, I was able to start eating and drinking again & at first, food and water tasted strange cause I hadn’t had it in so long but then it began to taste really good. In total, I had 9 IVs and had been in the ICU for most of my stay except for the last week. I was in the hospital 3 weeks. I’d developed several blood clots but luckily was eliminated with medicines.
The doctors were really impressed with my recovery & I think a lot of it had to do with my determination to stay alive. I didn’t even have pain meds for the first day I came out of surgery. I just wanted to stay awake and know I was alive & would survive.
Bye the end of 2 weeks, my kidney function was normal & I was healing nicely from the surgery. I had graduated to a regular room but I was still very weak. I had to learn to walk again. They tried walking me in the hospital and I did pretty good but it was hard, I tired easily and because of the clots, I was swollen all over.
The meds they had on me eventually dissolved the clots & the swelling went away. I had to wear a catheter for 2 weeks while my kidneys recovered but was able to get rid of it finally. That was very uncomfortable and I was glad to be rid of it. I was finally discharged after 23 days & my doctors said I was doing remarkably well.
I had six doctors, including 2 surgeons, kidney doctor, lung doctor, heart doctor & regular doctor. Lots of nurses too. I owe a lot of my quick recovery to the excellent care I had in the hospital and I literally owe them my life because without them, I would not be here today. I spent another 3 weeks in a rehab center to regain my strength and had wonderful nurses there as well.
Now 10 months later, I am doing exceptionally well and have adjusted to having a stoma, which is located on my right side below my stomach. It was a challenge at first, learning how to change the bag and everything but it’s all worth it, it definitely beats the alternative. I feel as if I’m a true survivor because had I gone to the doctor just two days later, I might not have survived, that’s how close I was to death & let me tell you, it scared me. I’m thankful to be alive & I definitely look at life differently and appreciate it more. Thank you.
