Well living with no colon hasn't been easy for me. At first, it was ok and great.. no problems then the end of April, four months after my colon was removed, I had a very painful blockage that sent me to the Pahrump NV Emergency Room. I had a friend take me, Melinda. I had to drive to her house, her teenager was using her car, and she took me to the ER.... I was in PAIN the whole time. My stomach felt all in knots and in pain. I was having a small bowel blockage! Argh! I was nauseous and after being admitted, I threw up in a bag they gave me and wow I felt so much better! But they wouldn't let me go home. I had a Priesthood blessing by Brother Witten and Aimie's Dad. That was so nice. Melinda and Kelly arranged it. Kelly was out of town taking a trailer up to Oregon when this all happened! I stayed over night and they let me go home next day after they saw everything was ok. My CT scan only showed inflammation of the small intestines, probably where the blockage was. I threw up before the scan.
Since end of April, I went on to have 5 more blockage episodes. I went back to eating normal foods and wow did it kick me in the intestines! I went to the Medford hospital when I was visiting Kevin, missed Aleah's birthday party, but I did celebrate with her family the night before her party. When I'm in the hospital, the way they clear blockages is by putting an NG tube down my nose into my stomach to suck out fluids, that takes the pressure off and the blockage can pass. If I throw up enough at home, it seems to clear. I had two blockages at home that I was able to take care of myself by inducing vomiting and it cleared ok. I was then hospitalized in the Reedsport hospital 2x in 10 days! The CT scans there showed a herniated small intestine pushing up into my stoma area, causing blockages. :( Second time I went in at 10:30pm, the ER doc said I needed surgery, but when he called the surgeon on call, Dr. Lawson, the surgeon, said "Oh just put an NG tube down her throat and she'll be ok in the morning" I was so mad! I had my scans and xrays taken in Reedsport within 10 days of each other sent them over to my surgeon inn Las Vegas for her opinion on what to do to NOT have this keep happening. She called me and said I needed to have surgery to have this fixed. She said she could NOT do the reversal until I have it fixed and I'm healed up from all of this. Well, Dr. Shank in Reedsport said he'd do it, but went on vacation for three weeks. I was willing to fly to Vegas and have Dr. Wishev do it for me! Then I went to sacrament meeting her in Reedsport and who was visiting? Our stake president, who is a wonderful surgeon! Kelly talked to him after the meeting and Dr. Tersigni told me to call his office Monday and schedule a pre-op appointment! YEA! So I've been in to see him. I had my scans and xrays sent to his office and he knew right away I needed surgery. It was not elective and needed fixed. I was so glad to hear this... I've been eating soft foods and liquids for three weeks. I have my surgery this Thursday, July 19th. I'm glad this is getting fixed. I'm so mad at the Reedsport surgeons and how they handled my care. They didn't care. All for the better because I have total confidence in Dr. Tersigni.
I went to my son's house in Roseburg and spent the night with him, his wife and four kids... we went to Cooper Creek Reservoir and had a nice Summer evening. They brought a canoe and Brad and I took a turn canoeing a bit. I enjoyed watching all the kids and Brad and Rashelle play in the water. :)
So life without a colon has been hard, but it will get better. I'll have to heal up again.. but my wound will be in the same place, I'm glad for that. When I left, Kelly said, "Don't go to the hospital!" :) And I didn't!
So next entry will be about my surgery to get all fixed up. My weight is good and I'm feeling good, just kinda weak from having soft foods only. I haven't had meat in weeks. I think that is what blocks me bad. Mashed potatoes or french fries, I can handle.. yea!
