Waiting 10 weeks was very hard

I had my JPouch formed back in January on the 8th. My surgeon Dr Fleshner in Beverly Hills made a pouch or a "holding tank" out of the end of my small intestine to use like a colon. So amazing!  I had to still have an ileostomy.  This time it was a loop ileo, which made my digestive tract very short. Recovery after this surgery was the hardest thing I've ever done in my life!  I was so weak and tired and fatigued all the time. After about 4 weeks I could finally go into the kitchen and make food for myself. Prior to that, I was too weak to even stand for very long. All I did was go to the bathroom and back to bed and that took a lot out of me. I was winded and weak. I drank water and electrolyte drinks like crazy and ate all day long. Finally I felt a bit better and did dishes and dusted some, up until that point, Kelly was doing everything for me. Then, after feeling OK for about 2 weeks, I felt slammed again.  Tired, weak and awful. I went in for my pre-op tests in Pahrump and felt like yuck. I had a chest X Ray and the tech asked me what was wrong with me.  He saw how fatigued I was. I told him and he said he's never heard of any of that before. Lol. My blood work came back with signs of infection. I was crying after talking to my Doc!  Daniel saw me and asked what was wrong. I told him and he said to not worry and that everything will be fine. My blood work had the wrong time on it so they wanted me to go in for a retake. Daniel said the fear of the unknown is scary. He did a good job at consoling me. 

Daniel gave me some of his bee pollen he was making out of pure honey and pure bee pollen, sitting it in the sun to ferment and mix. It tasted so sweet and chewy, almost like molasses cookies. I ate some Saturday and honestly by Sunday afternoon, I felt SO MUCH BETTER!  I couldn't believe it. Also Selena put my name on the temple prayer roll and many, many friends and family are praying for me. Stephanie's mom and dad put my name in the temple too, they go every week. I felt like something changed and I felt ready for the next surgery, stronger and able.  Prayers were being answered. So that week I felt good and then Kelly drove me to LA on Thursday for appointments and such. It's now Friday and I can't wait to feel better with no ileostomy again.  March 16, my final surgery day, was so far off back in January!!  It's been a long road and pretty hard on me, so I'm excited it's about to be over. 

I'm so blessed to have a great surgeon and great support and I know Heavenly Father has blessed me and is with me. I feel my Savior's love and I know he knows what I'm going through. I've prayed a lot and when I've reached my limit, I pray and plead and I do receive blessings and relief.  

  

Let's do this surgery!

Here I am lying in my sister's guest bedroom all bundled up in Simi Valley today. It's a windy, cold day outside and it's March 15!  My hubby drove me over from Pahrump, NV to Beverly Hills to my Doc Appts and my Sissy met us there and took me home. The appointments went very well!  Surgeon says my JPouch looks great and is all good to go for hook up on the inside!  I'm so excited!  I was brought in for a "pouch-o-gram" yesterday and that was an experience!  I got all undressed and put on two gowns and they had me lay down on an elevated bed flat on my back. The pillow went all flat when I put my head on its softness. The ceiling was full of tracks for different machines and the lights were dim. I had a warm blanket placed on me. So nice. They fake you out with the warm blanket trick. You feel all safe and secure then they roll ya over and poke and prod ya. Not terrible but not fun. A radiologist came in and did the actual pouch o gram.  I was glad to be done and get dressed again. Then my surgeon examined me and same thing, roll over on your side so I can poke and prod. He said the pouch looks really good and healthy so it's worth it.
So here I am, drinking clear liquids today and imagining my life without an ileostomy bag!  No more noisy, squishy  Stoma. No more making sure I have extra pouch supplies whenever I go anywhere. No more worries about blockages. I'll have different challenges at first, but it will all get better. I will have two big scars on my belly, which is FINE!  I'll need to get used to using my Bum muscles again and at first will have leakages I'm sure. Wearing a pad is better than using a bag any day.
Kelly has been so great to me, helping me with everything.  I tell him he's a Saint. I couldn't have done this without his support, help, patience and love. I miss him. Selena will take good care of me, but I miss him.  I'm a little scared, but that's because of the unknown. What we don't know will happen is scary, but experiences give us strength.
So I shower tonight with anti bacterial soap, then again in the morning and we leave at 4:00am for check in time at 5:30am. Surgery at 7 and it's only about an hour long surgery. To form the JPouch in Jan was a 4+ hour surgery!