This year has been a big year for surgeries, once again. The years 2008, 2012, and 2018 all have been checkered with surgeries.
It all began in 2008 and I went to Urgent Care believing I have intestinal flu. I'm not sure if I caught in "just in time" or waited too long to get to the doctor. Anyway, the doctor at urgent care called for an ambulance and sent me to ER. My white blood cell count was north of 30,000. Apparently, that is an extremely high count. I had sepsis.
I remember being told I was going to be admitted to hospital and arriving at the ER room, but not the ambulance ride there nor calling my daughter to tell her I was being admitted (I did). That was Saturday morning and by Monday evening I was well on my way to my demise. My first surgeon, the one on call, decided they needed to operate immediately and not try to wait for my white blood cells to go down, I was in trouble. Nine inches of my colon was removed that night and my very first stoma was fitted. It was one month in hospital, two weeks in ICU in an induced coma and an additional two weeks after they woke me up. Five months later my ostomy was reversed, I could not have been more excited I did not know at the time I was suffering from Behcet's Syndrome. a rare autoimmune disease. The final diagnosis was Gastro-intestinal Behcet's Syndrome. The end total loss of colon was 12 inches in 2008.
Over the next 3 years, I developed thyroid cancer, lost my thyroid; developed a hernia
which needed to be repaired; and my disease allowed a fistula to go back into surgery. My new surgeon, a colo-rectal surgeon, would be performing this new set of surgeries. I had a new ileostomy fashioned. This one was much higher on my abdomen. It was a "loop" stoma and only meant to be there for about 6 months. My body had other plans.
In 2017, my colon began to do strange things; I was passing stool through my rectum and I was unable to control when the output would happen. After a year of tests, x-rays, CT scans, blood work, my surgeon finally attempted to perform a colonoscopy. When he was unable to do the exam, it was decided that I needed surgery. A little over 2 months later under the knife I went again.
This time they removed what was left of the large intestine and a goodly amount of my small intestine. He was hopimg he did not have to remove too much and thankfully, he did not.
My ostomy was refashioned, lowered and changed into an end stoma rather than a loop. It is considerably smaller than the last one, which resembled a slug. It was lower and I can now where skirts, slacks, and dresses with belts and narry a care in the world. Also, having removed the offending organ, I do not need to be on medication to combat the Behcet's.
Life is much better now, no more bottom leaks and my only care is, "what will be for dinner?" And I am venturing into the scary world of blogging.
