Surgery Day

It's finally the day of my surgery.  I woke up feeling excited for the healing process to start but scared to death of this major surgery that is about to take place. 

I'm just happy Matt is here with me and that we will be meeting my family in a little while at the hospital.  I'm most scared about trusting the nurses after surgery to take care of me, I know, I definitely have control issues.  I made Matt promise me that I would never be alone while I was in the hospital, what a great husband I have.  I had to wake up very early to take one last shower and to wipe down with the special antibacterial soap and wipes they gave me.

I then put on my comfies and gave the cats and the dogs one last hug...Well the day has come whether I'm ready or not. Wish me luck! 

One last quick picture of my belly before surgery, the last few moments of a scar free belly!

Clear liquid diet day...surgery is tomorrow

I can't believe that today is my last day with my colon (large intestine).  Weird to think that in less than 24 hours my surgery will start.  Tomorrow I will loose my entire colon which is 5 feet long!  Not to mention that they must remove my appendix as well, it's connected to your colon.

Good riddance you malicious colon!

My home for the next week!

Legacy Good Samaritan Hospital

 

So today I am on a clear liquid diet, no fun when you are already weak, malnourished, anemic, and dehydrated consistently.  FUN FUN, NOT! We stocked up on popsicles, juices, Gatorade.  I hate that you can't drink anything red or purple, the red colors are always the best flavors. Right!!

 

So I will be spending the day with my Bella, she goes to my mom and dad's house tonight and will be on "vacation" there for a week until I come home from the hospital.  My kitties are snuggled into me as I speak, they know somethings up I think.  I have been doing some packing and they want to lay on everything I put in my bag which is a big problem.  I was instructed that everything I pack must be fresh laundered, aka it must go directly from the drier into my hospital bag. 

 

I also have to wash the sheets and bed linens today and I can only take them out of the drier and put them on the bed right before I get in.  Before getting in bed I have to wash with special soap tonight and then put on jammies straight out of the drier as well.  The surgeon is really addressing and working to prevent infection because my immune system is not working up to par.  The worst part is I am not allowed to be around my kitties after the shower tonight! They usually both sleep on me.  I am going to miss them tonight, I can't get comfortable without them smothering me, HA.

 

 Surgery is tomorrow!  It has come up so fast.  When we scheduled surgery it felt like it would take forever to get here.  Now it's tomorrow!

 

 



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Surgery Wednesday

I can't believe that surgery is the day after tomorrow.  I'm ready, I know that this is what I have to do to get myself better.  Yet, at the same time, I am scared to death.  Praying for a calm mind and body the next few days. 

Ive been a good girl, drinking my Impact specialised nutrition drink (pre-op for high-risk patients prior to major surgery).  Drinking what fluids I can and resting up.  I have all my clothing laid out already and we have moved the bed from our spare bedroom to the downstairs living room at our home so I have a place to rest downstairs so I don't have to do much walking. 

Tonight is my last meal. Tomorrow morning until midnight i am only allowed to have clear liquids and then nothing to eat after midnight. 

Wednesday morning I check in at 6am for a 8am surgery.  It's coming up so fast, am I ready?

Surgery one week away! Pre-Admission Appointment Today

Had my Pre-Admission Today.
Went down to Good Sam's today.  Traffic was horrible getting there, and then we got lost in the parking garage...but we figured it out and got there.  Just remember level H has the sky bridge to the main building. 

The nurse we met with today was great!  We went over EVERYTHING.

Pre-op skin preparations (antibacterial wash the night before with clean sheets and PJ's then I have special wipes to use after another antibacterial wash in the morning).

Pre-op nutrition: My meals for the next week...

 

Because I'm a "high risk" patient due to low weight, malnourishment, and very low caloric intake recently they prescribed IMPACT, I'm to drink 3 of them a day for the five days prior to surgery.  I was told that they also help your immune system and help prevent infection and help wound healing.

We went over anesthesia and my difficulties previously, anesthesiologist will contact me this week. 

Pain management

Day of surgery directions, I'm the first case in the main operating room.  This will be so nice, can't get pushed back. 

Keeping my lungs clear post-op with a incentive spirometer

Advanced directive

Current medications and current health status

Then we did some lung tests, blood pressure, temp, glucose tests, and blood work for the anesthesiologist. 

Left with a bag full of "goodies" and I start my IMPACT tomorrow, lets see if I can get it all down and I'm praying that it stays down :(

Surgery schedulded for April 24

In less than two weeks I will have a laparoscopic colectomy with ileorectal anastomosis...Surgery is scheduled for April 24th at 8:00 am.

I will be having my surgery at Legacy Good Samaritan in Portland. I have never even been inside this hospital and actually did not really know where it was located. So today we drove down and went on a little self directed tour today.

My Surgeon is GREAT... 

Nervous, scared, excited, it's still sinking in... Gotta keep on being strong...

Total colectomy with ilecorectal anastomosis

A: Normal anatomy
B: After Total colectomy with IRA

I will be having a surgery called a total colectomy with ilecorectal anastomosis.  The surgeon will remove my colon and then attach the end of my small intestine (my ileum) to my rectum.  There will be no need to have a ileostomy bag becauses of the ileorectal anastomosis (IRA), thank goodness!!!

Zombies

We must be watching too much of the Walking Dead because we were laughing about the fact that if a Zombie apocalypse happens the walkers will be so disapointed when they rip me open and find that I'm pretty empty!! I will be a snack, haha

Don't let your struggle define you!

Colon HAS to come out

I met with my favorite surgeon today for a "second" opinion.

First He shared with me the results of my latest sitz marker study. The radiologist report stated "minimal to no movement after day one" and re-confirmed my diagnosis of"colonic inerita" for the third time. By the way we took xrays until day 7 and stopped there because they had moved so very little.  I can tell you that those markers could easily stay on their vacation in my colon for the next month!!  All doctors have told me that I have colonic inertia and this surgeon described it as an "atonic colon".

Next he discussed all the tests that I have had done, diets I have tried, and medications tried. He stated that I have had an extensive amount of tests run and have been really put through the ringer with the massive amounts of testing. He stated that my doctors have done a very good job of ruling out ALL other possibilities (they have tested every organ in my abdomen and checked for problems in my entire body). He even said that I had more testing than necessary to confirm this diagnosis!  

He stated that with all my tests, things I have tried and the sitz mark study that he is 100% positive that surgery is my ONLY option.

I asked him about an ileostomy (as the 1st surgeon had suggested an ileostomy as an option) to make sure that removing the colon will relieve my symptoms. He said that there is NO reason to do that because the tests show "without a doubt" that the rest of my body is "working excellent" and that my colon has stopped working.

He explained that I am the "ideal candidate for a total colectomy with with ileorectal anastomosis" because of how healthy all my other organs are and that I passed all of the outlet tests very well.

We discussed post-op recovery and life after. Looks like I will need to stay in the Hospital for 3 to 5 days, and recover at home for 3 to 6 more weeks after that. 

We go back to the colorectal surgeon recommended by my GI who specialises in treatment of pelvic floor dysfunction and outlet problems (she did all my testing for these issues, that thankfully I'm free of) next week to hear her opinion after the latest sitz marker study.

Then we will be deciding on a surgeon and setting a date.

I'm so scared for surgery, the pain mostly. But surgery is what it's going to take to get me on the path to recovery then I'm going to "man up" and dot it.

Meeting with surgeon today for second opinion on colectomy options

I'm getting more nervous by the minute!! I thought I was ready for surgery but it turns out I'm freaking nervous!!! I don't think I'm going to handle this appointment today. I'm freaking out. Crying all day.

I'm not OK with hearing I need surgery, even though I already know it. I'm a mixed bag of emotions, most of the time I have been ready for surgery and had a bring it on attitude. But now I'm scared! Very scared! I don't want to be cut open again... The pain!!

It's getting real now that I'm most likely going  to be picking a surgeon in the next couple of weeks and then scheduling surgery after that. I'm freaking out!!

Broken