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Showing posts from 2013

I'll know .....

I've been thinking a great deal recently about what happens next.....  When I had my initial emergency op the surgeon left my rectal stump in, just in case I wanted to have a "j - pouch" created. The J pouch is an option that basically joins the end of the small intestine to the rectum and creates a small holding pouch so that essentially you can regain "normal" bowel function. I have never fancied this as a realistic option. There are several reasons.... Mainly because initially you return to having to go to loo several times a day! No thanks ... It's not for me although I know it's a great option for many people. However as I don't want this operation I have to have my rectal stump removed! Why? Well essentially as it is not used now it is a dead organ. While it is inside me there is a gradually increasing risk of it becoming diseased again, or developing cancerous cells. At the moment it is fine, although I still get a very small amount of mucus

Toilets, trees and other things!

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I am becoming an expert on toilets ... Especially their ability to flush! Since having my Stoma I am still slightly self-conscious. I do worry that people might notice the bag under my clothes, especially if it's a bit full, and I worry that if the loo doesn't flush properly stuff will be left in the loo or around it. I tend to give loos a rating now. The best ones get a one flush rating! Generally these are home loos, or good public loos were there is a full flush option AND you can hold the flush down. Most public toilets are a two flush rating! And then there's Novotel rating! We stay in Novotels quite often and for some reason their loos just do not flush well! I can often alter the rating of a loo by preparing the it before I empty .. The simple trick of lining the bowl with some paper before emptying can promote a loo to a one flush rating. The best flush I have come across was on a really old (like over 100 yr old) loo at a little station (Weybourne i think) on t

A Dream Fulfilled

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March 31 2012 - four weeks after having had major surgery to remove my colon I should have been fulfilling a lifetime dream to run in an Olympic stadium. I had been lucky enough to get a place to run in the National Lottery Olympic Park Run - a 5 mile run finishing in the New London 2012 stadium. I'd been so excited to do this and had been training hard pretty much right up till I went into hospital! When I came out of hospital our focus was on getting me fit and although I an kept trying to think of ways to get me to the park it was realistically a few weeks too soon! we went up to London anyway and I was gutted as the train went past the stadium but it was far more important that I was alive to spend a weekend with my family than I ran in a stadium. Like everyone in the UK we followed the amazing events of London 2012 from France and experienced the magic of the Paralympics for ourselves, spending a weekend experiencing goal ball, basketball and the athletics, savouring the amaz

A whole new world!

Waking up from my colon removal I entered a whole new world of appliances, delivery companies, "lingerie", prescriptions and support garments. My first challenge beyond getting out of bed, was to discover the contents of my "black bag" which the hospital stoma nurses guided me through - pouches, wipes,  adhesive removal sprays, scissors. All inhibitions, if I had any left after a week of using a commode were soon banished with a nurse watching me learn to empty my bag, and then change it.  To be fair... It's not rocket science....spray to release the stick, wet wipes to clean, dry wipes to dry, barrier wipes to protect and bag on. Oh and use the template that the nurse has made to cut the whole to exactly the right size! I was fairly determined to get home, particularly after I was moved onto a ward and I knew they weren't going to let me out until I could do this on my own. After two and a half nights in my private room being moved onto the ward

Tomorrow is world IBD day part 2

To cut a long story short I had a horrific weekend. The hospital was closed due to noro virus so I couldn't have visitors, I hadn't seen my little girl since I came in and I was being monitored in case my colon ruptured or burst! Monday was d-day....Ian came in to talk to the stoma nurse, but by the time they started talking the consultant and surgeon were already talking about ops and the danger of leaving my colon where it was any longer! It clearly wasn't responding to the steroids. I really had no choice whether to have a colectomy or not.... Indeed I suspect really the decision had been made on the Friday when the stoma nurse drew a cross on my tummy! Monday night was much worse for Ian than me! I was under anaesthetic having chunks of my bowel removed.... He was sitting waiting for me. We'd been told the op would be short.... Not sure who thinks a 6 hour op is short! But there we go... That was it my faulty colon was removed and I was left with a stoma, somethi

It's World IBD day tomorow

May is IBD awareness month, tomorrow is World IBD day.....which got me thinking about the past 15 months.  Up until February last year I had little idea about IBD and I had no idea what colitis was... I knew loads about ibs, but that was where my knowledge stopped. Soon after my daughter was born my doctor had diagnosed my symptoms as irritable bowel syndrome. I was on fybogel and various pills during flare ups. Fine.... Generally life was ok. I could manage the flare ups most of the time.... but when it got bad I struggled....as did my husband and my little girl. Most mornings I would spend on the toilet, maybe going 8 - 12 times before leaving for work. Sometimes I would have to leave the classroom and hope I made it to the nearest loo in time. If my little girl woke in the night I would have to get her up, take her to the toilet, QUICKLY, then sort her out! One of the worst experiences was our first ever camping holiday. Even though our tent was only 100m from the toilet bloc