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Post by cass on Jun 25, 2007 16:42:11 GMT -5
One month today since my surgery. I am currently sitting on the couch hugging my hot water bottle trying to numb some of the remaining cramps I have from my period which began yesterday. The period pain i experienced was like nothing before. I ended up calling my gynae's pager to tell him about the severe pain and that my pain meds had not touched the sides and he told me to go straight to the ER. I did so and was hooked up to morphiene which worked well... My gynae came into see me and i left about 4 hours later once i could be sent home comfortably.
The pain today is not as intense but I am afraid as today I will be starting the Synarel drug. I am going to give it a go and see how i react to it but I am very scared.
Im not sure if its the pain medications fault but i have not been running to the toilet as much which is a relief. I have lost 6 kilos in the four weeks though so if you go through this procedure make sure you know that this is quite common.
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Post by cass on Jun 26, 2007 16:39:43 GMT -5
Last night was horrible. I cried most of the night to my fiance begging him to make the pain stop. The pain I had last night with bowel movements in particular the cramping was quite bad. I worked myself up and got into a horrible emotional state over it as i just want it to end.
This morning I woke up with some cramping on the left hand side which subsided after a bowel movement which is still diarrhea four weeks on... (I hope this is normal, i have been told it is but i will clarify at my post op bowel appointment next week)
My period is still very heavy so coupled with the frequent bowel movements its quite frustrating. The good thing is though that I have not experienced the daily endo pain I used to go through before my op. The pain of not being able to go to the bathroom, the fatigue, the debilitating stabbing pains as soon as i ate food have not been there since surgery so fingers crossed they stay away.
this afternoon i was running to the toilet again! the diarrhea is definitley still there. I am thinking the morphiene and double dose of endone i was taking for the period pain may have something to do with this. After dinner i suffered severe cramps which sent me straight to the bathroom. I am still not comfortable leaving the house because of this.
I cried again to my fiance tonight as it really is taking its toll on me emotionally. I just want to go to bed and wake up normal the following day. I want to be happy again...
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Post by cass on Jun 28, 2007 3:05:06 GMT -5
This morning i woke up with some cramping so i took some paracetamol to manage the pain. I did not go to the bathroom all morning which was surprising and its 6pm and I still have not been!
This morning I had a phone discussion with a counsellor who made me feel soooo good! she was amazing and it was so good to finally talk to someone about it who was able to flip my thoughts from negative to positive in a one hour conversation. I poured my heart out to her and cried and laughed and feel so good right now! I am meeting her next week for a one on one consult with her and im really looking forward to it!
I have a cafe attached to my apartment block downstairs and I even went and met my boss for a coffee this morning for a few hours. My spirits have been lifted today in more ways than one.
Right now i have lots of cramping and I have not had a BM thus far. Im going to attempt to go out this evening but I do feel like i need to go to the bathroom i just cant do anything about it until it happens.
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Post by cass on Jun 28, 2007 18:22:09 GMT -5
Last night i did in fact venture outside and did have to make a couple of trips to the bathroom once we reached our destination but it was nothing too severe. I was nervous about being out of my comfort zone and having to be in someone elses home with my unpredictable bowel movements. However it was not that bad! the diarrhea has subsided and i think my bowels are attempting to solidify so when i got home I was on the loo until about 1am as i had not been all day. It was painful as it was like trying to pass a melon as i had only had diarrhea for the past month! I am excited that things are improving and I can really see improvements compared to how i was 2 weeks ago and how i am now. It is tough but for those going through it it really does get better!!!
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Post by cass on Jun 29, 2007 3:07:45 GMT -5
after such a positive day yesterday it seems it has ended with things today going backweards yet again! i have been runing to the bathroom all freaking day and its so disheartening when i was on such a high from yesterday. the cramps have been worse today and i cant attribute it to anything i have eaten.
The diarrohea is so horrible and i am very much over it. im meant to be better by now! it just doesnt seem like its going to ever be good again...
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Post by cass on Jun 30, 2007 18:23:08 GMT -5
Yesterday I woke up feeling better than i have in the last week. I did awake with some minor cramping but it subsided. I was able to have lunch with minimal fuss and even went to visit my sister and no trips to the bathroom were necessary.
I have increased my fibre intake which i think was responsible for my first 'real' bowel movement last night. I was quite surprised that it was not painful. We had plans to go to my fiance's parents place so i was a bit nervous about leaving the house. Prior to leaving the cramoping kicked in and i was on the loo for a while. Its hard to explain what it feels like other than its like that feeling you get when you dry reach and your stomach begins pulsating. After a bowel movement I also get a lot of pain in my behind which also feels like pulsating and is quite uncomfortable but tends to ease after about half an hour or so.
I managed to go out and going to the bathroom was no nig deal surprisingly. I woke up this morning with more cramps than usual, and have not been to the bathroom yet so im assuming today will be rather interseting in terms of how ill react to not going.
Its good to finally get some relief from rushing to the toilet every few minutes of every day. It just takes alot of determination to eat the right things as i find the minute i decide to have something sweet i spend the whole next day with diarrohea so it really is not worth it despite how bland brown rice and vegies and water is every day!
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Post by cass on Jul 1, 2007 2:18:29 GMT -5
One month and 2 day report!!
Woke up with some cramps ont he left hand side of my stomach but did not have to go to the bathroom. I had sultana bran for breakfast minus the milk as anything dairy sends me running along with anything high in sugar so unfortunately no chocolate damnit!
i ate reasonably well today i had a banana and a slice of wholemeal bread and then i decided to get slightly more adventurous and had a taco! after lunch i started to get uncomfortable pain in the left hand side and i had explosive diarrohea for about an hour. it is painful but its a relief once its over as the cramps do subside.
it is weird going from not being able to go before my op to going so frequently with so much diarrohea! its depressing at times but it is not happening as often as it used to which is a sign that things could be getting better! i suppose it is better than being constipated!
i hope this is helpful to people who are about to or are going through it at the moment!!
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Post by cass on Jul 1, 2007 2:22:58 GMT -5
Foods i have avoided which i feel induce the diarrohea :- anything sugary; cordial, chocolate, my fiance's mums banana cake! - white bread - certain fruit juices - anything dairy; milk, yoghurt, EGGS! - red meat in particular the bolognaise sauce i had wit my pasta - frosty fruit tropical icy pole (my absolute vice!) Things i have included that have agreed with me -anything with fibre cereals, brown rice, vegetables, apples, loads of water
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Post by cass on Jul 2, 2007 23:15:09 GMT -5
5 weeks on and i honestly thought i would be vastly improving.. although today it seemed like im not. i woke up with pains again on the left side of my stomach and come afternoon i did go to the toilet for what seemed like a reasonable pain free bowel movement and the pain had subsided. My dad came over and i wanted to show him the engagement venue so i got into the car and we had literally just pulled out and turned into to adjacent street when i demanded he turn around and take me home!
I didnt make it back inside in time to go to the bathroom. I cried and cried and repeated to myself that i didnt want to do it anymore. It is horrible to not be able to have any sort of control over your bowels. I hope it gets better!
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Post by cass on Jul 3, 2007 11:02:04 GMT -5
well its 2am and im in a hell of a lot of pain on the right hand side of my stomach. the pain woke me up and it is horrible.
Yesterday I had no bowel movement in the morning but come afternoon i had painful stomach cramping and spent prob the next hour or so running to the bathroom. I had brown rice for dinner with some vegies and no urge to go to the toilet and now im in a world of pain that i am hugging my hot water bottle.
i feel like i cant win with this! im still not comfortable enough to leave the house, as i tried yesterday and it didnt go to well, i had to run back inside.
The pain i am in right now i dont think i will ever eat brown rice again!
Today I had alot of stomach cramping sometimes they leave me doubled over. It normally comes on with the need to go to the toilet but i did not go all day until this evening. The pains are sharp and stabbing and are really painful as are the gas pains i get.
I will ask my bowel surgeon tomorrow if all this is normal and im hoping he says it is.
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Post by cass on Jul 6, 2007 10:47:57 GMT -5
I seen my bowel surgeon yesterday who didnt say much really other than im healing ok and it will take time and i have to be patient! he asked if i had any questions and i said "am i going to be stuck like this forever" referring to the diarrohea. He looked at me and said i cant be absolute but i wouldn't think so. I felt some confort in that. I told him the diarrohea had been pretty bad and he gave me imodium to take. i took 2 as the box said, and it really bound me up to the point where last night i was in tears on the toilet. All day today i had stomach cramps and i couldnt move off the couch. The throbbing pain in my rectum is enough to bring me to tears. I hope this pain subsides as the other pain i can manage (just!)
i know healing takes a long time, but i just dont know if i can do it anymore. its so paoinful and just really hard right now as i have to grin and bare it.
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Post by cass on Jul 8, 2007 7:59:17 GMT -5
well no real massive changes to report back on. the pain is still there on both sides of my stomach. the pain after each bowel movement is still very much there.
I am still avoiding all dairy products. Tonight the pain on my right hand side is quite painful.
Last night I was in bed at 10pm and out of bed at 2am with stomach cramps. I had to run to the loo a few times and didn't get back to sleep until 6am as the runs had finally decided to give me a break. Today i had some stomach pain and again the straining pain from a bowel movement was quite intense.
Everyday the pain is different. and I am still not comfortable to be out and about. It will be 6 weeks on Tuesday (I so cant believe its gone so fast) and I honestly thought I would be in a better state than I am.
I am meant to be returning to work in a weeks time so that will be interesting as at the moment im not going anywhere!
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Post by cass on Jul 10, 2007 8:49:33 GMT -5
6 Weeks Today since my Bowel Resection Update.....
Today I feel really good surprisingly!! I woke up this morning with slight pain but nothing thats was not manageable. I drove for the first time in 6 weeks and even went and visited work. It was not completely pain free as i still have pain in both sides of my stomach but nothing debilitating.
My bowel movements are mainly in the evening now and I normally go about 3-5 times after 6 pm (precise i know! but u do take notice of these things!)
I have been taking oestrogen tablets to combat the bleleding from my synarel and since i have started those i feel a lot better as the bleeding has subsided and the dull period like pain i got with it has eased also.
I am seeing light at the end of the tunnel which is great!!! im hopin it will continue to improve week by week
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Post by cass on Jul 12, 2007 7:35:50 GMT -5
I have had an ok last few days where I have had relief during the day and been stuck on the loo in the evenings which has been ok with me! however today was the opposite... i went backwards in my recovery today and i was on the toilet all freaking day...! its so depressing and i cant wait for it to be over with. i feel disgusting and am hating myself at the moment. i want to be just like everyone else and be able to go out and have fun
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Post by cass on Jul 24, 2007 9:33:56 GMT -5
Its been a while since i last updated this so thought I would tell you how things are progressing. Its been 8 weeks since the op and things are slowly improving. Everything works differently now and it will take a lot of getting used to. There is a 6 month recovery period associated with this kind of surgery so the key to recovery is patience! I am now seeing a dietitian as the imodium my bowel surgeon put me on to combat the diarrohea casued terrible pains. Last week I was in agony and crawling to the toilet with what i describe as labour pains! they were so horrible i was almost passing out. I told this to the dietitian and she put me ona low reisdue diet and no imodium. This diet has not really bulked up my stools as such but the pain is gone and the diarrohea is not as bad as it was say 3-4 weeks ago. I get a lot of gas and my stomach sounds like a symphony after i eat. The bowel movements are very frequent as in i go 6-7 times a day and if i go somewhere i need to know where all the toilets are prior to leaving. I have found hot baths really help the cramping after eating. I have also lost a lot of weight with the surgery and with the constant diarrohea I am also taking a multi vitamin under the dietitians instructions. All in all I do see improvements but I still am not at a point where I am comfortable. I know it will take time but patience is a virtue! 40cm of bowel was a lot to be taken out with endo so it is going to take a while so hopefully my next post will be more positive again!
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