3 1/2 weeks: Summer sun and lots to report!

The past few days have actually been really eventful! I'm finally past the crashing-on-sofa stage, and feeling more like my normal self (although there's still a little while to go before I'll be 100%). I've finished 2 weeks worth of iron tablets, so after another fortnight taking them my iron levels should be back to normal - which I imagine will help with the tiredness.

I've spent most of the week clearing out my room and throwing away lots of stuff - and giving the rest to charity. As I mainly live in London for uni now, I decided that I've got way too much stuff to my name. I can't possibly cart all this junk around with me! I've found so many things that I didn't even know I owned, and some things that I can't remember ever owning!

I also found a lot of spare ostomy supplies around my room - but unfortunately, a lot of them I can no longer use. This included bags with flat flanges (I now only use convex), and thick washer rings which just aren't suitable anymore. I'm considering sending them to OstomyAid, a charity that sends ostomy supplies out to third world countries where stoma patients often suffer real humiliation when they have few or no supplies. It's an issue that I really didn't think much about before I had my surgery, but on the one occasion last year when I actually ran out of bags (and had to make a last-minute dash to A&E and beg for more), I can't imagine what it must be like to know that you don't, and won't, have any supplies in the near future. They accept most unused ostomy products. Find out more about OstomyAid through their Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/OstomyAid

Yesterday, I got the bus into town to see a few friends. It was officially the hottest June day on record - phew! It hit 33 here in Nottingham. My mum in particular wasn't keen on me going - sort of understandable I guess, seen as it was so ridiculously hot and I get dehydrated pretty easily with a loop ileostomy. However, in the end we spent most of the day indoors in pubs drinking lots of (NON-alcoholic!) fluids as it turns out that 33 degrees is too hot, even for people with colons. The bus ride in was a little wobbly - the bus route goes along one particular road with a load of speed bumps, and at each one I felt my stomach jerk quite painfully - ouch! Fortunately, no damage was done and I got back home feeling really pleased with myself at my first time out of the house independently (without being given a lift).

Today, me and a couple of friends trekked up to a local hillside, where we had a lovely picnic in the sun. It's really beautiful here at the moment, and the view from the hill was just gorgeous! I only live 15 minutes from the hill, so decided to walk back through the fields to my house. This was pretty much the furthest I've walked since surgery, so I felt a little tired by the time I got back, but I thought it would do me some good to get a bit more active.

How gorgeous is this?

After what's been weeks of frustration and angst at my loop ileostomy, things are finally beginning to settle down. As I've posted before, the loop has been a lot different to the end, and it's been pretty tricky to master. I wasn't prepared for just how hard the transition would be. However, after weeks of using multiple bags a day, sore skin, leaks and the like, today I managed to keep a bag on for a whole 24 hours without issue, which believe me is one massive achievement at the moment! Using a combo of powder for the sore skin, a bit of paste, and tweaking the fit of my bag (with the help of my lovely nurse), seems to have done the trick, so fingers crossed it stays this way from now on.

I'm in a minimal amount of pain, only getting the odd twinge now and again, particularly in the keyhole incision that's nearer my groin (I guess this skin is bending more than the incision above my stoma bag). If I do get pain, it feels sort of like I've pulled a muscle - or occasionally it'll sting, because the incision is actually very close to where the edge of my ostomy bag sits, so if I bend at the wrong angle, the sharp edge of the flange digs into the cut. Ow. Fortunately all of my incisions (the two keyhole ones, the drain one, the stitches around the stoma) seem to have healed up - all the stitches around my stoma have dissolved and everything has either scabbed or healed over.

Below stoma bag                                                          Above stoma bag

Surgical drain

I'm still on clear bags - which aren't my preference, as I used to wear completely opaque bags with my end stoma. However, I'm not comfortable wearing opaque bags until all the problems with fitting/leaks are completely sorted out. My next order is still see through bags - an order that I've placed already, despite it only being two weeks since my last one! I'm hoping they'll understand that I've had a few issues and let me off!

I'm really happy to say that the 'wee' issue has also cleared up - the retention has gone without need for further investigation. I think that was a combo of bruising/surgery swelling, healing and not drinking enough. I was super relieved that it cleared up, and wasn't something more serious.

And on a final note, I've also had a letter from my surgeon inviting me back into clinic for a check up on August 7th. I was pretty excited to receive this, because although it's a general check up, it's also the time when we'll discuss the date of my third and final operation, the stoma reversal. It all just reminds me that the end of this long journey is finally in sight! I'm hoping to get the third op out of the way this year, potentially over Christmas. We'll see.

That's all for now :) As I get better and better, I'm sure there'll be lots more to report!