Reversal tomorrow

[AussieAssCancer]

G'day all,

Booked in for reversal tomorrow at 7:30am so my surgeon should be fresh and well rested.

Hospital confirmed I would be going home the following day although when a nurse from 'Bowel Cancer Australia' (support/advocacy organisation here) rang me to wish me luck and I told her she laughed and told me they were dreaming.

Anyways, I'm looking forward to waking up without 'Steven' and can't wait to lie on my stomach again.

Will update but in the meantime have been fortunate to find all the advice about reversal from you good folks.

See you when I'm all hooked up again,

Geoff

[tammylayne]

Sending you positive thoughts and hope the plumbing kicks in quickly. Def my easiest of my 4 surgeries....walk walk walk.

[ozziej]

Best wishes for your reversal.

[teri3]

Good luck and good riddance to Steven. Thoughts and parayers to you.

Hug
Teri

[Nelbel]

Exciting! So happy for you that this day has finally come. I'll be hoping you are one of the lucky ones and your adjustment to your new normal is easy.

Good luck....

[SEWHAPPY]

Good luck with surgery and happy pooping!!!! Laurie

[DarknessEmbraced]

I hope your reversal surgery went well!*hugs*

[AussieAssCancer]

UPDATE - Have been home a full two days now.

First day was rough, but more than bearable.

First night was horrible. Up every 15-20mins for a loose bowel movement and the feeing that there was something solid in there but I just couldn't push it out. Finally got relief at about 4:30am when a pushed a heap of sludge out of me. That eliminated that 'full' feeling and I was able to sleep until 7am when I awoke to my daughter leaning on the lounge next Mr, nearly eyeball to eyeball saying "stop sleeping daddy" at the top her lungs and waving a toy excavator in my face.

Day two was much better. Minimal toileting. Didn't eat a lot, partly out of an experiment to see whether it would help with the night issues and partly because I just wasn't that hungry. Only had small meals when I felt the need and other than that, convalesced!

Night two was better than night one but only marginally. I'm not sure whether it's because I used to be one of those "9am on the dot" pooers and so my body remembers that and is trying to do the same but my intestines aren't playing ball yet or what it is?

VERY bloated after the surgery, which surgeons said was normal due to intestines being anti-social beings and not liked to be touched. I s'pose being ripped trough a tiny hole of muscle and fat, stitched back together and then pushed back into a dark hole wouldn't be my idea of a fun night either so they're understandably a little pissed off. It's quite strange, it's as though I'm hyper aware of them doing their things now, as in, I can feel them pressing on the waste and shooting it along. Has anyone else experienced similar?

The positives...

I haven't shat myself, and haven't ever really felt close too, even at night. I keep doing the strengthening exercises and don't answer EVERY urge to see if I can hold it in, so far so good.

The wound is healing very nicely and is the size of a pencil. It has nice smooth edges, no sign of infection and you can see that the muscle/flesh within it is joining nicely and forming a crater as opposed to a tunnel. Pain is minimal and the only time I notice it is if I get up the wrong way and that ever helpful twinge reminds you stop doing what you're doing quick smart.

Pain is minimal and is handled by paracetamol/aspirin every 4-6hrs or so.

Anyways, going to ring a dietician and get some professional help to see if I can get some sleep but if this is as good as it gets, I think I can handle it, and obviously, I'm not even a week out of surgery so LOTS of improvement time ahead.

Hope all is well and grateful for your kind thoughts and best wishes. Any questions, fire away

Geoff

[SEWHAPPY]

My frequency was WAY better after 2 weeks. Every day will get better. Avoid popcorn like the plague - that stuff makes digestive shrapnel! Good luck! Laurie

[Soccermom2boys]

Hey AAC--

Glad to hear all is well, relatively speaking, considering you are less than a week out from reversal surgery. I am of the "Barbie butt" club so while I will never be able to relate to having everything hooked back up again, your posts and blog entries always make me laugh about dealing with this (CRC) shit--and I mean that both literally and figuratively! LOL Be kind to your body, and your colon, and take the rest and recovery time you need to fully heal. Got my fingers crossed for ya that each day gets a little bit easier for you!

[AbbyDoo]

Congratulations on getting your plumbing reconnected.
This one is harder to recover from than the LAR surgery. Measure you progress in weeks not days. I'm 10 months out from reversal and still not normal like before butt I do notice each week gets better.
Take it real easy on your food intake bland,bland bland. And when you do introduce new foods keep a list of ones to avoid.
Imodium is a lifesaver so stock up.
Soon you make a big turd and your going to be so dam proud of it

[Maggie Nell]

I'm not sure whether it's because I used to be one of those "9am on the dot" pooers and so my body remembers that and is trying to do the same but my intestines aren't playing ball yet or what it is?

VERY bloated after the surgery, which surgeons said was normal due to intestines being anti-social beings and not liked to be touched. I s'pose being ripped trough a tiny hole of muscle and fat, stitched back together and then pushed back into a dark hole wouldn't be my idea of a fun night either so they're understandably a little pissed off. It's quite strange, it's as though I'm hyper aware of them doing their things now, as in, I can feel them pressing on the waste and shooting it along. Has anyone else experienced similar?

You might need to do some visualization like you are negotiating a new work agreement with the
Federated Shit Painters & Dockers Union and ....dude.....were you one of those 9am at work brown bombers?!!
How about you negotiate a more considerate-of-your-fellow-man pattern with dropping the kids off at the pool before you
get to work, yeah?

The wound is healing very nicely ... and you can see that the muscle/flesh within it is joining nicely and forming a crater as opposed to a tunnel.

*faints*


Swinging the possum down here.

[AussieAssCancer]

Sewhappy, Soccermom2boys and Laurie - thanks for your advice and kind thoughts. Last night and today were way better again.

Maggie - hahaha I was indeed one of THOSE people. Ironically, since having treatment I have become oversensitive to the bowel habits of my fellow workers As for the wound, it kind of resembles a life-saver lolly. Hopefully it helps me get a hole lot more out of life

Geoff

[Pita]

Hey Geoff, so glad all went well! Some pretty funny responses on here, made me laugh a lot.
Hugs and prayers for a lifetime of NED oxo

[AussieAssCancer]

Thanks Pita

UPDATE

G'day everyone, just a quick update, having been home for a week now.

Loose stools have pretty much stopped, although brought about with a few doses of immodium after a particularly vitriolic session on the loo where all I could think of was dunking my ass in an ice bath. Johnny Cash wasn't even in the same ballpark as that pain

Other than that, things are going pretty well. Clustering is annoying, but not debilitating. The strangest thing is that each time I go to the loo I feel like I'm pinching off the worlds biggest loaf, only to look down and see a finger LOL

That said, at the moment I'm a bit on the 'full' side and I'm not sure whether it's constipation or whether I'm just housing a normal person sized turd.

In any event, it's nice to be able to help toilet train my daughter and show her daddy going to the toilet in the same way as she she does, as opposed to opening a bag attached to my stomach.

Wound is healing nicely, and see my surgeon next week for follow up. Only very occasional twinges now and able to roll in bed/on the couch without any real discomfort.

I'm walking a bit each day. Yesterday I did about 5km without feeling like I was going to shit my pants but am having a rest day today.

Am introducing things back into the diet and so far, nothing has been met with violent resistance. A mate is taking me out for a belated birthday lunch on Friday so that will be a test. Might even sneak me a beer

Spending my time off work productively by planning a trip for us to Hawai'i in October. It will be a well earned break for all of us, and particularly my wife. I'm planning some massages and day spa trips for her. It will also be wonderful to introduce our daughter to our favorite place. She'll love all the music and dancing and beaches and people. In her words, it'll be a great "adventure".

Anyways guys, keep being awesome!

Geoff