Back in the saddle again.

I'm back in the saddle again - Out where a friend is a friend - Where the longhorn cattle feed On the lowly gypsum weed - Back in the saddle again ... |Cowboy song stuck in my head.

This week's post is more for my IBD followers. I have not been reading due to pain meds and general weakness. However, I should be back to my nerdy topics shortly.

Oh, it's been a troublesome trail with my Crohn's disease treatments. I feel like the cows have all been rounded up now. But, I need to ride the fences with check-ups and self-awareness to stay on top of any outbreaks in the future. It has staggered me for sure. But, I hope to regain some of my Mojo this fall and winter.

An elder friend of mine once told me that you need a week to recover at home for every day you are in the hospital. I want to add an extra week to this calculation if your procedure involves cutting you in half and stuffing you back together afterward. However, I am feeling so much better than expected this week. I think this is the best turnaround from one of the surgeries I have had.

Procedures To Date

In hind site, this total colon/rectum removal and permanent ostomy that I just had should have been my first choice.  Initially, I was sure I wanted to keep as much normal functionality to my pooping routine as possible.  I had already been deathly ill for over two years to preface this.  My kidneys were badly damaged, and I stopped making blood. My specialist sent me to a more advanced specialist who put me in the hospital to stabilize me. Then I tried the available drugs used to treat autoimmune illnesses, but I was too sick for any of them to make any difference.  I would have to go to the bathroom 8x a day, but I would not have the bag hanging off my tummy. That first option did not last, and they pulled the rectum and built a j-pouch out of my small intestine in one shot, no diversion.  It was my best second option, but the j-pouch never delivered as expected and became inflamed. I had a second diversion ostomy last year to see if the j-pouch would heal. It did not, so this last surgery sewed up my rectum, pulled the j-pouch, and left me with a permanent ileostomy.

It's taken me two weeks to get back on my regular schedule of activities. After the first week, I knocked off most of the pain meds because they left me incapacitated from most activity. Tylenol helps keep me even for a few hours in the mornings, and I rest and heal in the afternoon. The downside to this approach is that it's sudden when I run out of steam. I lay down for an hour and take it easy for the rest of the day.

My reading thought of the day.

Your IQ or skill level is not what makes you a success. The skill level or aptitude level you aspire to makes you who you are.