Hello again, so after a few days on the high dependency unit, with my tube out and drinking the odd sip, I was transferred to the ward.
I still felt very unwell, and had a catheter in so I didn’t need to go to the loo at all. The nurse took a look at my scar dressing and decided to remove it. All was well and the staples  seemed ok. With it being an emergency operation, I had to have the open surgery option rather than the laparoscopy option. Recovery is usually quicker and less painful with the second option, which involves small incisions with cameras to guide the surgeon.
As you can see, its pretty Frankenstein-like. I had about 26 staples from just above my belly button ( they kind of cut around the belly button) to right in my pubic hair ( they shaved me yuk, very spiky when it grew back, am used to waxing)
My stoma is on the right of the picture, under the ileostomy bag. I remember the day the stoma nurse came to show me the ropes with cleaning and changing the bag. She was amazing and the first time, she was happy to do it for me because I couldn’t bring myself to look just yet. I needed time to psych myself up.
It was agreed that the next time, I would watch and my husband was invited to see for future helping. I am very lucky to have a wonderful supportive husband who is more than happy to get stuck in. The day came, and I was nervous. The bag was removed and I sneaked a quick look to start. It was a bit like a dream, could this thing really be part of me? this was my small bowel coming through my skin !!!
Sorry the pics are large, its just how they appear.
It is so hard to keep your skin healthy under the bag, I leaked a few times too as IÂ got used to sticking it on properly. Because I ended up with the fistula, it was decided for me to have a two piece bag. It meant I could fit the base plate first, and see where exactly to fit it and see that it was correct before the bag went on. I still had the odd leak and the fistula caused pain and sore skin, I was given morphine when the epidural was taken down, so this helped.
Next was my staples to come out. This was painful for me, I don’t know why, especially the ones at the bottom. I soon realised why. Over the next few days my scar started to open at the bottom into a deep hole. This was awful. It is called wound dehiscence. Nobody really knows why some wounds do this, but I needed the wound to be cleaned and packed every day with very sterile dressings .It has taken 6 months so far to heal, and is nearly there now, I had district nurses for months and then trips to the GP practice.
Back to the ward….I was still very unwell and was sick a few times. I struggled to walk about and was slipping into a depression.I cried often, and felt too ill to eat and drink. The ward staff were so nice, and tried to encourage me but never forcing me. My catheter was removed and I used a commode or bedpan at first. Then something happened that frightened me, I started to pass a dark horrible bloody liquid from my back passage that wasn’t supposed to be attached to anything. They sent me for a CT scan to see what was happening, I started getting spikes in my temperature too.
All this was very scary, I will let you know the results of the CT scan on my next blog, and what it meant for me……
