3rd surgery done, what next?

Dressed in my sexy gown and Teddy socks I am ready and waiting to have my surgery for persistent perineal sinus and exploration.

I nervously walk to the pre theatre room to have my anaesthetic, pillow tucked under my arm ( we are told to take the pillow with us from the ward.) There are a few people in there, my anaesthetist included. I have seen her already when she went through the choices I have with pain relief. I feel quite calm really, must be getting used to this.

My cannula goes in, oops missed, I will get a bruise. In it goes again, this time ok. ” Just giving you something to relax you” she says, it works really well and I feel pleasantly drunk. I tell them so, I then get the oxygen mask and don’t panic at all.

 

When I wake up I don’t feel any pain at all, just a bit of a sore throat. A nurse is sat beside me all the time in recovery. I go off to the ward to recover some more. I remember being told that my packing in the wound will dissolve and the nurse at the GP should just change the dry dressing.

I didn’t know that this would cause me so much stress. I go to see the nurse at the GPs after I am discharged and she seems to have never heard of dissolvable packing and that it usually needs repacking daily. She phones the ward but no one there seems to know the answer to what I had inside the wound. We decide that I would keep trying the surgeons secretary and she will just change the dry dressing as told on the notes. I wasn’t told much at the time and didn’t have a visit from the surgeon letting me know anything. I have a letter that states I will likely need further definitive surgery and he will speak to the plastic surgeons.

 

This is all I have so I ring around to try and find out if I need repacking or not, I get tearful after being told to ring back on Sunday when my notes might be on the system as they have gone to coding. I resign myself to this and worry about the future surgery, I know that is not going to be an easy surgery as it will probably involved mutilation of my buttocks to sort out a flap. ( This had been discussed previously ) If I thought my body image was wrecked with a stoma, then I ain’t seen nothing yet.

The journey from beginning to end is not over yet as I had hoped , but I will carry on in the usual manner and take it as it comes.

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2 Replies to “3rd surgery done, what next?”

  1. As always, I am in awe of you Claire! You are one amazing lady. Wishing you a speedy recovery x

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