Tag: on the ward

Posted on

So far so good with the bum thing

 

I forgot to let you know how one of my previous posts “A pain in the arse ” was going.

Very good is the answer. I went to see my surgeon about the small hole that leaked after the proctectomy. It was called a sinus and can heal itself sometimes. Other times they need opening and draining, sometimes they need much more serious healing strategies, like using skin from your thigh and covering the scar with that. I have no idea how any are done and how they work, but needless to say, I hoped it would be the first option.

Well , he said he would book me in for an MRI of the pelvis and rectum to see how superficial the sinus was, and go from there. I had been leaking for months now so was pleased something was being done. My MRI wasn’t immediately and my next appointment was for the end of May, so still a while to wait.

Well would you believe it, the leak stopped dead about a week before the scan, and hasn’t reappeared since. I am pleased and just hope it stays that way. My appointment to see him with the results has been moved to August anyway so its a good job.

So the moral of the story is…. have faith that things will work out usually, and not panic about what could be.

Posted on

Let’s talk MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging)

Unknown17523508_10208848589356541_8488878319684224009_n

The MRI scanner is a fear for many, enclosed spaces, not sure what will happen, will I have a panic attack?

I have had many on various parts of my body. I will try and explain in as much detail as possible , what it is like to have an MRI of different body parts.

Firstly let me say that it is rarely as bad as you think it will be. I always imagined a long coffin that is dark and stuffy. On the contrary, it is much shorter than you think it is, nearly always you will find that a part of your body will be sticking out of it. It is well lit and has air blowing through. You have a button to press if you really can’t manage anymore, and the operators can talk to you through a speaker. Yes, they do leave the room but if you really need to, you can have a friend or family member in the room with you.

So with all the MRI scans , you get a questionnaire to fill out asking if you have had metal in your eye and other such things. They ask about your health for things like pace makers etc.

Don’t worry too much if you have tattoos , they did say to me that they may feel warm but I have never experienced this in all my 8 plus MRIs. ( I have lost count).I am also going to have a brace, and asked my neurologist about this, he just said that they can sometimes scramble the signals so they don’t get a good reading, but it shouldn’t put you off getting a brace.

They then check that you have no metal on you, jewellery , watches, zips, studs. I have to take my bra off, but I tend to wear leggings and tops with no metal.

MRI HEAD

I have MS so head MRI’s are the norm. They ask you to lie down on the bed bit and put a comfy cushion under your knees. They will then ask you to put in some ear plugs, as the noise is pretty loud even with these in, then they will put headphone on you, this is so they can talk to you, and also for you to listen to music through. I have heard that you can ask to bring your own music, but I have not bothered, you can’t hear it too well anyway. You may need a needle in your arm depending on if you are having a contrast dye put in. This can enhance some of the MRI images. They will do some of the scan to start, then they will insert the dye. You cant really feel it, but you may notice a warm flushed sensation and metal taste for a few minutes. Also try and drink plenty afterwards to help flush it out. It is very rare to get an allergic reaction to this and they are well equipped to handle it.

Depending where on the body the scan is, you may drink the solution or have an enema.

Anyway, after the headphones are on, they will place a plastic cage type thing over your head, this is not a problem and it doesn’t feel uncomfortable. The good thing is, a mirror is attached to this cage, and when you are in the scanner, you can see them in the mirror through the window of the control room.. It almost feels like you are sitting up slightly and not lying down at all. This is a godsend for claustrophobics. When you are comfortable they will give you the button incase you need them to stop, and they then go into their little room behind the window.

Please please remember that there is nothing that can hurt you in the MRI scanner.

You will then be told that you are going to move into the scanner. Try and stay calm, think happy thoughts, I know this is ok for me to say, but I can assure you that with my first MRI I was petrified and even felt quite faint for a bit. I just rode it out, and all was well.

The bed will start to move and away you go. When the first images are taken you will hear lots of noises, loud rattling, loud bleeping buzzing. All is perfectly normal. After each image, the technician will tell you how long the next one will last. These scans can take up to an hour on most body parts. When it is all done, they will come in and remove earphones, cage and ear plugs and help you off the scanner. That is the end of the scan. It can take weeks for the results to come back, so don’t be worried if you haven’t heard for 2-3 weeks.

SMALL BOWEL MRI

This one is quite a long MRI, but it is different in a few ways. You have to drink a solution beforehand. It isn’t very pleasant but it has to be done. My technician added orange juice to it for me, to make it taste a bit better . I had to drink about a litre and a half, I couldn’t manage much more as I was unwell with severe colitis when I had this scan. Just drink as much as you can as the images will be clearer.

Instead of a cage thing on your head, this time it is on your tummy area. You can feel it but it doesn’t hurt at all. I think I felt like I needed to pee, but it wasn’t too bad at first. I do remember after about half an hour, really needing to poo, but they then gave an injection which relaxed your muscles, and the feeling went away. No I didn’t poo myself, although I told them I was worried that I would. The other difference with this scan is you go in feet first, and your head just about stays out the scanner. If I looked slightly back I could see the room, so again, not too bad. Because I was so ill my husband came in the room that time.

SPINE MRI

This is also a long winded scan, especially if it is the whole spine. I would say without trying to scare anyone, this is the scan that isn’t so nice for claustrophobics. You go all the way into the scanner, ( still with earphone etc) but because you don’t have the cage thing on your head, you don’t get the mirror, so have to look inside the scanner all the time. I did have one once where I said I was scared, and he found some prism glasses, that did the same thing as the head MRI, and I was fine again. Recently I had another without the specs and because I had had a fair few scans, I managed. Not my favourite though. I tried to spend most of the time with my eyes closed, but I am the nosy sort, so struggled to do this. When they moved me further in, I tried to look slightly behind and found I was nearly out the other end, so felt better about it.

All in all, these tests are for our benefit , with state of the art machines that can detect most things, they are safe and you are made to feel as comfortable as possible ( I sometimes get a blanket if I feel cold). So please try and keep calm, maybe ask your GP for a sedative or phone the department beforehand if you really can’t bear the thought of it.

 

 

 

Posted on

Bowel surgery – The little things

 

There are a lot of , sometimes little , sometimes big, annoying effects of bowel surgery. For example when I awoke from proctectomy surgery, no-one said that the many injections etc in my anus, would mean I might struggle to have a wee. Now these little things would help people very much if they knew beforehand. I thought they had damaged me and the nurse in recovery didn’t really know this would happen either. I drank and drank but to no avail, and ended up in agony while I waited to have a catheter inserted. Needless to say all ended well and the next morning the catheter was removed and I managed to go.

After my big surgery to remove my large bowel, the same thing had happened, but this was a bit more expected. But for a long while I had many strange feelings down that end . Even though you expect discomfort , no one actually tells you how, where and why. You just get the ” you have a gap now and everything needs to fit into that gap”. Yes, but why does it feel weird when I pee? why does it feel slightly numb, and I don’t ever feel the urge to wee? The pressure pain in my bottom after that first op was huge, I had no idea if this was normal or not. When I stood or walked ,the pressure again was awful. Is it ok for me to walk at the moment? will I do more harm?

Is it normal to get the strong urge to have a normal poo? I have since found out that this is very normal, and a year later I still get the urge. It is strange when you feel wind travelling through your bowels, expecting it to come out the normal way, but of course this is impossible.

Why do they use staples to close the wound? I found them pretty painful to have removed, I suppose there will be a reason, I shall look it up.

Got it…. non dissolvable stitches are used in places where body chemicals could cause stitches to dissolve too quickly. Staples are used in areas that are harder to stitch, and when the incision needs to be closed quickly.

Muscular problems, achy bones, these are other side effects of bowel surgery, or even external symptoms of Ulcerative Colitis that you can still get even though the large bowel has been removed. Sometimes I can hardly move with sore bones.

When your scar opens up ( dehiscense). I remember telling the nurse that it really hurt when they removed my staples, especially at the bottom. A day or two later the bottom bit was weeping slightly, I asked if it was ok, and was told that it was normal.Gradually it opened up to reveal a horrible gaping hole that needed to be packed. It was only the bottom few inches that opened up but no one could tell me when it would stop.It did stop but needed to be packed for 6 months before it healed. I am now left with a tough circular blob of scarring there, which is a pest because it ruins the nice neat bit above. still not sure why this happens.

Depression and anxiety are other things that can swoop down on you, or gradually creep up on you. You may even feel ok most of the time, but some times you will feel very low and tearful, this is because you have had major surgery and you need to come to terms with it. If you have a stoma, this is also a lot to take in. It doesn’t mean you are weak, it means you need help and time to heal physically and mentally. I wasn’t aware of how severe these feelings were until I had complications and was in hospital for 2 months. It is also worth mentioning that your friends and family can have anxiety because of whats happening to you, and may also need support from others. They are unsure what is happening and why you are having certain symptoms.

I didn’t know about having a central line in my neck until I woke up, It hadn’t been put in right, so I needed it removing and swapping to the other side. This wasn’t all that pleasant. You get a local anaesthetic and it takes ages for them to put all the wires and leads together. Your neck is a bit sore for a while too, mainly when it is taken out. I was naughty and picked my scab, and didn’t know it was quite deep so have a small scar.

Having many blood tests and canulas can be sore too. Especially when your veins don’t want to play ball. Can I also say that doctors are not as good as phlebotomists, they don’t do them as often so you usually end up like a pin cushion.

I remember a health care assistant coming round doing observations asking us about our stools. the options were , hard, soft, crumbly,pebbly, and a few others that had no bearing on stomas at all. We said it is none of those, but she was insistant that we needed to answer,even asking if we had opened our bowels. Yes permanently .

I can look back and not be horrified by my time in hospital now, I can’t remember the early days anyway. I can say with absolute assurance, things do get better.

 

 

 

Posted on

I Believe in you

16602795_10208502690669290_4129388600594374457_n

16427283_10208442216917484_3245066972846567944_n

I have joined a fair few forums and groups to do with Crohns disease and ulcerative colitis , and the overriding theme is not being believed by medical professionals how poorly you feel.

Now, I know this to be true, as I suffered at the hands of a medical professional who didn’t really listen to how ill I felt until it was almost too late. The facts were there, the test results were there, but they were not, because I didn’t fit the Truelove and Witts criteria. Apparently , until your kidneys are failing and you are at deaths door, you are not ill enough for hospital care.

I have an overwhelming need to speak out for myself and others. The Truelove and Witts index is archaic. I am proof that having distal disease can be very severe, enough to have emergency surgery. You don’t need to be on the toilet 10+ times in the day, to be very severe. My haemoglobin level showed It was just on normal, but my iron levels were non existent, which meant that any day I would need an iron transfusion. I began having temperature spikes in the evening, and was losing weight rapidly. Because my temperature was normal when I saw this particular professional, I could see in their eyes they thought I might be mistaken and a bit of a hypercondriac. When the pain was so bad and I couldn’t pee, I was told the person was unavailable and to see my GP. My husband then took me to A&E, eventually seen by a lovely surgeon who said I was very very ill, and needed my colon removed immediately. I also found out that I had sepsis.I had surgery the next morning ( a Sunday) and was in for ten weeks.

I know that the NHS is struggling, and I can say that apart from one person, my experience has been exemplary. The reasons behind that persons decision have nothing to do with NHS failures I am sure. During my ten week stay in hospital, I saw many people come and go on the wards, many I spoke to and I know they were not as ill as I was. To this day, I have no idea why I was treated in this way. I wasn’t given some of the treatments that could have saved my bowel, because they felt I wasn’t ill enough. Have a look at my photos, I don’t exactly look full of beans.These were taken after surgery, 10 weeks in hospital ( which I might add, I had fantastic care by the surgeon and team on the ward).

I read other peoples stories, and a similar pattern unfolds. Terrible pain and bleeding, no quality of life, and yet they are treated like they are a pestering nuisance.

I really feel that the treatment for crohns disease and ulcerative colitis needs a new fresh approach. Surgical intervention, or at least a surgeons opinion needs to be sooner.If a person says they are in pain, just because their vitals are steady, it doesn’t mean it is not true. I struggled with my life for 4 months before it was necessary to help me. Many Crohns and UC sufferers ( yes believe me, they suffer) constantly with symptoms, many can’t go out because of them. They are terrible diseases that are embarrassing for many.

Please please can someone come up with a new system for these patients. If medications are not working, don’t just blunder along with ancient remedies that have no chance of working just to say they are trying to avoid surgery. Surgery may be the only hope that person has.

14102616_10207147557911818_8056525386694134516_n

Posted on

ON THE WARD

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.14089087_10207147621673412_5092671161253933699_n

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 I 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……

 

By continuing to use the site, you agree to the use of cookies. more information

The cookie settings on this website are set to "allow cookies" to give you the best browsing experience possible. If you continue to use this website without changing your cookie settings or you click "Accept" below then you are consenting to this.

Close