I almost hate to ask because I normally don't frequent this area of TradGang. But I'm a little nervous about this one, and sure would appreciate your prayers.
Back in March I was hospitalized with diverticulitis. Several spots of my colon had actually ruptured. After a few days on IV antibiotics with no improvement - I was actually getting quite a bit worse - my doctor decided that the only option was to operate.
He removed about 18 inches of my colon, and left me with a colostomy to give everything a chance to heal. He told me then that the colostomy would be temporary, and that he could reverse it in 4-6 months. He told my wife right after surgery that things were alot worse than even he was expecting...the surgery took more than 4 hours - he had told my family it would be less than an hour. He also told my wife that without the surgery I probably would have been dead within 48 hours.
I returned to work in early May. Less than 2 weeks after I returned to work, I ended up back in the hospital with an infection in my small intestine. We never really figured out what caused it, but after 6 days in the hospital on IV antibiotics, the infection was cleared up and I was sent home.
Then, as if that wasn't enough, I had to have some scar tissue removed from the colostomy site back in early August. The scar tissue had built up to the point that my bowel was almost completely blocked.
Now the time has come to have the colostomy reversed. The doctor has warned me that there is a chance that he might not be able to reverse it at this time, and we might have to wait a few more months. Unfortunately he won't know until he gets me in the operating room and has a look inside.
For some reason, even though I've been through so much this year, I'm a little nervous about this one. I'm scheduled for surgery Monday morning. I just hope that all goes well and I can put this whole ordeal behind me.
Topic: upcoming surgery (Read 1577 times)
