Bag lady

Pre-op pressure stockings

Monday 26 October 2020 I went into hospital for an ultra low anterior resection. Basically, removing a large section of my sigmoid colon and stitching together the two 'ends'. This is major surgery and I was told it would feel a bit like being hit by a truck. No one mentioned that the truck stayed parked on you afterwards as well.

The operation took more than 7 I am told. Laying on the operating table before going into theatre, surrounded by anaethetists and my consultant, another doctor popped in and said hello. It was Neil, who works for the Air Ambulance. 'Look after her, she's one of ours.' Those words - I can't express how much they meant. I knew they'd look after me, but his visit was extra special.

I had a canula put in my hand, and they rolled me onto  my side to put injections into my back as well, and then... blissfull nothingness. 

I woke being taken to the ward - and it's a bit of a blur exept the numbness in my left hand thumb and fingers felt wrong. They changed my drip and my hand began to feel worse and the canula (which was now in my arm and not in the back of my hand) hurt like hell and the vein swelled up like a balloon. I had an allergic reaction to one of the drips and a rash appeared all over my head, neck and front/back. They changed the drip quickly and filled me with anti-histamine.

Although I was pretty lucid the Monday evening - after that I was not with it at all. I couldn't reach my phone on the side table, and if I did have it, I wrote complete gibberish to Sheena. She was phoning the ward and had comprehensible updates from the staff, who were taking excellent care of me. She also updated my family for me. I didn't face time, I looked like hell, felt worse. 

On the second day they removed the dressings from the four scars on my belly where they had laparoscopically removed the cancerous colon. As well as the operation scars, there was also a wound drain from my ileostomy (bag 1), which drained out thin blood like fluid. I had the ileostomy (bag 2) which was so 'productive' they had to switch me to a high volume version. I was on a catheter (bag 3) for the first four days too, and of course I had fluids coming in (bag 4) such as saline and liquid paracetamol. Afer the anaesthetic and morphine I was also very very sick, so they added a nasal drain (bag 5). I hated that most of all.

The pain was not too bad - it was overall feeling completely exhausted, unable to do anything and not thinking clearly. Day two I was moved into a ward with five beds and my little DAB radio with headphones meant I could sleep. That was apart from the fact that at 10pm, 2am, 5am we were woken for obs and meds.

Day two I managed to get out of bed and into the chair for a couple of hours, but 'enhanced recovery programme' meant I was supposed to be out of bed and up and moving a lot more. On the Wednesday I got up, and fainted. I was rolled back into bed by the nursing staff and didn't make my move quota. On the Thursday morning I was still wobbly, but by Thursday afternoon I could get in and out of bed and managed a few more steps. 10 metres was an achievement! The PT team were great, encouraging but not pushing me beyond what I could do.

I was visited by my consultant on the Thursday who asked why I hadn't gone home yet - I think he was being funny! I still had quite a few bags attached, though the nose drain had thankfully gone by then. 

I was kept in the full seven days - with the wound drain only being removed on the Monday morning (and that was a very weird feeling as they removed a long plastic tube from my insides). Monday afternoon and I could go home. No visitors, only a couple of short calls, so seeing Sheena was amazing. The drive home was exhausting, and since being home (nearly a week now) I've done virtually nothing, but sleeping in my own bed and being down to just the one bag is wonderful.

I have a long way to go before I will be fully recovered, and with any luck they can reverse the ileostomy in six to twelve months, but in the meantime I will be taking care so that I can get back to as normal a life as possible, as quickly and safely as possible.

Thank you:

• Neil, for the visit that boosted me before the operation

  

  The best nurse in the world! She has to inject me 
  every evening with blood thinners

  
  
• Mr Morgan, for being a very talented surgeon and doing such major surgery laparascopically 
• The theatre staff, it must have been a long day!
• All the nurses and HCAs on Lavenham Ward at Ipswich Hospital
• The Physical Therapy Team
• The stoma nurses at the hospital and the outreach team who visit me at home
• Sheena, and my family, for being there and giving me the strength through their love
• My wonderful colleagues at EAAA, for supporting me and being the awesome team that they are.

Useful links

Colchester and Ipswich Hospital Covid Staff wellbeing appeal

Bowel Cancer UK