On Thursday I had a CT scan of the abdomen in order to determine the source of an issue I've been having with my large intestine. My doctor found that my intestine kind of folds just before it exits my abdomen, which keeps things from moving as well as one would like. The options to correct it are
1) have surgery on the surface of my abdomen to straighten out the intestine (either outpatient surgery or an overnight stay)
2) have my abdominal cavity opened up and straighten things out from the inside (five hour surgery)
3) to do nothing and deal with it.
Opening my abdominal cavity, is definitely out of the question. I've had my abdomen opened enough for one life time - perhaps two. And not dealing with it doesn't work for me. So, I sit here thinking to myself, "I should think about this for a while," as if thinking about it for a while is actually going to change anything. Maybe I just feel better not rushing into it, which seems so silly but at the same time, it works for me right now.
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Robert. I really appreciated your blog - by far the best I have read. I have Stage IV colon cancer. I'm having my 3 rd ( of 12 ) Chemo session tomorrow. I now have a better understanding of what I will face in the coming weeks and knowing this gives me strength.
ReplyDeleteI'm incredibly glad to know my blog has made a difference for you. Stay strong and be well.
DeleteBert
Hi
ReplyDeleteI too am going for my 3rd chemo round for stg 4 cc,
Anyway, I have small bowel adhesions and a subsequent partial obstruction from scarring from surgery to remove a section of ileum that dropped and got adhered in the cavity left from the first surgery to remove most of the rectum & complete hysterectomy..
So what happens is that every time you have surgery, you get loopy ropey scarring that can close things up. I have been dealing with it by sticking to a well-chewed lowish fiber diet minus skins seeds and most raw food except juicing. I'd do surgery as a last resort. I found out in June with a hospital visit because of a back-up in my system that I needed to be on this diet. I introduce new well-chewed foods periodically.
Hope this helps!
Thank you Maryann. My issue occurs when I irrigate every morning. I guess I didn't feel like getting into specifics, which I now see would make a difference and perhaps even provide some insight to someone dealing with the same situation. The water consistently takes one or more tries, sometimes with no success, which results in a lot of time spent trying to irrigate. My surgeon has offered to pull out and trim just a tiny bit of the intestine, so it no longer folds, which will allow me to irrigate freely again. It's privilege to be able to irrigate and I would to be able to continue for as long as I can.
ReplyDeleteI will update this post very soon. Thanks again for inspiring me to be a little clearer!
Bert