Warning: This blog might gross some of you out. Or confuse you. Either way, proceed with caution :)
As soon as I arrived in the waiting room I knew it was trouble. It was packed and I was extremely uncomfortable sitting in those lovely wooden chairs with people staring at me because I was curled over in my chair, obviously hurting. By the time 11:15 rolled around I had rearranged the chairs so I could lay my head on my moms lap while she eased some of my nausea and tried to distract me from the pain. I didn't get called in the room until noon after the waiting area had cleared out of every single person. I was literally the only one left.
Call me crazy but I think the one instance in which efficiency and courtesy should be the utmost priority is in the healthcare industry. People are sick and I wish I could impart an ounce of my pain on them just so they understand. It is a business and as a business I can't quite understand how they don't have appointments and timing down. When I go to visit my GI doctor, I am seen right away and there is no bullshit. As a very sick patient, I appreciate this more than you could imagine. Anyway, sorry if most of this is just me bitching.
So I get to the next room--the actual examination room where at least I can lay down with a sheet. I'm there for 45 minutes before I see the surgeon. Once he comes in it's the usual run down of questions referring to my previous surgery in Maryland and questions about how much of my bowel was removed as well as what kind of ostomy I had. Basically, the surgeon did not have my records nor did they indicate that I should bring them. After calling my GI, they had to contact the University of Maryland Medical Center for my surgery report in order to determine how they would approach surgery this time around. The report was crucial to understanding if I would be given an Illeostomy or Colostomy (more on that later).
It isn't until 2:30...yes, I laid on the table in that small ass room from noon till 2:30...that they finally get a pathology report faxed concerning my surgery (conveniently the 31 page surgery report arrives as I'm on my way out) . Of course, the pathology report isn't sufficient enough but the surgeon gives up and decides to start the consultation anyway. He proceeds to tell me, "Well, we won't really know anything until we open you up anyway." Umm seriously? All that time laying there...waiting...was basically for nothing. The consent for surgery I signed basically says anything can happen and I might not get a colostomy like I prefer. Also, they cannot operate laproscopically since I've already had surgery and there is likely to be a lot of scar tissue in the way. BUMMER...because this means a longer recovery time and more pain. And just when my scars were starting to switch from gross and discusting to barely visible and "cool"...but oh well, it's not like I was ever the type to rock my bikini on the beach.
So the biggest issue is an Illeostomy vs. Colostomy. A colostomy is what I had previously. In this instance the diversion is created so that your waste still travels through your large bowel. Without grossing some of you out, this means that your output will be closest to "normal" that you can get with half your intestine missing. But this plan rests on the healthiness of my remaining colon. The last thing you would want is to still have pain after surgery. With an Illeostomy, the diversion is created right after your small bowel so your waste never goes through your large bowel. Thus you miss out on all the digestion that occurs normally in your large bowel. As I stated before, I had to consent to either/or because they won't really know until they see inside.
The important factor in all of this is that afterwards my rectum will be bypassed, where most of my disease is active and painful. If all goes to plan, I should be feeling better and able to finally function in my life. Thankfully the past couple of days I've had pain meds from my family doc which have made things bearable...I just don't understand why my GI can't offer me this relief.
So surgery day will be August 13th. I'm guessing I'll be in the hospital around a week. I'm trying not to think about it too much or second guess my decision. I know it's the right one. I just have to keep reminding myself that.
