Well that wasn't the news I'd hoped for!

My trip to see the consultant today didn't give me the news I wanted!
I'm, once again, in the minority by not healing as quickly as I should ...
He wants me to have a scan to see if everything is where it should be!!!  He thinks the pains I'm getting are from where the small intestine might be adhering to things it shouldn't (like my big intestine!) ..
Apparently he did take my large and my small intestine out and then push them back in!!!!
Seems funny to sit there talking to a man in a suit who'd had all my innards out on a table!!!!!  LOL!
So I'm to still take it easy, take my painkillers and wait for the scan and then go and see him re the results!  Could be happier!!!!

Quiet day ..

... today ... needed to rest up a bit! 
Got some painting done though, which I'm pleased with!

The Littlies are looking forward to the Advent calendar starting on Saturday ... I need to get that sorted!
Hmmmhhh! Chocolate!!!!

..There's more ..

... can you believe after my yummy meal last night with the SW Social Team, who it was so lovely to see! ... today I went out and was a 'lady that lunched' with two gorgeous ladies to The Windmill ... it was scrummy food and they do these lunchtime deals .. One course for £5, two for £9 three courses for £12!  Cor we were stuffed and happy when we'd finished!
I'm shattered now .. two days of being social and I'm done in!

Grey days ....

.... but lovely visits ... I've had coffee with lovely ladies twice this week and it's only Tuesday!  :-)  I'm very lucky to have such lovely friends!

The Littlies did piano last night, whilst I had a go at tea, but half an hour standing and my tummy started complaining! Bloomin' thing!!! Still Big and Little Blue One's took over once they'd returned!

Yesterday, Big Blue One also managed to sort out me seeing my consultant earlier than December 13th by using his private health care insurance ... my consultant's secretary spoke to him much nicer once she realised we were covered! She then even said, once she'd given me the appointment this Friday that she'd send us a parking pass too!!! Well it's another world if you pay for it!!! Same consultant, same me, same hospital, but chuck some money in their direction and suddenly I'm treated like a Queen!!!!! Hmmmh!

Tonight I'm off for my first christmas party that I've been to since I worked!!!! The SW social team curry! It'll be so nice to see everyone, I've really missed them all! 

Happy Days!

Floods ..

.. The Littlies off to their Dad's today.. he said the road was closed due to flooding, but he could drive through in his big car .. anyway us biggies went out to look at the floods across the causeway .. at least the flood plains are doing their job!  Only walked a little way really but oh was my tummy sore when we got back in the car!!!

Across the meadow

Towards the causeway.

The Dolphin Hotel car park.

 

Treat Saturday ...

We decided to treat ourselves today to afternoon tea at Sophie T's ... we've had a horrid few weeks and it was just so nice, to go somewhere as a family and sit, chat, chill, be happy and eat yummy food:
Cream tea for me (goodness knows how many syns .. but today I wasn't counting!).

Cheese Ploughmans for Big Blue One.
Scrambled eggs on toast for Little Pink One followed by a massive wedge of chocolate cake (Big Blue One helped finish it off!).

Tuna mayonnaise sandwiches for Little Blue One followed by a massive wedge of chocolate cake (Big Blue One helped finish it off!!!!!).

It was a really rainy day so the windows were all steamed up and a warm cosy feeling greeted us which was super.  We had a lovely time ..

In the evening had a family get together at the in-laws with Big Blue One's Aunt, Uncle and cousin all celebrating BA's birthday, a lovely evening!
xxx

ps.  It's my Mum's 70th today ... wonder if she had a good day or if she liked my pressie I sent!!!!

Nurse has signed me off ...

.... for my wounds, BUT, the doc isn't sure if I should be this uncomfortable still, anyway, she had the nurse take bloods. She then redressed the bottom end of my big scar and told me to leave it on for a couple of days and told me she didn't need to see me again.
The results of the swab were finally in .. I did have diphtheroids there, but the antibiotics probably cleared that infection up! Hurrah!
So, watch this space for more exciting adventures of my swollen, misshapen tummy!

Lookin' good!!!!!!

Right .. note to self ~ stop eating malted milk biscuits!!!!

So nice ...

... to see three lovely ladies from my painting group, who took the time to come and see me after today's class bearing sandwiches, flapjacks, flowers and naughty chocolates (tee hee!).
We had a jolly good chat and a giggle!
Thanks for that Helen, Lesley and Christine. You cheered me up!  xxx

4 weeks ...

... since the operation and the first and smallest wound had lost it's scab and has healed! Yipee!  One down three to go!

Big Blue One had to go to the office today so I hit the watercolours ... nice!

Today I've been eating eggs .. dippy ones for breakfast and egg mayonnaise wrap for lunch ..
Tea will be low fat sausages, beans ans chips (not SW as my tummy hurts if I stand too long!)

Monday moans ..

... the alarm went off far too early I'm sure this morning!!!!!
Anyway Dad left early, just after the Littlies had gone to school as he was feeling unwell.
I had another appointment at the surgery for them to check out my wounds and change the dressings ...

Getting there. Came home minus dressings on the far left top scar and the far right middle scar!

all good on the scar front but was told to come back Thursday and see not only the nurse but the doctor too, as still not sure about my tummy pains! Ho hum!
Piano tonight for The Littlies ... then who knows what for tea!!!!

Lovely to see ...

... my Dad and Step mum today .. they were in the next county at a christening and have stopped here for the night as the drive back would have been too much!
 PR Massala for tea! Yum!  Salmon tikka, rice and shared a naan ...
Been a lazy day for me, sitting in bed, drinking tea, reading ... giving my tummy a rest ..
I think it helped, for gravity certainly adds to my pain when I stand for any length of time!!!!

Too much???

All I did today was get up, get in the car, get out the car, walk a short distance, get in the car, get out the car, sit, drink tea, eat bread, get in the car, get out the car, climb 13 stairs ~ slowly, sit, eat low fibre meal (thanks to my lovely in-laws for making special meals just for me!), sit, walk down 13 stairs ~ slowly, get in car, get out car, climb stairs to bed! But oh was my tummy hurting today!

Fry Day!

Went to see the nurse at the surgery again today .. had dressings changed ... told to come back Monday, but if anything hurts anymore to call after hours doc or go to A&E! Hmmh!
Dropped The Littlies off with their Dad via cambridge to see:

King's Parade, Street-side of King's College Chapel

If you could witness the creation of the universe, what might it be like?

Imagine a perfect, static grid of dots. Slowly, one dot moves. The dots around it shift. In what appears to be a chain reaction, the side of King’s College chapel is transformed into a pulsating and swaying collection of particles. The sound conjures electronic birds or spectral dust. Every 15-minutes, the projection repeats the progress from order to chaos, with alien sounds. But each sequence of sound and light is subtly different, generated by algorithmic computer code.

Plenum is inspired by scientific and religious accounts of how our world came into being and how the cosmos maintains life. The installation was created by artist Simeon Nelson with a real-time algorithmic image and sound by Nick Rothwell and Rob Godman.

http://www.cammusic.co.uk/events.html

http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/News/Light-fantastic-music-show-to-entertain-city-06112012.htm

http://2011.lumiere-festival.com/programme/installations/plenum/

King's College

Very interesting, slightly weird, but good!

Soft fish and chips for tea! Bit greasy and not at all SW.. but needs must!!!

Ups and downs ...

... that really put a strain on my tummy!  We had Little Blue One's parents evening.  8 teachers in different locations and a lot of steps!!!  That was ouchie!!!!!
Still glad and very proud to report that he's doing incredibly well bless him!

All consumimg ...

.. this is my life at the moment ... I sit all day feeling the pain of my tummy and I dream at night of my horrid time in hospital!  That's it!!!!

Blimey!

.. Couldn't put it off any longer .. had to go and see the nurse and see if I was where I should be on the recovery scale!
21 days since the op, my stitches leak at the bottom and my tummy hurts constantly, sometimes ranging from general achiness to stabbing pains!!! Not fun! I'm just sitting waiting for my next painkillers!!!!
Well .. she called the doctor in to have a prod and a poke .... and between them they decided that, even though what I had done was major,  I shouldn't be in that much pain .. so stronger painkillers .... and
my wounds needed cleaning swabbing, re-dressing and antibiotics were prescribed ....
Have to go back Friday! Ho hum!

And how much is to to get medicine these days .. £7.95 per item!!! Gosh! Can I afford to be ill at that cost!!!!!!
Mince for tea ... might it be chilli or pasta bake .. Big Blue One will decide!
Little Blue One's cooking a banana loaf ...

Can't turn it .. sorry!

NB:
While laying, tummy exposed, on the nurses couch .. I was pondering with Big Blue One about how at 10:20 in the morning my tummy was doing its hungry grumble, having eaten, at 8:30, a big bowl of Frosties .. but when eating a high fibre diet, I could last a lot longer before eating again! Just goes to show that high fibre certainly keeps you fuller for longer!!!

A lovely surprise ...

.. The Littlies have gone off with their Father for the weekend .. and us Biggies settled down to catch up on some of our TV recordings ...
My tummy still is very sore and uncomfortable .. not sure if this is right or not ... I'm guessing that all the while I'm sporting bruises on the outside the inside might still be 'bruised' and therefore sore!!!! Who knows, and who does one consult on such matters?!?!?!
Anyway up turns our gorgeous niece who we haven't seen for about 4-5 years! What a surprise .. she's grown into a pleasant, beautiful woman .. and we all sat and chatted for ages, it was lovely to see her!
More eating of crud today .. I really must get to grips with this all!!!!  Just not in the right frame of mind .. can't seem to think past the pain  ... not good!

Full nights sleep!

Yeah! The first full nights sleep for 3 weeks! Bliss!

I think the novelty of having an invalid in the house is wearing off for my three ... Sighs, moans and funny looks are creeping in!  Can't blame them though ... a full day at work or school then running round after me ... cooking, washing up, picking up! Bless them! They've been FAB through all this nasty business!

I did a naughty thing this morning and weighed myself ... hmmmh! 7lbs lighter than last time I weighed in at SW .. wonder how that compares to the SW scales!!!!

I was wondering ...

.. how long after a major operation does one still expect to be hurting????  Only it's 16 days since I was opened up and I'm still uncomfortable and get occasional hurtie pains!!!!

Anyway, for a change of my four walls, and to see all my painting buddies Big Blue One drove me to, and settled me into my art group. I was jolly glad to see everyone again and we had our usual giggle, which was lovely .... I was also chuffed with my progress on my picture ...

More high protein, low fibre food for tea .. wonder what Big Blue One will do tonight!
Well actually ... the Littlies did tea ... Little Pink One made tomato soup and Little Blue One made chicken korma with rice! Both dishes were yummilish!  xxxxxxx

Wacked out ....

.. and all I did was walk to the post box 5 mins away! Took me about 20 mins today!
This morning ... after showering we changed all my dressings ...
The bloomin' big drain hole's still wet .. bumsie!

But lookie at my scar ....

Looking much flatter and less like a stuffed and trussed loin of pork!!! Tee hee!

Hope the nurse did manage to get all the staples out of my bottomless pit of a bellybutton, but who knows .. I didn't want to dig around there and will wait, I think, until the plug of blood drops out! Nice!!!!

Saw my best friend for coffee today .. she's so lovely and listens while I dribble on! Bless her! I really  enjoy her company ....

Looking at my meal plans today too .. this low fibre diet I need to follow for the next 6 weeks is really totally the opposite of the SW plan ... this is going to be hard!!!!

One thing I had forgotton ... how delicious creme caramel is!  Naughty me!

Wow! What happened there ....

So, Friday 19th October, wandered down into town for a lovely pot of tea and a chat with my super lovely friend Ali, back home and all of a sudden .. BLAM!... a massive pain right at the bottom of my stomach!
Really bad Ladies pains??? Hot water bottle, bit of a sit down???  Well that didn't work and by the time the littlies had got home from school I was waiting for the doctor to ring me ..
She slipped me in to see her and sent me straight away to A & E with a covering letter to the house surgeon!  X-rays and CT scans later and A&E decided I had ruptured some part of my intestines and air had got into spaces where it shouldn't be!  I was to be admitted (in lots of pain by now as my chest was hurting as well due to not eating ... I think these pains come from my lack of my gall bladder!) and kept under observation.
The next 12 days were a bit of a morphine, pain, sickness, blur! I was really scared, hated the nights, hated the constant sickness, the constant pain, the constant unhappiness of being in a horrible place away from my little family that I love so very much.
The nurses, don't get me wrong, were fantastic, caring, compassionate but oh so overworked .. when I was able to really watch what they were up to I marveled in their dedication. There are just not enough of them! I'd see them come on at the beginning of their 12 hour shift, watch them run themselves ragged, caring, really caring, for us in the bays then see them drag themselves off, sometimes nearly in tears of desperation, at the end. They truly were the Angels on the ward. Some nurses not so much, but, that's the way the cookies crumble! Then I'd see the junior doctors, lots of them, swanning in the corridors, looking like models and clumping round your bed .. laughing nervously at some crud comment made by the consultant, or swarming round the phlebotomist like bees round the honeypot, then walking away pleased as punch when given an 'easy vein' person to try out their 'skills' on! Squeals of excitement!  Ask them a grown up question about anything and they adopt the 'rabbits in headlights' look and say 'have to get back to you on that'! They never did, and they were rubbish at getting my blood! And in the same vein where was a doctor when you needed one ... a five hour wait the lady in the bed opposite me had when she was having a terrible time with all her drains and tubes .. then when he finally turned up, expected her to be lying waiting for him and got cross when she said she needed the loo!  Where do all these doctors go?!?!?!?
My consultant was fab, he did his rounds, checked me out, talked to me and seemed really caring, not so high, mighty and above us unwashed humans on really uncomfortable beds! So for that, I thank him!
His registrars or what every they are, were not so .. no easy language from them .. but, highly technical terms sprang from their lips like reciting the medical journal and when, while in a morphine drenched, nervous, scared, frightened state, he spoke me through my consent form I really didn't understand what I was consenting too! So you can imagine my utter degeneration into tears when in the anesthetics room being prepped for surgery my consultant came in and reiterated the three possible actions that might happen once they 'go in'! 
1) Exploration and out (keyhole) 
2) Exploration, finding something and open fully! (not keyhole!)
3) Exploration, finding something and open fully!..cut large intestine, join together via a bag! .....
"Sorry! What was number 3???   A bag?   What do you mean??"
"A bag that we leave on until the intestine is well enough to be joined properly .. usually stays on between 6~9 months! The Registrar told you didn't he?"
"Er no! .. I think I would have remembered that!"  ...  I'd heard all manner of horrid things about 'poo bags'.
"A stoma , he must have told you about it.. didn't he???"
So he checks the consent form ...
"He did .. it's there .. stoma ...."
"Yep, of course, a stoma, silly me, I should have know what one of those was!!!" I had thought it was like a stent but for the tummy area!
"We could get the stoma nurse to come and talk to you!" (Turns out the hospital hasn't got one!)
Anyway after that conversation I was taken back to my bay as something had broken down in the theatre!
About an hour or so later I was wheeled back ...
When I finally come round .. I ended up with option 2! For that I was so very thankful!

The consultant said I had a perforation of the sigmoid, probably secondary to diverticular abscess.

Sorry! Can't turn this round ~ should be top to bottom!!

Right, back in my bay and very sore now ... Really teary (thanks nurse Jacquie for all your great hugs!), drains, catheter, cannulas falling off both sides made every thing really difficult!
Each time another 'accessory' was taken off me I felt a tincy bit happier!
The drains were awful ... the pain rose with the diameter of the tube itself and I managed to get myself, quiet rightly so it turns out, into a terrible old state when it was time for my biggest and final drain to be pulled out!  That really was horrendous.. and I was sobbing on about why do they (the surgeons) put us through all this pain and discomfort and then not let us (the patient) take anything or anesthetise the area. The tube that was left in was so long I could feel it dragging through my stomach... it felt like it came from my toe!!!! Awful!
Each day I had to, much to the Littlies hilarity, monitor my stools and write it down on the Bristol Stool Form Scale! What a hoot!
Finally allowed home Thursday 1st November, the hospital took well over 9 hours to discharge me .. during which time me and hubby saw the nurses stretched to the extreme once again ... to me, it's quite scary the state the NHS had gotten in to!

Boy, was I glad to be home!

I want to dedicate this long post to my family and friends who came and cheerfully sat by my side, through my morphine induced ramblings when all I probably talked was rubbish!  Firstly, my really truly wonderful husband who was there every day, holding my hand, loving me with all his being, wishing I was anywhere but there.   My gorgeous Littlies, bless them, who tried to not look scared and who were shipped from pillar to post without complaint and who wanted hugs whenever they could!  My great friend Ali who's cheerful face and banter jogged me along on many a day and kept me up to date on all the gossip!..and her gorgeous daughter for her Get Well Soon card  xx ..  My Dad and Step mum who came from miles away, called nearly every day and who took the Littlies away for a fun couple of days. My SW friends, Linda & Jenny who snuck in SW bars, for when I was better, and good trashy magazines! LOL!
My lovely  Rita who wasn't gonna miss seeing how I was, but was gutted when a cold kept her away, we had lots of phone chats though.  My big sister who visited with her hubby and my beautiful niece, and waited patiently while I visited the toilet!!!   My wonderful in-laws who called my husband every day and who came to see me even though he hates hospitals and  my neighbour and friend who came bearing silly goodies to make me smile.

Remember .. these views are just how I saw it! xxx