Check the Oil While You're at it!

God bless the people who performed my surgery and the nurses at the hospital that helped me get well enough to come home. It is amazing what medical science can do sometimes! It's not a perfect science by any means though! As I told you in a previous blog I had 15 staples going down my stomach and 14 staples when they split my butt open like a cantaloupe! I had 2 tubes coming out of my butt cheeks that allowed for drainage. These were removed when I left the hospital. They left one hole in my taint that continues to drain yellows and greens to this day!! It's like BP was in charge of my operation and they couldn't plug the leak! At least no sea life will be harmed!
Now every two weeks I have to go to my surgeons office and he violates that hole with a Q-tip about 12 inches long! Every time he does this it knocks me out for at least 2 days!It is like having a gunshot wound and poking it with a stick every couple of weeks! The penetration is like being hit with a sharp needle right on a nerve! It makes me white-knuckle the hospital bed every time people! A month ago the q-tip went about 6 inches deep inside of me and when the doc pulled it out it was completely red with blood. Two weeks later he tried again, but I had to work the next day so I denied him the pleasure! Well this last Wednesday I had another appointment with Dr. Feelbad and he did the deed....ugh! The q-tip only went up 3 inches this time so I am healing, but the pain is just a trip! So is the after effect! It's like I am just home from the hospital all over again! I recover eventually, but I eagerly await the day that this hole is healed up completely!
Walking at work has really helped me firm up the muscles I had lost. I am up to about 142 lbs! Just a few more to go. I need to start doing some sit-ups and get my stomach muscles back in shape. It is going to be interesting trying to do it with my lil' stoma sticking out! Sooooo sexy! I used to be so good looking! lol!
The road to recovery has been quite the eye opener on so many levels! I have so much more respect and admiration for the people that go through serious operations. If you know anyone that is going through anything medical do what you can to make them comfortable and that you are there for them! I had alot of friends and family reaching out to me from the start of this journey down cancer highway and I wouldn't have made it w/o them!
I start up my last round of chemotherapy on Thursday of next week. I go in to the hospital once a week for about 3 hours to get my I.V. chemo. I take the chemo through the I.V. 3 weeks on and one week off. So over the next 4 months I will have 12 "treatments." I am taking Oxiliplatin through the I.V. At the same time I also have to take chemo pills of the drug Xeloda. These pills are taken on a 2 weeks on 1 week off rotation. 6 pills a day. three in the morning and three at night. When I had chemo(same schedule) before the surgery it didn't weaken me or make me lose any hair so here's hoping we can repeat that!
Sitting here watching OUand Missouri on Saturday Night college football with the family. I can actually sit! That's something I took for granted before! Just sitting is a beautiful thing! looking forward to the day when i can just plop my butt down and not have to worry about the repercussions!
Well that's about all for today! Work was good. Dinner was good. The game, so far, is good. I will write again later and let you know how it's going! Ubtil then! Take care of dat ass!

Getting Back on Track

Good day everyone! I hope this blog finds everyone doing well and really taking the time to enjoy their lives to the fullest! I have started back full time to work and it feels great to contribute to our budget at home! Honestly we were a couple of weeks away from getting way behind on bills so I really needed to get back to making my share of the money here. The stress of that is one of the things you don't need when you are trying to heal up from a major surgery. It was a motivator though! If I had my way I would have had two more months off to get to 100%, but walking at work has helped me get back some leg muscle that I had lost!
I lost about 25 pounds from the surgery and not eating steadily when I came home. I weighed about 160 going in and I am still trying to break the 140 barrier! I weighed this much in high school! If I went to a reunion they would say, "You haven't changed a bit!". Then I would pull down my pants and show them I had no asshole to speak of and I would say "Really?" I used to be able to poop like a normal man! This colostomy bag life is a trip! I have found that when I eat chinese food, mainly rice I think, that it makes these little rabbit turds! Easy to digest and clean up! I think rice is AWESOME! When you have a colostomy bag it is imperative that you make it as easy as possible to clean up and empty your bag. Having thick stool is NOT fun! Cramping from what you eat isn't what you want! Pasta seems to do this to me and I LOVE pasta man! It totally sucks that I may have to cut that out of my diet!
I think I may have to go buy some protein shake mix to gain my weight back. I am eating enough, but I need to get up to at least 150 pounds. That's about 15 pounds I need to gain before I feel good about the shape that I am in.
I went out back and did some yardwork this morning before football started. I have made it a point that on my days off I just don't lay around. I need to keep moving so I don't go backwards in my physical recovery. I was really sore and exhausted the first few days that I worked, but each day I hurt less and less. If I could share anything with anyone going through this type of recovery it would be to walk as much as possible as soon as possible. Don't give in to what your body is telling you! Push yourself as much as you can and then push some more! We are capable of much more than we think! When I was shuffling down my block I was miserable, but I kept walking. I should've been doing it a couple of weeks earlier, but I had let myself buy into how bad I felt. The mind is a beautiful thing, but it can trick you too if you allow it. I am stronger every day now and I plan on staying on this path.
Thats about it for now. I have to check on my fantasy football league to see how I am doing so far today! Until next time America!