The Spectrum of the Rectum

Stan Here

Pardon the graphic title but that about sums up the situation.  After all of the work and discomfort it would appear that things do seem to not want to work, so we are back at the Spectrum Hotel.  Turns out after some test that there is an obstruction that will prevent the goal of having things ever return to total normal again. It looks now like they will have to reverse the reversal and have Deb live again with the ileostomy bag. Bluntly stated this has been a blow, but life was never any good with all the stuff that needed to be hooked up at home. At the risk of sounding redundant the original surgery was done on November  27 and after 49 days here a bunch of procedures and trys at various soft foods  nothing really ever did work. Deb also has endured some severe bouts with nausea and pain with her stomach tube. Last week on Thursday they did a small bowel follow through and then Friday they confirmed that nothing was moving and an obstruction existed that would have to be surgically treated.

So the dilemma was the fact that Deb may not have many surgeries left in her and if they tried again and things did not work, then we might have some real trouble.  After some deliberation we decided that the best course was to use her potential "last surgery" to have this done. It was just too risky the other way and very frankly this one is not without some risk.  Adding all this up she has endured 5 surgeries now and Wednesday afternoon the 6th and the human body is only able to stand so much.  Although we did start to hear some stories about people that live till the end of life with TPN feeding this is one of the bigger pains in the rectum (I cannot think of the other word for that) but just trust me it was not the way to go. I am just good and glad she is a nurse cause hooking that up and all the meds that go with that was an act of congress as far as I was concerned.

While it is true that nobody wanted this, it is also true that the quality of life was better with that than anything she has endured recently.  So there you have it.  I still hold out some hope that some how the colonoscopy they will do Tuesday would somehow solve the problem but frankly that is being done to pinpoint the point of obstruction and nobody is talking that it has little if any hope in magically freeing things up.  All of this is kind of sad, but those of you that know Deb know that when she faces a problem she does what is best in her power to make the right medical decision. We could actually complain a little more but I do not think it will do much good at this point.

Deb is actually in a chipper mode right now as this decision is made. She was driven here today by a friend as I had a business commitment. (thank you Deborah)

Deb Here:

I arrived at the hospital around 1pm and was admitted first to a lovely room on the 9th floor with a wonderful view of GR. The floor is call the admission floor and it is only open from 11a -11p. It is for patients from the ER that need to be adm to a floor but there are no open beds. They go to this floor until another pt is discharged. So that is where I was until 7pm when this room on the 7th floor became available. When she wheeled me onto the floor I was greeted warmly by the staff who all seemed happy to see me, but a bit sad for the reason I am here too.

I am NPO after midnight and have my colonoscopy with Dr. Figg sometime tomorrow. My surgery is scheduled for 12:30pm on Wed.

I was glad to be able to attend church yesterday for the first time since Nov. Everyone seemed happy to see me, and said I looked good and they were happy I was doing better, and then I had to say, but.............

Will post tomorrow night with the updates. Here I sit with my SCD compression stockings going off and remembering only too well what is coming. Thanks for all the emails and calls with support and prayers. Love, Deb