Went for a little walk today and was wished “Good luck” by a complete stranger when he stopped and asked if I was alright because I was walking slowly and holding my tummy. Small amount of faith in humanity restored.

Had my stitches out this morning and the nurse said I don’t need my dressings anymore so, aside from my bag, no more annoying things stuck to my tummy!

I’m having some tea and biscuits (I’m not old, I promise!) whilst browsing YouTube and enjoying the sun outside.

thisturtleisneon:

I remember being diagnosed with ulcerative colitis in the fall of my junior year and thinking it was a death sentence. Not immediate, but eventual. I remember also thinking that having a colectomy was the worst thing that could possibly happen to me; that any medicine was better than surgery, no matter the side effects, and that I wouldn’t be a complete person without a colon. Which was stupid because a) it meant I made the decision to undergo multiple hospitalizations and endless drug treatments over two and a half years and b) as Clare put it, “whoever said you needed a colon to kick ass was sorely mistaken.” The ostomy bag isn’t forever, and it took a lot of getting used to, and it still weirds a lot of people out, but I consider it another step in the long list of steps that I’m doing an impressive job of conquering. I’d rather have a bag of 💩hanging from my abdomen than bright red blood in the toilet, excruciating pain, anemia, fatigue, weight loss, hopelessness, colonoscopies, infusions, blood tests, and up to 30 pills a day with fun side effects like immunosuppression, anxiety, moonface, weight gain, hair growth, white blood cell loss, osteoporosis, and more. Hey, it isn’t pretty, but it’s what I’ve dealt with and there’s nothing shameful about anyone’s body or what anyone has to go through to get to happiness. So here’s the colitis patient / ostomate body positivity post that no one asked for but everyone secretly needed. Only two more surgeries to go!

Having just been through my first surgery, this was really good to read. I hope to get used to my bag and be back to “normal” before long so I can continue to live life to the fullest!

Source: thisturtleisneon

Stoma check went fine. I didn’t realise they change your bag but they have spares at the health centre. The nurse said my stoma looks healthy and I’m doing all the right things at the moment (eating the right stuff and drinking plenty). My next check up is in two weeks and, provided all’s ok then, I’ll have a check up every month.

Also, I’m having my stitches removed tomorrow morning. I’ll probably be a little soar after so I don’t think I’ll be doing much. I’m having a friend over for a bit later in the afternoon but that’s about all I’ve got planned.

Got my first stoma check-up today. I’m not sure what to expect but I’m sure it’ll be fine.
I changed my bag this morning with no problems and, even though I know I didn’t cut the whole too small because I measured it twice, I’m still paranoid because of what happened Sunday. I know it’s fine because my stoma is making the usual happy noises it does when it’s working so it’s just my silly paranoid brain.

On another note, it’s really sunny outside. I’ve started to go for short walks around outside my flat to build my leg strength up again so it’ll be nice to be out in the sun if only for a little while. I can’t wait to be able to go out for longer; I really need to buy new clothes because I’ve lost so much weight and it’d be nice to get out of the flat for a day. Unfortunately, I get tired quite quickly at the moment so walking around shops is not something I can manage yet. But I will soon, I’m sure. Got to keep positive.

Starting Easter off with pain

Had a bit of a scare this morning; woke up about five thirty to my stomach cramping badly enough I started crying. I had no idea what was wrong so I went to the bathroom incase it was just that I badly needed to pee. It turns out that when I changed my bag yesterday, I cut the hole a bit too small and my stoma was being squeezed a tiny bit. I’ve changed the bag with a slightly bigger hole and it feels a lot better. I think I may have also had a slight blockage as a result but I think that’s starting to clear now.

I need to be a bit more careful when changing my bag; my stoma is still pretty swollen and will be for the next six weeks or so. I also need to be careful with my food intake; I’ve over-eaten for the last two days which probably hasn’t helped. I’m going to try and stick to my recommended daily calories from now on and not allow myself to go over as much as I have. I know I need to put on weight but over-eating is clearly not the way to go.

I made garlic and honey chicken with oven chips for dinner tonight. It was really tasty and surprisingly easy to make. (Recipe here)

I may have over-eaten again though today; I’ve had quite a bit of one of my Easter eggs this evening, not to mention having a large lunch and snacks throughout the afternoon. I know it’s not a bad thing though because I need to put weight on (I lost almost a whole stone whilst in hospital).