It’s been too long since my last visit to the gym so I decided to go this evening. I did the usual start on the cross-trainer (20 mins), followed by hip abductors, then weighted squats, and finishing with a few arm lifts with the dumbells. I think I feel better from having done all that than when I just did the cross-trainer for 35 mins. I just need to make sure I drink plenty for the rest of the evening, I don’t really want to get dehydrated tonight.
So, I survived surgery school. For those of you who don’t know, it’s an optional, pre-surgery casual group meeting with several nurses and hospital staff who go through what to expect after surgery and how best to prepare for surgery. I knew most if what they had to say but it was nice to go anyway because they gave out leaflets on ways to be more active along with some (not 100% relevant) dietary advice. I spoke to the nurse during the break and she said she’ll get the dietitian to give me a call later this week. Overall, this morning has been pretty good. Now, it’s off to work for the afternoon.
Just had the bike test in preparation for my surgery in June. It was harder than I was expecting but they don’t make you do more than you are able to. I’m currently sat in waiting for “surgery school” to start. Not really sure what to expect but I’m hopinh it’ll be informative.
I’m drinking hot chocolate and eating stroopwafels whilst getting myself in the mood for writing.
Wearing purple for #WorldIBDDay. Bag? What bag?
My supplies for changing baggie: a new bag (obviously), scissors to cut the hole to the right size (28mm), clean dry wipes (devided into three to make them last longer), a mini bin bag to put the old bag and used dry wipes in, a small pot for warm water (used for cleaning the stoma and the skin around it), adhesive removal spray and barrier cream (to help with itchiness under the adhesive).
My Get Your Belly Out wristband and badge arrived today, in time for World IBD Day this Saturday 19th May.
I went to the gym last night for the first time in two weeks! I only spent about half an hour there though because it’s so warm at the moment and I was worried my bag might come unstuck mid-workout. It was a good session but I’m so tired from it; it’s surprising what two weeks off can do to your fitness. Anyway, I plan to keep going every week up until my surgery then I’ll be taking a couple of months off. I’m considering going just to walk on the treadmill once I feel up to it but I don’t intend to do anything more than that between surgeries. I’m hoping this will help my recovery whilst keeping myself somewhat active without over doing it.
Sorry I haven’t posted much this week, we’ve been so busy I just haven’t had a chance to do any updates. So, we went to Holland for a week. We stayed with friends and went to a LAN party Friday through to Sunday which was held in a school (so plenty of space, power outlets and free hot drinks from the machines). We had a really great time there and I can’t wait to go back again. We went to Amsterdam to visit the Rijks Museum and the Anne Frank House which were both very interesting and moving. I had a fantastic time over there and was really sad to leave last night but I guess reality ensued. Anyway, as for how my stoma behaved, it was fine. Even when I ate a few things I probably shouldn’t have (onions ect), it didn’t cause any issues. Going through security on the way out there was easy (no questions, no pat down ect) and going through on the way back was fine too despite having a pat down (which they do for everyone). The Security guard who patted me down was fine when I told her I had an ostomy and said she even had a friend who has one. It’s amazing how common they are, we just don’t notice them on other people. So, now I’m back in the UK for the foreseeable future and I return to work again tomorrow which’ll be fun (Read: not).
In other news, I have a date for my reversal surgery! I’ll have the first one to form the J-pouch in June and, provided it goes well, I’ll have the final one to reversal my stoma completely in August/September time.
So, obviously we made it through security no problem. I was quite lucky to not be asked any questions about my bag or supplies at either end of our journey (I have heard several ostomates have had pat-downs as well as having to show their bags to the security guards when travelling). The guards at the UK end waved me through the scanner and that was that. When we landed, we didn’t even see the guards because everything is done with machines.
The flight itself, although a little turbulent to begin with, went pretty well. There was no blowing up of my bag, no excessive amount of gas and no having to use the tiny planes tiny toilet. Admittedly, our flight was only about an hour so I imagine I would have needed to use the bathroom on a longer flight.
As for the last couple of days, they have been great! Today (Sunday) is the third and last day of the LAN party and we are just waiting for dinner to arrive then we’ll be packing up in a few hours. It’s been an amazing three days of just games, YouTube and more games. I have met some amazing people too and am really looking forward to the next LAN.
Tomorrow is a chill day of not doing a lot but Tuesday we are visiting Amsterdam. I’ve never been so I’ll be taking a lot of photos. We have a rough idea of what we are doing whilst we are there so it should be a fun-filled day. We fly back to the UK on Wednesday evening.
What Can I Eat 