My CT scan has been moved due to work commitments but it’s only by a week so not much of a wait.

I’ve finally heard from the hospital; I’m having a CT scan next week to see what’s going on with my liver. Here’s hoping for answers.

I won’t go into detail about it but I decided to start counselling. I had my first initial appointment today and I should hear about further appointments with a councillor within the next week.

@ people with disabilities that dont affect them greatly or every day

chronicchillpill:

chronicchillpill:

you are still disabled

your struggles are still valid

just because you arent sick all the time, it doesnt mean you arent sick.

just because you dont have many limitations, it doesnt mean you cant vent about the limitations you do have, because if your illness takes away even one experience/ability/feeling from you, its already taken too much.

dont let people invalidate you because you arent as “disabled as you could be”, because you are disabled, come @ them if they try to tell you youre not.

dont feel like you shouldnt be upset that you have this illness, just because it doesnt always affect you, or doesnt constantly affect you, it doesnt mean it doesnt affect you.

please dont feel like you have to constantly prove youre disabled, and if you do, remember that you are disabled, and you do have hardships and that you deserved to be believed.

I am so sorry you have to go through this, you shouldnt have to.

and above all

youre important and your issues, whether they be small or large, are important.

you matter.

reminder

So, the stick is back in use, at least for now. I’m finding my middle is very sore throughout the day and using my stick to move around when not at home helps take some of the strain off my muscles. It also gives me a little bit of security in that I know I’ll be able to get home eventually with it. Whereas without it, I’d feel stranded if I found walking too hard.

It sort of feels like I’ve taken a couple of steps backwards but I know it’s not something I can control. That doesn’t make it any easier to deal with, but I’m dealing. I hope.

Proper update

Ok, so let explained what happened yesterday; after I got to the hospital, I had bloods taken and a cannula fitted before being moved into the AAU (Acute Assessment Unit) where I experienced a major flare of pain in my stomach. They gave me oral morphine (which tasted like fruity vodka) but it didn’t seem to do a lot so a little bit later a nurse came over with two syringes of IV morphine which she gave me little by little. This helped to numb the pain enough for it to be bearable. They then took me for both a chest and abdominal x-ray before taking me up to ASU (Acute Surgical Unit). By this time, the pain had gone down enough for me to have a shower and change my bag but I was nil-by-mouth in case they needed to do surgery for any reason. I did notice my stoma was protruding more than normal but it seems to have gone back to normal so I’m putting that down to muscle strain.

Eventually, the doctors came round and I was seem a whole three times! (And on a Sunday too) They checked how my stomach felt and decided that I needed an ultrasound. They booked it for this morning but said I could go home provided I wasn’t in too much pain. Thankfully, the pain went away with the morphine and I’ve been given dihydrocodeine to take home.

The ultrasound was to check it was gall stones, which they’d remove if needed. And if it wasn’t my gall bladder, then they’d check for inflammation in my stomach. As it turns out, they actually couldn’t see my gall bladder because my liver has somehow become twice the size it’s meant to be, which would explain the pain. The consulting surgeon I saw after the ultrasound said he would refer me to a liver specialist but to take it easy in the meantime.

My boss has been amazingly understanding, as usual, so I’m taking the rest of today off work to rest my sore muscles.

I’m hoping this’ll be easily fixed and not affect my stoma or interfere with future surgeries.

Just a quick update.

I’m out of the hospital! I didn’t need to stay overnight but they do want me back in tomorrow morning for an ultrasound.
They think it’s either my gall bladder, an inflammation in my stomach or a sprained abdominal muscle. I’m hoping it’s the latter but we’ll see.

Well, that didn’t last long. I’m back in the hospital, admitted through A&E around three this morning, with severe abdominal cramps and vomiting. They’ve given me morphine for the pain and an anti-sickness that seems to be working at the moment. I’m nill by mouth at the moment because they’ve put me in the ASU (acute surgical unit) and they’re not sure what’s causing the pain. I’m just waiting for the doctor to come see me.

It might be too soon to really tell, but I tried cucumber (without the skin) this afternoon and, finger crossed, I haven’t had any negative side effects.

I’ve been told to only have very soft, skinless/seedless fruit and veg for now as it digests easier in the small intestine. I haven’t been eating much fruit or veg since my surgery but I am starting to reintroduce them one by one into my diet again.

So far, bananas, potatoes and strawberries are on the ok list and I hope to add cucumber to that list too.

My support belt arrived the other day so I’m giving it a go and wearing it to work today. It’s not that I’ve been advised to wear it a lot but I’ve found my stomach muscles hurt in the afternoon/evening if I’ve been working or just walking around a lot so I figured I’d try wearing the belt to see if it helps.