So I had my scheduled reversal mid November, but I had started experiencing no appetite again back in September. My surgeon thinks that the disease without a name yet that killed the nerves in my colon may have spread to my small intestine and idk if we’re on the fence with what my stomach is doing or not. Bad complications after the reversal, earned another week in the hospital and an NG tube (I’d rather have surgery than an NG tube). 2022 wasn’t kind between health issues and having to defer an international adoption. I’m finally ready to start applying and interviewing for jobs. Again, I prefer remote if anyone has any suggestions.
Also, what do y’all use to help with scars? As you can see in the last picture, I’m trying a silicone tape I found on Amazon but if there’s something better let me know.
Hello crappycolondiaries.
Thanks for sharing your story, and I am pleased to see that you have already received some suggestions as to what to do about scars.
My own (alternative) approach to scarring is to 'wear my scars with pride'. I view them as a part of me and my experiences in life, which need no cosmetic alteration or disguise.
The 'zipper' scar from heart surgery is probably the most obvious and significant scar, but that doesn't bother me either. There is an interesting story behind every scar, which I am quite happy to share with anyone who might seem remotely interested. Alongside that, I usually write a rhyme to accompany any traumatic event in my life so, the rhymes act as both a distraction and an explanation to scarring, which then means I don't feel the need to cover them up.
I realise that my own 'cure/disguise' for scarring will not suit everyone, so I'm glad that other's have provided you with some practical solutions.
Best wishes
Bill
Hi CC when i had resection surgery 5yrs. ago and my stoma moved from right to left side i was left with 5 scars and the worst was where the old stoma was, it was discolored and uneven but i dont bother trying to fix them.
I like that. I can’t speak for every woman, but I feel like it may be harder for the female population than the male population to accept our scars… because we are told by society we need to look a certain way… aging for example… anything that is supposed to help a woman look younger is marketed like crazy whereas you don’t see that same marketing for men. I remember with my first major surgery, I had friends checking in asking how I was doing because it was an emergency surgery while I was pregnant and they had to remove an organ. My friends thought I’d be having a harder time with losing the organ, but I was more upset about the huge scar. I’ve become better about owning my scars and as I’ve had many more surgeries since then there are obv more scars. My scars were a choice in the sense that without some of them I wouldn’t be alive and I chose to live… but not quite the same as getting to choose a tattoo 😃
You be you and enjoy life. Trying to cover things up cause you think you have to look a certain way isn’t nearly as important as to what’s inside and who you are. Have a good day.
Dermabrasion will do it. A Dermatologist will remove the dead cells and expose the new skin underneath. Problem resolved. It is those invisible scars that are difficult to remove.
Hello crappycolondiaries.
Thank you for expressing an interest in my rhymes. As I intimated in my reply to your post, the physical scarring I have experienced over the years has never really bothered me , and it is things that affect me negatively and emotionally that tend to motivate my rhymes. Therefore, many of my rhymes about scarring have been about emotional scars rather than physical. However, when I was recuperating from my heart bypass surgery, I was documenting the whole gamut of feelings as the process progressed. I therefore have at least one rhyme that expressed my views at that time in rhyme. (a bit like the crappycolondiaries concept, which I also documented in the sequence of books entitled 'My Ostomy World').
Anyway, Below are the combined thoughts on physical and mental scarring, at that particular point in time. Any negative sentiments are captured in rhyme and quickly forgotten about in order to move forward more positively. I suppose the last verse sums it up for me.
Best wishes
Bill
MIND AND BODY SCARS.
THE SCARS ON BODY AND OF MIND
ALL TAKE TIME TO HEAL, I FIND.
B. WITHERS 2019
MY HEART ATTACK :
SCARS.
I look in the mirror and there they are
many small, and one massive scar.
Cut from bellybutton to chin
Ugh! What a state they’ve left me in.
A zombie from an autopsy
stands right there in front of me
and yet, somehow, I did survive
because I feel I’m still alive.
Bad bruising covers all my chest
and pain from that gives me no rest.
But I have had bruising before
so I’m not worried on that score.
The scars and bruising will soon heal
but that’s not so for how I ‘feel’.
For feelings are a different part
to scars you see on chest and heart.
My problem with this heart attack
is just how far it’s knocked me back?
It hit me like a thunderbolt
and gave my psyche quite a jolt.
It’s something I can do without
like chronic illnesses and gout.
For as I’ve aged, I kept my verve.
and that’s what I’d like to preserve.
So, as of now, I contemplate
the state that I have come to hate.
A life without some quality
I fear would be no good for me.
All of my scars, I hope will heal,
in which case, this is no big deal.
I’ll just resume my life again
free from illness and from pain.
B. Withers 2019
(In: My Heart Attack201
I have a few scars, some from having my colostomy site closed up and moved to the other side for an ileostomy. Immediately after surgery they looked pretty gruesome, and obvious, but my research showed that the efficacy of the products on the market that are supposed to reduce their appearance, showed that the jury is out on whether they actually work or not. I chose to do nothing, and have been really pleased with how much they have changed in the past year and a half. They are much less noticeable, and some have almost disappeared. On the other hand, my bikini wearing days are way behind me, and with an ileo, I wouldn't be wearing one anyway, so it's not a big deal to me really. I can see how it would be for a younger woman though. It doesn't hurt to try some of the products on the market, but I can tell you that time is your ally.
Terry