Well.. Like the title says, it's been a long time since I've posted a blog, and today is a special day, so I thought I'd make a quick update on how life is treating me right now. Today is exactly 2 years since I was first admitted to the hospital. The past two years have been really hard, but I can now say that I think I've reached the light at the end of the tunnel. I'm fully reversed now, I've got my diet sorted, and the fissure that has made my life hell for over a year is now finally manageable. I can do most of the things I used to again, and life is, I guess, almost back to normal. I've found some awesome people on here and at the hospital who have been great to me over the past 2 years and kept my spirits up when I've been having a tough time, and I'm so grateful for it. In fact, on Wednesday, I'm catching a 4-hour train to the South of the country for a few days to see an Ostomate called Fran, who is pretty much my agony aunt, and we get on really well. It'll be nice to get away and have a break after not being on holiday or many trips away over the past two years. Would love to see how things are this time next year, as they will be even better, and hopefully, I'll be back on my feet at work, and it will be as if the last two years never happened :)
Even with them fissure, do you need a drainage pouch for that? Just a question. Mooza, glad you're kicking it, darl. You are meeting Fran from here, if so, wonderful! :) Mooza
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Hi Mike and all. I am not sure how panoramic my perspective really is as my peripheral vision shrinks with each passing year. I can tell you that when I came to this website six years ago I was truly ;impressed by the positive attitudes of so many members, especially the younger folks who refused to let their ostomies define who they were or what they would become. I also came to appreciate that having an ostomy is not the same thing as having a disease. Pardon ;my pun now, but ostomies and cancer don't belong in the same bag. One is a solution, the other is a problem. Celebrating National Ostomy Day ;is also well outside my comfort zone. That's like celebrating National Wheel Chair Day. Come on!
I think there is a ;need for improved ;public awareness of ostomies, but I am not sure how that's best done. There ;remains ;some social stigma attached to our situation, and it's acutely felt among our young. We need to get out of the dark ages on this issue, but not by going 'in your face' to everyone else. I think Bill and NDY are 'spot-on' when it comes to telegraphing the right message to friends and family. People will know how to react when they ;see ;how we accept the cards we were dealt. I also appreciate the contribution some people here are making to this effort through their publications.
On a personal note, my son has been suffering from ulcerative colitis for years just like I did. I am very concerned because people with UC are at a higher risk for colon cancer. Years ago my GI told me to get annual colonoscopies to be on the safe side. I am glad I did because he eventually found pre-cancerous cells which led to several surgeries and my becoming an ostomate. Since then I have always ;conveyed a positive attitude to ;my son about wearing a bag because it has kept me alive to enjoy many more years with my loved ones. I think he got the message. We both go to the same gastroenterologist in NYC and get scoped on the same day. Father and Son moments!
Someone once wrote that our children are the letters we write to the future.
PB
I have no kind of drainage pouch at all. My reversal was a one-step operation. An end ileostomy was made into a pouch and plumbed all back together at the other end again :)
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