Hello,
I am almost 4 weeks post-op. I am starting to get the hang of having a colostomy. I am a 53-year-old female married 24 years with no children. I grew up in Santa Cruz, CA. Ten minutes from the ocean. How I miss that now. My parents had a restaurant there for 37 years. I was in real estate in 1997 when I sold their business as they were retiring. They decided to move to TX in 1999 to be near my mom's brother and take care of my now 103-year-old grandma and 85-year-old aunt. My husband and I followed them. I lost my dad in 2006 after 5 bouts with cancer. Prostate cancer finally took him at age 75.
In 2004, I was tired of being obese as I had been for 18 years. I have a low thyroid, so trying to take weight off was very hard for me. So in Feb 2004, I had a gastric bypass and lost 140 pounds. I have since kept the weight off, and now I am underweight and malnourished because of my illnesses.
In 2008, I had ureter cancer, Grade 3, so they took my right kidney, ureter, gallbladder, and bladder cuff. They said having zero fat kept the cancer from spreading. Then the following year, 2009, I had cervical cancer. The tumor was Grade 3 and too large to take out without radiation and chemo, plus 4 days of brachytherapy to shrink the tumor first. After 28 radiation treatments and 6 chemo, I had a radical hysterectomy. Then I spoke with the genetic counselors and found out I have Lynch Syndrome. It's a genetic mutation in my DNA from my dad's side. It causes rapidly growing tumors. My brother died from it in 1977; he had a colostomy, and during radiation, his football-sized tumor between his anus and stomach burst and caused peritonitis. He was 21 years old. I was 18 then.
In 2010, I had an MRI of my head. I went to a hotshot new chiropractor, and he wanted to run several tests on me with my history. When all the results were in, he told me I am perfectly healthy and nothing's wrong with me. MD Anderson is my cancer center; they need copies of everything, so when I got them, I read very clearly in my MRI that I had a suspicious mass behind my throat. Regardless to say, the chiro was fired. MD Anderson took out an egg-sized benign tumor behind my throat.
In 2011 and this year, I suffered from the effects of radiation. My colon from my anus and 8 inches up was fried. It had narrowed to pencil-thin. I couldn't pass stool without laxatives and stool softeners and hours in the bathroom straining and in pain. Vomiting. I was on a low-residue diet. But I was determined not to get a colostomy. After almost two years of suffering, I finally said, "Let's do it." My husband and my mother were so relieved as I got down to 102 pounds, and my doctor told me I was going to die without it.
In 2012, Friday, I will be 4 weeks post-op. Living with a colostomy is what I imagined it would be. I researched for the 2 years of pain I was in. I have only gained 2 pounds. I am at 104. I am able to eat anything, but some things do become watery. I have no appetite, and I am afraid of food. Besides, I have always been a picky eater. Trying to gain weight is as hard as trying to lose it. I am glad to be alive. Life is short. So what if I have Rudolph with me all the time...
Hi Kimmy, welcome. Thanks for sharing your history. You sure are a good fighter! I too am a picky eater, can't imagine how that happened because growing up for me was you either ate what was prepared or you left the table hungry. Keep the foods around you that you like as well as snacks. Have an Ensure maybe between meal times. Check out the blogs and forums for lots of great ideas. Don't forget to stop in the general chat and say hello when you're online :). Alice
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Hi Kimmy, just read your blog all about yourself, and I thought I had been through the mill and back again. I will never feel sorry for myself ever again after reading your problems. Although you say you're a picky eater, there are tons of things you might like to try. As Mrs. A says, check the blogs for ideas. You'd be surprised at the things people suggest. I'm having problems with digesting food. My weight is okay, but I have to make sure I keep the calories up. It's hard, and there's a lot of juggling with food, but I get around it. I hope you find some answers. Come in on the chat. You will have a welcome from whoever's in there. Take care, Ambies.
Hey Kimmy, I think we've all been there and done some of that. Welcome, Kimmy! Um, sorry, where is TX? Is that Texas? Just thought I would ask. Cheers! Hope you find some inspiration on the site. I'm sure you will find that you can meet and be friends with many people. x Mooza Aust.. Aww, Ambies, you're always so nice. TC, Ambies :) Sorry, I couldn't get up early to have a chit chat. Our times are insane. x x x Mooza
Thank you all. @ Alice It's funny, I am a picky eater growing up in a restaurant, but I just never know what to eat. @ Ambies I too have trouble digesting food because of the gastric bypass, probably why I don't eat too. @ Mooza LOL yes, TX is Texas. Thanks all for the welcome. I will check in on chat...
Welcome Kimmy, I have always said there are others worse off than me and you are high on that list. You have no doubt, a very strong survival instinct. Reading your account of all the terrible health setbacks and family tragedies you have endured makes me think that you are a strong person. I'm sure you will say that the support of your family helps and I am sure they do, but in the end, it's you that has found it in yourself to face the next setback that life has dealt you. I take my hat off to you and wish that now life will give you nothing but good health and happy days with you and your family. Gee07
Thanks Gee07 and Bill... I have been through a lot, but I am still here and there has to be a reason for it. So, I am optimistic, hoping that life will get better....
Kimmy, your chiropractor ran several tests on you and concluded that you were perfectly healthy? No disrespect to his particular field, I think he crossed a line somewhere professionally. He probably analyzed your condition from his point of view and reached a conclusion that could have cost you your life. There's an old saying that goes like this: If your only tool is a hammer, every problem will look like a nail. Our biggest challenge is finding the correct doctor in the correct medical field to treat our issues. In the auto repair business, the highest paid mechanic is the technician who determines what our car's problem is. In the health field, our primary care physicians, who do the initial diagnosis and make the proper referral, are the kingpins in our recovery. The sad news is that there are fewer and fewer primary care general practitioners around today. It's incredible to read on this website how many people have been seriously hurt by improper medical care. I am not optimistic about future healthcare delivery trends because there will be a huge shortage of doctors in the near future and medical students are likely to be pushed through the system too rapidly. Sorry to sound pessimistic; but if you have a good doctor, stay with him or her at all costs. PB
