MY LAST HOSPITAL STAY
It will soon be five years since I got my ostomy, and since my last hospital stay. This stay left marks in my memory, and I wanted to share it with you.
On September 14th, 2011, I went to Sherbrooke’s hospital with my mom to get a second opinion on my health issues. I was weak and my skin was pale. When the gastroenterologist saw me, she asked me if I’d brought my toothbrush because there was no way she was letting me leave the hospital.
That night, I was in the emergency department. I had to drink 4 litres of a disgusting, kinda sweet liquid to get ready for a test the next day. My mom encouraged me with every sip. It came out as soon as I drank it. I ended up spending my evening on a portable toilet talking with my mom about everything and anything.
During the next few days, I was told that I was probably gonna go home soon, as everything looked fine. I didn’t exactly know the date of my surgery, but I was hoping it’d come pretty soon. Maybe it didn’t show, but I wasn’t feeling too good.
My blood samples didn’t make it look like everything was fine. My hemoglobin level was low, so I had my first ever blood transfusion.
I then finally learned the date of my surgery: Sunday, September 25. The day before my surgery, I was allowed to go out with my family. I spent the day shopping while in my wheelchair. The idea of someone opening my abdomen really stressed me out, but I was able to forget about it on that day.
My surgery went really well. When I woke up, I had tubes in my nose, I was under epidural and I had a urinary catheter. I spent over 24 hours without needing to go to the bathroom! It felt so great!
A few days later, they stopped the epidural. This was one of the worst amount of pain I’ve ever felt. It felt like my stomach was on fire. I was unable to move, eat and sleep. That is, until the anaesthetist gave me more tranquilizers. That made me sleep like a log.
After that, they removed my urinary catheter. I asked for help to go to the bathroom during the night. I’m not sure why, but I sat there for a long time. I think it was kind of a habit now. The nurse came to see me three times to ask if I was done. I was wondering why he was in such a hurry, and he was probably wondering what I was doing.
In the days following my surgery, I had a lot of mucus in my rectum.While I was eating lunch and talking with my mom on the phone, I started having really big cramps. I hung up on her and hit the help button because I was unable to move. Two nurses came to help. I think they wanted me to help them a bit, but they had to carry me to my bed by themselves. A team came in to help with my cramps. One of the interns let me hold his hand, and I think I almost broke it!
I finally went home in October. It was time to start my convalescence and my new life!
Brought to you by: Premier Ostomy Centre
