Monday 4th April 2011 is the date set for my reversal under the care of Brendan Moran at The Hampshire Clinic, Basingstoke. However 5 days earlier I am hit with a bug causing sickness and diarrhoea and it was decided that we would delay proceedings for 2 weeks.
So Monday 18th April 2011 is my new date and I travel down on my own by train the day before. The night before Sean and me go to the O2 in Leeds to see Big Country, with Mike Peters from The Alarm taking lead vocals. It was brilliant to see the band some 20 years on and also as an avid Alarm fan to see Mike Peters take the rein….little did I know that some 7 months later that I would meet him in person.
On arrival at the clinic I am taken to my room and its great to be back. I am happy and smiling and I meet up again with my friends (medical team). Brendan pops in late evening to say hello and to make sure that I am ready for tomorrow. Then it’s the bowel prep activities and yes…green jelly.
Monday arrives and at 14:00 I am taken to theatre, however events occur prior to surgery. First my bag decided to burst on its final night in bed……possibly a good bye present….secondly I hear that Brendan is going to the Royal Wedding that Friday, so I decided to stick a note to my bag asking if I could go with him…little did i know that the bag was to be removed prior to entering theatre.
45 minutes later and its all over and I awake in the recovery room. Was it a success I ask and the nurse smiles back at me and reply yes. I have never cried once since the 4th March 2010 when I was diagnosed, but today was an exception. I shed a few tears of joy as for me this was the end.
Back in my room I was in some pain following surgery and I was given morphine orally to reduce the pain. Now a quick look…..gone was my stoma and in situ was a dressing to cover the stiches from surgery. Later that evening I was given food…..scrambled egg on toast and my beloved green jelly…
So now having finished my first meal post surgery, it was now the waiting game…..do you remember how earlier I said that my reversal was the end…..how wrong could one be!!! It takes around 72 hours from consumption for the waste product to exit ones body. So for me Thursday evening would be D day…..however D day arrived a lot sooner and was not quite what I was expecting.
4 hours of looking at the walls of the bathroom was not part of my plan and I am so glad for private rooms with en suite. However the team were glad that my Bowel was starting to function again after a 7 month vacation and they were looking at sending me home on Good Friday…..however as by now you will realise that nothing really goes to plan where I am concerned.
On the Thursday the menu arrives and I now back to normal food as opposed to having to choose from the light menu. I decide on couscous with vegetables….what a mistake ….I was violently ill for over 24 hours and my departure date was put back 48 hours.
Sunday arrived and Sean Melvin arrived just after 14:00 to drive me back to Leeds. Since my bowels starting working again, my ability to get to the bathroom in a timely manner was not great and so to aid things pads are provided. I think that by the time I had left The Hampshire Clinic, I had utilised their stockpile.
So back home and the learning commenced and the only similarity I can provide is to that of a new-born baby. The first 6 weeks had its up’s and down’s with more of the latter. The bathroom became my primary room and at the times the pain was unbearable. I did however manage a week in Rhodes for a friends wedding. The week was great, however a combination of food, climate and water had its toll, but luckily the journey there and back was event free.
The summer of 2011 was mixed and there were lots and lots if accidents and tears of pain and on a number of occasions, I wished that I still had my Stoma. Some 12 months on things have settled and the good days are exceeding the bad ones, however I know that I have al least another 12 months before my bowel settles down to an optimum level.
Help is ample if one knows where to look and “Beating Bowel Cancer” are one in a million. They provided me with the practical support that I needed and filled in lots of gaps that were missing ion my recovery plan. Even of late when I have been unwell, one of their nurses contacted me at the weekend and I am so proud to be part of a family that Mark Flannagan (Chief Executive) and his team deliver on a daily basis.
During July 2011 I had my first CT scan following treatment and the results were positive. Then during September 11, I underwent my first Colonoscopy in Leeds since surgery where I was given the all clear, which means that I do not have to undergo this procedure for another 3 years. This was huge relief that all the treatment undertaken to date had been a success.
