I know I've only just started telling you all about Crohn's and me, but as I have a lot coming up I feel you guys need to be up to date!
So...
The general process for the mind goes something like this:
- Finding out you need surgery
- The planning of said surgery
- The appointments leading up to surgery
- The amount of people you must speak to in order to find out when you'll be having the surgery
- Learning to hang up before you scream ungodly words at strangers from the Admissions department
- Maintaining the patience of a saint and the organisational skills of the Queen's PA
As I mentioned before, I'm due to have my tenth Crohn's operation in a matter of days - yet it seems to have been an almighty struggle getting to where I am now...
It was way back when in October 2012 and I knew I was having a bad flare up.
Feeling so lethargic; just getting to and from work was proving difficult because I had no energy. Then there was the time I sat on the work toilet floor throwing up any contents I had inside me. Needless to say that wasn't one of my finest moments. And of course the inevitable poos.
I went through the motions of GP, steroids, see how you go. Except this time nothing changed. So I changed the dose and strength of steroid. Still nothing changed.
Now I find myself in the outpatient department of St George's in Tooting (NB: transferred hospitals after my 9th abscess op. All shall be revealed later on in a dedicated post just to talk about lumps in bums) but it seems the best thing to do is have a blood test and an ultrasound to see what's going on inside of me.
In a nutshell, to quote my hospital letter...
"Her recent oral contrast ultrasound scan showed a stricture of around 9cm in the terminal ileum which narrows to 4mm"
That's right kids! What I consume has got to get through 4mm in order to continue its journey to my bum hole. On the plus side (I guess) at least I now know why it's near on impossible for me to do what is considered a normal poo.
So to fix this I get told I will need an operation.
My mindset translation for that moment in time
Totally ok with this (cue emotional breakdown)
I've had ops before (but not one this big)
Everything will be fine (course it will - please sense the sarcasm)
Was supposed to have a strictureplasty through open surgery at the end of November. But only found out last week that my operation is approaching *rejoices* after months of being 'urgent' and on top of a list, yet never seen by the surgeon. Talk about stuck in an admin rut.
And that's where I am now.
It's a funny old thing, knowing you're going to have your biggest operation to date. Hoping it's going to be life-changing for all the right reasons.
X