I have had my post op check since posting last (I just realised it has been a while). The pathology was good ... no recurrence of PMP in there! WOO HOOOOOO
My surgeon said he "realised why I was in trouble when he got in there" ... the entire small bowel was twisted and looped on itself and 'glued' together. He had to pull out and scrape every centimetre to free it up ... a huge surgery and it has been a long recovery time... longer than I expected. As I said in my prior post - the small bowel burst in 3 places during surgery & was able to be repaired without losing anymore ... great news because I lost my colon & part of my small bowel in my "cut'n'dice" for PMP in 2001. .... (if you want you can check the story at the bottom of the blog for more info on that)
The surgery has been successful in the fact that I am now able to manage to eat solid foods (chosen carefully) without the intense pain that followed because the food could not travel through the digestive tract.
I am still having problems with partial obstructions & pain after eating some foods or some activities and have recently started to feel the familiar 'twisting' of the bowel on sneezing, coughing or twisting while bending ... it is not anywhere near as bad as it was before surgery & I hope & pray that it doesn't ever get that way again.
There is a certain amount of pain etc that is a part of 'the new normal' after these types of surgeries & as long as I can eat a reasonable diet I am happy. I will always have to choose wisely because of my ileostomy (Harriett) ... and at the moment I only eat one "solid" meal a day ... choosing something light or liquid for the other two & I am very happy with that! (especially since I was basically living on liquids or slush for the better part of a year prior to this last surgery)
As I have shared on this blog, I have other health problems and at the moment am in a very major flare-up with my auto-immune arthritis so am in intense pain in every joint & muscle - literally. I am hoping this flare-up runs it's course sooner rather than later and goes into remission where the pain is more tolerable with the use of my pain relief patch (because it has been 'over the top' for weeks now where even getting out of bed is an effort) .
BUT the absolute best form of pain relief for me? My darling 7 month old granddaughter ... a beautiful smile and hug from her and I melt and forget about any pain for the time I am holding her &/or interacting with her. ... wish we could bottle that feeling!! LOL
To all those struggling with their own health ,
JKG!! (Just Keep Going ... derived from a quote by Winston Churchill; "When going through Hell, just keep going!")
Aussie hugs, Kay :)