GiftedGrandma

This is my final post on my series When Ill Health Strikes. In July of 2008, I spent almost a month in the hospital. I would have died had it not been for exploratory surgery. I have left a lot out of what actually occurred while in there, but it would be more of a book than a series of articles.

I was so big from all the fluid in my body it was almost impossible to get out of bed. My heart raced and my body gravitated towards the floor. Blood clots formed in my arms and legs. I am a small woman and with the added fluids it put me over 200 pounds. It isn’t like putting weight on gradually.

After being in the hospital for a week with many test and blood test, they did a procedure that showed shadow (floating air). That is when it was decided to operate. When the surgeon opened me, I had a big hole in my large colon. The surgeon removed fourteen inches of my colon that resulted in having a colostomy bag. My wound was left open in fear of infection and dressed to heal from the inside out. It is not known whether the treatment caused the hole or my disease diverticulitis.

They send me home to heal and recuperate. Gradually, I healed and regained strength. My dear neighbor took care of me throughout the whole ordeal. She keeps telling me next time she will call the ambulance and not take me as I would have been treated right away.

We started walking again. Baby steps at first. Eventually, I was back to my one to two miles.

The surgeon told me that I could have a reversal done when I was healed. Since, we have such a high deductible on our health insurance my husband and I decided that it was a good idea to do the reversal before the end of the year for the insurance should cover most of the cost.

We scheduled for the operation. The procedure went well. But, again my body did the flip flop with blood and kidney. Doctors don’t know why. I told them I wanted to go home to recover. They were doing nothing but taking blood and watching stats. They can do that in an office environment.

I went home where my husband and neighbor nursed me back to health again. Twice, they did a better job then the trained professionals. I thank God everyday for their love and patience. I am still in the process of healing, but feel better everyday.

I am still not able to walk far and sometime not at all. We figure I probably had the second surgery too soon. I am off some of the medicines. But, have to take high doses of blood pressure medicines. My blood pressure was in the 200’s in the hospital. I am finally getting down into the 120-130/80 range. This is a good change.