Finally, an update!

Hey badasses, I am sorry for being absent for so long. It has been a bit of a rough ride and I just haven’t had the emotional energy to blog for a while. I think it is really important to put your own well being first, and often as a blogger, you feel the pressure to be constantly updating and blogging about your health. But it is vital to put yourself first and that means sometimes I won’t be about here to write.

Where to begin?

After my surgery in February 2020 where I had a full abdominal reconstruction to try and deal with the multiple hernias, I spent the last 12 months in recovery. Being very careful, following all the instructions and healing whilst going through a pandemic! I was hoping that this would be my final surgery and that all would be good from here on in.

Unfortunately, I have been in a lot of pain and after CT scans and hospital visits, I found out last month that my hernias are back. One behind my stoma that stretches up to my ribs and down to my groin and one in my right side. I am devastated.

The surgeon said I am now at the limits of medical technology and further surgery right now would be far too dangerous to my life to even consider. He spoke about how now we have to focus on quality of life and how to manage the hernias. I was in absolute bits, I can’t believe my bad luck with hernias! He was very lovely but also is straight with me, he told me how complex my situation now is and that he wanted to take my scans to international symposiums and reach out around the world to other surgeons to see if they have any thoughts. I always knew I was special!!

The news hit me hard

I cried for weeks just feeling like I was being given a long, slow, painful death sentence. I know how dramatic that sounds but when your surgeon is telling you that you are at the limits of technology, it feels pretty dramatic! I feel like shit. The life I thought I would lead feels like it has gone in a puff of smoke and that I will always live in this daily, gruelling pain. My mental health has taken a nose dive and all the hope I had has been yanked away from me. I just feel completely devastated. It’s not fucking fair!

I didn’t want to blog about this at the time, I was in such a dark place that it didn’t seem fair or right to put that out into the world and I just wasn’t ready to share. Man, I wasn’t even ready to speak the words out loud.

But now here we are. And I am ready.

What happened next

So a couple of things that have happened since, I started on Amitriptyline. “Amitriptyline is a type of drug called a tricyclic antidepressant. These drugs were originally developed to treat anxiety and depression, but when taken at a low dose they can reduce or stop pain. It works by increasing the amount of serotonin your brain makes. Serotonin is a chemical, called a neurotransmitter, that the brain sends out to nerves in the body. It’s thought to improve your mood, emotional state, sleep and the way your body responds to pain. By raising your serotonin levels, amitriptyline should change your body’s reaction to pain. The low dose won’t treat depression, but it should reduce your pain, relax your muscles and improve your sleep.” This information comes from Versus Arthritis.

I have also this morning been to the Orthotics department at my hospital. “Orthotics is a medical specialty that focuses on the design and application of orthoses. An orthosis is an externally applied device used to modify the structural and functional characteristics of the neuromuscular and skeletal system” Via wikipedia They have fitted me with a specially designed hernia support for people with ostomies. I have also been referred to Physiotherapy.