I got my date for surgery

So I have a date for the next, sorry I mean LAST surgery! 30th April I will be heading in for what I hope and pray will be the last operation I have.

Ive been referred onto a doctor who specialises in complex abdominal cases and he is going to repair the two hernias and move my stoma again. I have been warned that it is a major operation, that my case is complicated and will be difficult and that he won’t really know his plan until he opens me up.

The parastomal hernia is huge, the opening is very big and measures about 15cm on my stomach and they know I have a lot of adhesions, that everything is stuck together.

They said it will be around 6-7 hours of surgery, 10-14 days in hospital and 2-3 months off work recovering.

Ive been told it’s risky, that I have a 75% chance of complications and that is terrifying me. I have stopped smoking though, I’ve moved onto a vape and this reduces my risks by 10% so that’s one positive.

Ill be going straight onto the POSU (Post Operative Surgical Unit) with the chance that I may need some time in HDU (High Dependency Unit).

How am I feeling? Well it feels very real now, though I knew it was coming, having a date has set it in motion and I’m feeling panicky and anxious. I’m scared of the complications, I’m scared of the long hospital stay, I’m scared I won’t come home.

I know I can’t dwell on thinking negatively but man, I just feel so frightened that this will be the one that it too much. This will be surgery number 8 in the past 5 1/2 years and I can’t shake the feeling that it’s one too many.

I’m in so much pain every day, it feels like everything is going to fall out of my stomach every time I stand up. I am struggling to function, I’m always in bed. Doing one thing means a week of being unable to stand. I’m always medicated and drugged up and I know I can’t live like this and that I need this surgery.

And so I have to try and think positively, I’m reading a lot about the mind body connection and how meditation and visualisation can decrease pain, stress and anxiety and can improve mental health, shorten recovery time and help you heal quicker.

I feel like I’m on a narrow ridge, on one side is positivity, strength and happiness and on the other is a swirling mass of anxiety, fear, sadness and panic and honestly, I feel like I could lose my balance either way right now. I’m trying to slide into the positivity but there’s this weight pulling me towards to shit storm of crapness.

Planning

All I can do is fight. I’m doing everything I can to be as strong as I can mentally going into this. I’m meditating daily, I’m spending time outdoors, I’m planning my recovery.

But there’s still a part of me that is planning to fail. The chest freezer I bought and filled with food so Timm won’t need to worry too much about big shops when I’m in hospital is also a safety net of me thinking they’ll have food if I don’t make it. The days out and nice things I’m pushing myself to do are because I won’t be able to do much for a couple of months will also be nice memories for the what if.

Fuck, that’s dark isn’t it!!

The thing is that keeping those dark thoughts to myself gives them power, it allows them to take over my head and drown out anything good and so I say them out loud and yes, they’re depressing and horrible and messed up. But then I see them written down and can separate myself from them, I can see them for what they are; my anxious brain coming up with a list of what ifs and plans for the worst.

And once they’re out there, maybe I can let them go and go into this surgery as positive as I can be.

Wish me luck, I’m going to need it.

✌?& ❤️

Sam xx