There is no place like home

Not in Kansas anymore.....

 

HOME... finally home!
So since my last update I have managed to get myself discharged home... I arrived home last Wednesday! Yay for home.
Apologies for this being a somewhat long post (and being a bit disjointed... a lot has happened since I went to hospital)... but it does include photos....

It really feels like a long couple of weeks, from getting admitted on the 4th through to finally getting out on good behaviour on the 12th the length of hospital stay varied from going very fast (I think I can thank a large quantity of IV morphine for a few days of incoherency.... quote the pain management nurse... "your a bit of a cheap date"... thanks I think), through to dragging and being very unimpressive, such as the day that we discovered that, me and tramadol are not good friends (I was rather gutted on this day.... after going through Chemo and Radio therapy without being physically sick.... Tarmadol did it... gutted... literally), and  I have to admit I was pretty lucky to hold my single room right up until my last night, when I needed to move into a 4 bedded room due to an emergency coming in..... this taught me a lot..... my new room consisted of  3 other women, 2 of which were Ok roomies, one however gave me a whole new appreciation to how much crap (and  a lot of wee on the floor!) some nurses have to put up with (hey she made me look like a model patient)... not a lot of sleep that night, but I was very appreciative to the lovely nurse who gave me the gift of ear plugs....

So on the 5th of November "Judith" was born - Judith is the name of my stoma.

 

I read somewhere that its good to name your stoma so that you can openly discuss any problems you might be having in public openly, i.e: "I'll be hack in a minute, Judith's not doing too well...." (beats saying your shit bags exploded or leaking).  Just shortly before Judith was born, my mass was removed... by all accounts this procedure went well, but I wont know the results and the follow up plan (if any) until I meet with my Surgeon once the pathology reports come back, but I am now the owner of one scar running down the side of my belly button (its about 8 inches long) and currently healing well.
The whole operation took just under 5 hours (give or take a few minutes), which means that I have a bit of a road to recovery ahead of me.
This journey started in hospital with me waking up to being hooked up to all sorts of tubes and machines (measuring input and out put, plus feeding me and giving me drugs... yep I turned into a human pin cushion in a very quick period of time... to be added to over the days I was in hospital with lines drying up and veins blocking, so new lines needing to be put in and viable veins found).

After the first couple of days I was finally allowed up... meet my new friend/ wheels ... the moving mandarin..... quick someone get an Occupational Therapist... I was given a zimmer frame (well it has 2 wheels so I will class it as a BLO - Bike Like Object)... thank you to my friends who turned up to bling it up (after they stopped laughing.... the fluffy dice and bell were pretty cool).



the moving mandarin.... I'm sure I'll get the QOM on strava for the laps of the ward with this baby! 

Being in hospital gives you a whole new appreciation for so many things.... your own bed and shower, how quiet your own house is (my room was right across from the Nurses station), how independent you are before going into hospital, and how good "real food is"... don't get me started on "the mystery meat!" .

No, this is not a road kill hamster... its actually pot roast!

Throughout my stay, I have to admit I was blown away by the amount of visitors and well wishes I received... I have to say I have the coolest friends and family... you guys rock. From the friend that called in every day after work, my co-workers who txt and visited, the friends that came in and made me laugh so hard I thought I was about to physically split my stitches, the Facebook messages and phone txt, and emails, the people who brought me flowers and cards and my Minion mascot, right down to my Mum who sat every day keeping me company (must have sucked for her to have to see me sick and not being able to do much about it), my beautiful Miss 7.5 (whom developed quite a interest in all the medical stuff, watching drips and machines), and my other half whom snuck in each night before the end of visiting hours to hang out... every night became date night in the hospital! 

The support I have received from everyone (and this included the nurses and medical staff... its funny when you are wandering around the ward on your daily "walk" and one of the nurses calls you Radioactive girl) has been amazing.... its helped me so much with dealing with this part of my journey.

I'm going to finish up here, I'm still reflecting on what's has gone on over the past couple of week, and will write about it in time....

keep smiling,
until next time.
RAG x x x