Colostomy Surgery at St. Anthony’s

Go big or go home, that is what they say. I often apply this principle in my life with varying degrees of success. But, for my first hospital experience as a patient, you might say I went a little bit overboard. Chalk it up to luck, or something else, whatever the reason, I had never been in a hospital as a patient. I’ve never broken a bone or had some other serious problem–until now.

Monday April 15: Pain

Pain, massive pain. Those were the only thoughts in my head as I tried to find a comfortable position on my bed and call my friend Wren for advice. Shall I call an ambulance? Or, perhaps the pain would pass in a few hours and I’d look pretty silly with a $800 ride to the local ER. Wren braved the blizzard to come sit with me and be a voice or reason. Sometimes its good to have a close friend give solid advice and Wren is among the best for working through options and finding appropriate solutions. Finally I decided to send Wren home and get some rest. After all, aren’t all decisions better made after a good nights rest? The only problem with that is I didn’t get a good nights rest.

Tuesday April 16: Surgery

Ana is an ex-girlfriend and currently one of my closest friends. Like so many of my friends, she tells it like it is. Ana loaded me up with basic groceries to make it through a few days and sat down to help me decide on making a trip to the hospital or not. If I had health insurance it would be a no-brainer, but through a strange twist of fate, my insurance had lapsed just a couple months earlier while I was in Hong Kong and the task of finding new insurance had been hovering near the top of my t0 do list. I had looked at many plans but was having a hard time finding one which would give me full coverage both inside and outside the States given I was planning to ravel nine months out of the year. So far I hadn’t found anything close to what I was seeking.

Anyway, after a couple hours of nurturing under the hands of Ana, I decided I needed to go to a hospital. Ana and I opted to look for the biggest providers who offered sliding scale payments and St. Anthony’s Hospital was at the top of the list. Ironically, I was born in the same hospital 47 years earlier (technically they have a new building now). Ana helped me gather some things for a couple days in the hospital (laptop, phone, toiletries, etc).

At the ER door a nurse met me with a wheelchair and took me inside and directly to a small room where they did the usual blood pressure and heart rate tests. Apparently the numbers were not good and they immediately started me on an IV and scheduled me for a CT scan. About 20 minutes later they had me in a room like that of the movie Avatar stuffing me into a giant donut. In and out I slid just like a finger in a donut. 20 minutes later they had the results of the CT scan. I was told I had a rupture somewhere in my colon and I had become septic. Immediate exploratory surgery was called for with a strong likelihood of a colostomy. I signed the papers and they rolled me off to another room where they prepped me for surgery. A couple hours later I was under the knife.

Wednesday April 17: Waking Up

I was completely unconscious for the surgery and awoke just after midnight in a private room of the ICU. A big tube was down my nose and a foot long cut on my front side. I was told the surgery was a success. They patched the hole, removed the fecal matter which had leaked out of the rupture and into my abdomen. They had also performed a temporary bypass for my bowels to a plastic sack that was now attached to my side. I was in a lot of pain and constantly feeling nauseous but the fear of abdominal muscles needed to puke scared the living daylights out of me. Coughing even in the slightest degree put my pain meter off the charts. I spent most of Wednesday texting friends, chatting with hospital visitors and sending out the essential emails to clients to let them know I might be slowing down on various work projects underway.

Thursday April 18: Walking

The goal for the day was to survive and maybe walk a few steps. Just getting out of bed was a major ordeal pushing my pain limits as it felt like everything was going to be torn apart if I were to twist or bend over too much. Somehow I was able to get out of bed and walk just a few feet across the hall and back to my room. I had a few more visitors and began thinking a little about how life might be a bit different now. Cocoa was trying to reach me from China asking if she could come to Denver and help me recover. My sister in Washington was making the same offer. Friends were all asking if I ‘needed anything.’ It was quite overwhelming.

Friday April 19: Move Out of ICU

They moved me from ICU over to the trauma center. Every day I became stronger, walking a bit further. Basically I was denied all food for days and days after my surgery being told that vomiting at this point would cause severe problems in my recovery process.My diet for days had been via a plastic tube going in my arm. I could also use a sponge on a stick to rub water on my lips and around the inside of my mouth which was often parched due to meds. So, it was a major upgrade on Friday to be told I could have ice chips. I was to let them melt in my mouth before swallowing. OMG they tasted so good. After talking to both my sister and Cocoa (who was in norther China), I agreed I could use the help for a few weeks in Denver as I was to be moved from the hospital to my house. Cocoa booked her flight and my sister planned her road trip to drive down from Washington state.

Saturday April 20: Hard Candy

Another upgrade to my diet happened. I was allowed hard candy like suckers and jolly ranchers. Friends came bearing gifts of high calorie, unhealthy candy. It tasted so amazing and I was finding myself wanting to watch the Willie Wonka movie. I continued to get stronger walking further and even climbing some stairs. A music therapist came past with a guitar to sing a few songs for me. She asked “What kind of music do you like?” I told her Goth Industrial. Apparently by her response she had never had anyone answer her question like that. We ended up just asking her to play some Sarah McLachlan.

Sunday April 21: The Day I Died

I think maybe this was my most horrific day in the hospital. First I will admit that I was doped up on meds, but I’m fairly certain the essential details are correct given what others have confirmed after. I’m told that mid-morning the hospital raised the strength of my pain killer meds (Dilauid). As a result, by mid-day I kept setting off alarms on multiple machines as I quit breathing no less than four times. One time my oxogen level was averaging around 40% which is low and dipping on occasion down to 15%. It was a very scary day for me until a wonderful nurse took the time to sit down with me and work through understanding when to push the pain button and what the pain meds were doing. She was also instrumental in getting me on strong anti-nausia meds which seem to have made more of an impact than anything. I do remember panicking not wanting the nurses to leave the room or leave me un-attended for the fear I’d stop breathing and die. I’m thankful that several friends came by to visit that evening to check on me and the severity of the situation.

Monday April 22: Clear Liquids

I feel like I was pushed back a day or tow in the recovery process. By the end of this day I felt about the same as the Saturday two days earlier. The diet was updated again, this time to liquids. I ordered chicken broth, apple juice and cranberry juice. Mostly spent the day resting and getting more liquids.

Tuesday April 23: Sleep and Walking

I spent most the day sleeping taking nap after nap, the when awake, walking around the sixth floor. Doctors and nurses come to see me almost every hour doing tests and asking questions.

Wednesday April 24: Cocoa Arrives

This was a huge day in my recovery. While in the middle an inspection of my plastic bag colon with a doctor, Cocoa arrived with our friend Fern. I literally sobbed on seeing her. I didn’t realize how much I felt alone in the hospital without her. I wanted to clear the room of people just to feel her in my arms telling me it would all be ok. It was a very emotional reunion!

I got another upgraded diet, this time to full liquids which include oatmeal, chicken noodle soup, ice cream and hot chocolate. My stomach is extremely small, but it feels so good to have oatmeal. I’m up walking more and trying to eat as much as possible.

Thursday April 25: Without a Walker

I consider it major progress to start walking down the hall without the metal walker sliding along the floors. My strength and balance are improving, but it still feels like I’m bloated and carrying a lead football in my belly. I’ve not had any bowel movements and the doctors are waiting for that as a major sign of the last phase of my hospital stay. My diet was upgraded to “soft surgical” which means I can have regular foods, but stuff like mashed potatoes, meatloaf, pudding, ice cream, etc. I’m in heaven and order a massive meal and have it delivered to my room. I stuff myself until I can’t eat any more!

Friday April 26: Waiting for Poop

My doctor says I’m healing extremely well and as soon as i have a bowel movement into the new plastic colon, I can go home. I’m told the discharge papers are basically done and its just a waiting game at this point. My diet restrictions are lifted. I can eat anything I want but told to listen to my body and stomach. I order a turkey dinner with all the fixings. It feels like a mini-Thanksgiving meal! Yum!

Saturday April 27: Poop?

No poop yet. My doctor is becoming concerned I might need to have some drains put in to remove puss from some pockets. I’m told I’ll be getting a scan done on Sunday and possible tube drains put in right on the spot. I’m told I can now have regular food from the menu but to be very careful and slow eating. I ordered turkey with mash potatoes. OMG it tasted so good!

Sunday April 28: Drain Install Surgery

They made me drink wicked orange drinks, go without food for half a day, and then want to stuff me in the big donut. After a while they rolled me downstairs in a wheelchair and loaded me up onto the plank of the CT scanner. It reminded me a bit of Avatar, but somehow I didn’t think I’d end up controlling an 11 foot tall blue monkey. After a couple scans they gave me some local anesthetics and shoved giant needles into me which allowed them to install rubber tubing to drain infected areas. I got three total. One was by my right hip bone, another on the other hip bone and the last one, ironically was placed in the middle of my left butt cheek. That one was the worse cause I basically had to sit on it for the next four days (and nights).

Monday April 29: Feeling Worse

For a few days I was up and moving and fairly mobile. My strength had been returning slowly. But having those darn drain tubes installed really took the wind out of my sails. I felt totally wiped and spent most of the day in bed or sitting with only two brief, short walks outside in the hall.

Tuesday April 30: Improving Quickly

I’m feeling way better; my energy is up and I made a total of four long walks in the halls. I’m sitting up more and sleeping less. I’m eating like a pig with full meals and loving the meatloaf dinner with ice cream!

Wednesday May 1: Feeling Good!

Not much is coming out of the drains and the doctor says they can be removed and after that they are sending me home! Removal is quite painful and really sucks, but having the tube not in my left butt cheek almost makes is worth it. My sister Beth arrived at the hospital in the morning and is driving me home. I’m thankful to have both her and Cocoa to look after me!