It's been a full month since my surgery, and... I've had some good days and not so good days. So it's only appropriate that I summarize this as the good, the bad, and the ugly.
The good news is that my appendectomy went really well. I've never felt the two incisions on the left side of my belly, and the one below my navel has all healed up, so I can get around fine and have even started my normal exercise routines again, including my daily walk. Also, I'm eating normally again. The amount of food I eat makes no impact, even if the type of food can cause me discomfort.
The bad news is that I've still been having major abdominal pains and digestive problems, so about a third of my life has been hanging around the bathroom and writing around on the floor, trying to get things flowing properly. For the last month, I've been absolutely miserable. Pain comes and goes, but at times it can be excruciating, right up there with severe cramps that just don't let up. I don't meant to gross people out with TMI, but it's been one persistent case of explosive diarrhea and bloody mucus. Since my surgery, I've lost 12 pounds, largely because stuff goes right through me and it's difficult to get the nutrition I need. Within the last few days I've finally been better, but the inconsistency is maddening. One day I feel pretty good other than a few gas attacks, the next day I feel awful, in considerable pain, and spend almost all night on the can. Getting sleep is a major issue. I haven't been this sleep deprived since my college days.
Trust me, this is a lot worse than your typical tummy ache. I'm sure anyone who has chronic IBS can probably better relate. Your whole life comes to a halt.
Having finally consulted with a gastroenterologist and my surgeon last week, we've determined that it's probably the antibiotics from the surgery that wiped out my "good" gut bacteria, and it'll take a while to build that up again. Thankfully, I have no nausea or other sickly symptoms, just digestive upset. So, I've been encouraged to eat fermented foods like yogurt and sauerkraut to get my gut in good working order again. It's taking longer than I thought to reset everything down below, but I've also been told that the healthier you are, the worse the antibiotics clobber you. Shame on me for eating right, exercising, and being in near perfect health before I get an infection in my gut, eh?
Alas, there's some ugly news, too.
The reason for my surgical consultation was to address the abnormality they discovered on my CT scan. Apparently, I have a benign tumor which they believe is a lipoma. This is a fatty, non-cancerous mass that's normally harmless and can form anywhere in the body over a decade or more. The trouble is, this one is right next to my colon, is fairly large, and is apparently compressing my intestines and causing them to telescope, which has a similar effect to an intestinal blockage. My digestive problems are related to the infection and antibiotics, but the pain and difficultly passing gas are likely due to this tumor. I have a colonoscopy in two weeks to investigate the mass. The CT scan doesn't clearly show if it's attached to the colon or not, so if I'm lucky, they'll be able to see and biopsy the mass during the colonoscopy. If not, my surgeon suggested I follow-up with a renal CT scan to find out more before we make any plans. Lipomas don't shrink on their own, so one way or another it will have to come out, and it must be fully removed or it will grow back.
Most likely, I'll need more surgery to remove the tumor, but depending on whether it's attached to my colon or not, they'll either be able to remove the mass by itself, or they may have to remove a chunk of my colon to get it all out. That doesn't sound like fun, and based on what I'm feeling, the later is likely what they'll have to do.
And of course, if I go through surgery again, I'll also have to get more antibiotics and go through endless diarrhea once more. My doctors have assured me having a section of intestines removed isn't that big of a deal, and I trust them, but... yeah. I'm not in the best mood right now. The pain can still get so bad I want to rip my own guts out, and when you can't sleep, there's nothing you can do to pass the time.
It's another two weeks until my colonoscopy, so I won't know anything until then. I'm off to bed.
Stay healthy, everyone.
