My Journey With Crohn's Disease - Part 3
It’s now been 3 weeks since my operation, and touch wood, things seem to be going absolutely fine with my recovery. My energy is improving all the time (although I am still tiring quite quickly), I’m managing to eat plenty, and my pain is very slowly getting less and less.
This week I’ve been making a conscious effort to record everything I’m eating and how often I’m having to empty my bag, mainly so I can make sure I’m eating enough and also so I can check back if I have any issues with the amount or consistency of the contents of my bag. I’m also keeping a record of how many steps I’m doing each day so that I have an idea of how much exercise I’m doing. I need to be doing enough to help my recovery without overdoing it. As I mentioned in my previous blog, I listen to my body every day. If I’m feeling tired I make sure I rest.
My sleep pattern has also taken a nose dive over the last week or so. Initially I was waking quite a lot due to pain and needing to empty my bag, but more recently, I am waking around 03:00-04:00 wide awake, and not going back to sleep for an hour or so. This has resulted in a few days of feeling extra tired so I’m hoping this will begin to normalise sooner rather than later.
We also had some concern this week due to a small part of my incision site still bleeding and seemingly not healing properly, but after a visit to my stoma nurse yesterday, she was happy that it was healing fine. She has reassured me that the hole will close without any issues. During this visit, I was also fitted for a support belt, which I’ll be able to wear whenever I feel necessary but predominantly when I get back to a decent level of exercise. I will need this support because I am now at risk of developing hernias due to the fact my small intestine is now going through my abdominal wall. I am at a low risk as I’m not over weight and I’m relatively young, but it’s still a risk non the less.
So, for now I’m going to continue with what I’m doing (resting, eating and small amounts of exercise) and hope my recovery continues in this positive direction. My wife and I have booked a table at a local restaurant for next week, which will be my first proper trip out since having my stoma, so fingers crossed that will go well (hopefully my stoma will behave itself and not perform it’s attention seeking, uncontrollable farting noises) :-)
10/7/20
