Signed the papers today

HI all,

So it is official. I have an ileostomy on Aug. 4th. I liked the new surgeon and he listened to my concerns and fears. Hey they won't cut my abs and will try lap before making bigger cuts. Wow. He sat down to talk and said, "Well at least no one can call you an *** *** (excuse the language) any more. I laughed and he put me at ease.


So I walked out of the very old, beautiful victorian house (made into an office) with a huge weight off my shoulders. Sure has a classy place. He is very experienced and knew the answer to every thing I brought up. But the end was the same as what my Gi says. It has to happen, the sooner the better.

Now late and all the feelings that come up are coming up once more. Got told to go back on the Effexor I weened myself off a couple of months ago. Said this is no time to try and cope by myself. I never had depression in my life until a got to the very severe stages of this disease and had the cancer cells show up. Guess I took a chance being on trail drugs. They told me that could be a side effect.

I will not second guess this decision but I still hope the month flies by so I can have it over. I read the ideas you have shared on what to bring to the hospital and made a list for when I pack.

I was planning to go to our family cabin to recover but it turns out it will have three families Brother-in-laws and their each 5 kids ( what number does that put us too? 23 including grandparents) and I just can't cope with that. So don't know if I'll go to my dad's (he was a doctor)or my best friend"s (she was a nurse surgery for 25 years) or where?!?! I THINK I have those choices. We'll see if they really mean it huh?

Can't stay home because it's too much work and quite a few people here too. Will not get worked up about these things. Did I mention I started CBT and think it is cool. I want to be positive and change bad behaviors. I want to have some control back in my life and make good decisions and not feel helpless. That is the plan anyway.

I'm nervous but optimistic about the new world ahead. Will probably be asking more questions than ever now, hope that's OK.

Thanks to everyone who makes this forum a great place to be.

I'm so glad you like this surgeon and are going to go ahead and have the surgery. It sounds like you keep getting sicker and sicker, so now is the time to get your life back! :)

My dad was a doctor, too, and I was really close with him (he passed away in '06), so I would have stayed with him after surgery, if I needed someplace quiet to go. Staying with your friend who's a nurse is a good option, too.

Please ask any questions you may have! We're all here to help.

P.S. - I saw on your other post that you were wondering how to attach a signature to the bottom of your posts. Click on Control Panel (top left in the blue bar), then click on Edit Profile, and go down to Signature at the bottom of the page. Type in what you want and click Submit.

I just got back from stage 2 of 3 surgeries for jpouch so I know how you feel about apprehension. Just went through major surgery in March for colectomy and here I am again with major surgery. Never easy decision to make but it is the best one- a life saving one in your case. It is good that you are planning ahead about where to recover. You need to put yourself first even if others get offended. Seems everyone wants to come over to help and I appreciate it but sometimes it is more work for me and my husband.

Take care and try to relax- you need to find something to fill your time until Aug. 4th....