Medical Status of Boardmembers

[Tony Baloney]

Class BH. Although your level of detail isn't ideal for breakfast time (you did warn us  ) it's a great insight into your journey out the other side of this. Fingers crossed you are in good nick for Christmas!

[Jeepers Creepers]

Good man BH!!

[Ball Hopper]

Hi all,

Good news in that after 4 nights in hospital for my ileostomy reversal, I got home last Saturday evening (6 Nov).  Things went well overall, but this week has been rough enough with the expected incontinence issues.  There is a small improvement yesterday and today, which is enough to allow me to get some beneficial sleep.

The value of good sleep is about the most important thing I've learned over the last 2 years.  Things will improve week by week, hopefully, and I'll be in reasonable shape for 1 Dec and in good shape for 1 Jan.

Thanks for all the support...another couple of months and this will all be done and I'll settle into the "new normal" for my body.

[ziggy90]

Hi all,

Good news in that after 4 nights in hospital for my ileostomy reversal, I got home last Saturday evening (6 Nov).  Things went well overall, but this week has been rough enough with the expected incontinence issues.  There is a small improvement yesterday and today, which is enough to allow me to get some beneficial sleep.

The value of good sleep is about the most important thing I've learned over the last 2 years.  Things will improve week by week, hopefully, and I'll be in reasonable shape for 1 Dec and in good shape for 1 Jan.

Thanks for all the support...another couple of months and this will all be done and I'll settle into the "new normal" for my body.

KRO BH.

[Milltown Row2]

Great news BH....

[seafoid]

Keep her lit, BH.

[Ball Hopper]

Hi all,

It has been a month since my ileostomy reversal, and I must admit that healing progress is very slow.  On the plus side, the ileostomy wound site is healing nicely and is down from 4 cm deep to about 1.5 cm.  Extra protein in the diet will help continue healing and it might well be 100% buttoned up by Christmas.

On the other hand, the incontinence issues are at a level that was expected after one to two weeks, rather than four weeks.  Average daily bathroom trips are in the 12-15 range, with 4-5 of those at night.  I seem to get best sleep from 6-9am or so, plus a short hour-long afternoon nap keeps me from being totally fatigued, but it is not ideal.  I need to get down to single digits per day very soon and get a good night's sleep as well - the long-term effects of not sleeping properly will lead to other health issues that might not be directly related, but may be prevented.  Of course, the effect of me getting up almost hourly some nights does impact my partner as well, and I'm not sure how best to address that if this continues to medium and long term (but I imagine the spare room will be suggested). 

The medical people say that if I don't work extra hard to get things under control in a matter of weeks or a low number of months, the body will turn my current condition into a chronic, long-term, permanent status.

Diet is very strict and they are playing around with medications and preferred times to take those "medicaments" in the hope of hitting the magic combination really soon.

Any variation in diet, even by as little as one meal or one bottle of wine, could push progress back by several days or weeks and hinder the probability of final success, so there are no "blow-out" days or meals or even drinks allowed.

So I'm on a super strict diet with regard to what I eat, when I eat, and what quantities at different times of the day.  Things are rather bland, to put it mildly.  Exercise is required, but can't do too much either as straining the body is not a good idea.  So it is not fun, even though general health is quite good and of course, the cancer-free umbrella over all I do is very comforting.

Weight is holding up well so far and I'm determined to get on top of these matters quickly, even if everything will be super-boring for the next while.  I'm told I will "observe" the Christmas holidays in the truest sense of the word in that I will not participate in any of the gluttony of food, beer, cider or wine.  I will admit that, while this will be my third sober Christmas and New Year in a row, the people around me are not too bad when I'm the only sober one.  I was willing to bet that they are no fun at all and would be really annoying even.

So a decent birthday celebration in March is what's on my horizon and I'm ok with that.  I'll update again around Christmas and hopefully I'll be making progress by then.

Thanks again for all the support and good wishes - it does help.  Everyone can have an extra dessert or drink for me so I won't feel too left out over the Christmas period.

[Taylor]

Good man BH.

March is a date for the diary then.

Keep the updates coming.

Inspirational

[Jeepers Creepers]

Good stuff BH! Keep the updates coming. March it is! (i'll have a few sneaky ones in btw on your behalf!)

[grounded]

Best of luck. You are an inspiration to the rest of us. Best wishes for Christmas and New Year.

[Armagh Girl]

Aw BH....you are a real Trouper and fair play to you.!! You are a complete inspiration and hopefully you will continue to make great progress. 

[Dougal Maguire]

Great stuff BH. Hopefully the months between now and March will fly in. Easter will be the new Christmas for you. Good luck on your journey to full health

[Dire Ear]

We'll all have a drink with you on St Patricks Day,  keep er lit Mr H

[Farrandeelin]

Fair play Hopper, hopefully your issues will sort themselves out for you soon. Best of luck and hopefully you'll be in good form come next Spring.

[whitey]

Fantastic news BH. You are an inspiration to all on here