Surgery Appointment.

So, I've just got back from seeing Mr B. He's so lovely! Honestly trust him with my life.. which is a good job considering my life has been is in his hands HA.
Was a quivering mess when we got out. Legs like jelly and head spinning.
Held it together though through the meeting!
Heres what was said! Hope it makes sense, I'm still pretty numb about it all.

1. What will the wound be like?
The wound I'm going to have is an open one. As the stoma is a hole in my abdominal wall you cant close a circle into a straight line, he said this would mean the wound would be 4 times the length of stoma and create too much scar tissue and damage. So they're going to do a draw string type thing around the hole after they have sorted the intestine out. Then leave it open and wick it, wicking is different to packing as they won't ram god knows how much stuff into me. Just enough to catch all the yucky stuff! It's also a lot safer, if the wound got infected it would be easier to go back in and do whatever they needed too!

2. How will it be done?
It will be done simply through the hole where the stoma is sited. Very rarely they need to open up over previous scars to do it properly but as I'm 1 year post surgery everything should be less stuck together.

3. How long is the surgery?
The surgery takes about 45minutes to an hour. And it will be a minimum of a 5 day/night stay in the hospital if all goes well.

4. Pain relief?
Due to the fact that my stomach muscle wall has been apart for a year, it will feel like I've been kicked by a horse, plus the wound pain etc. So I'm going to have my beloved PCA back for morphine. With lots of antihistamines for the morphine itch!

5. What about tubes and lines?
There will be no catheter into the bladder. I forgot to ask about the neck line, but hopefully not cause this was horrible! They're not sure about an NG tube (this goes through the nose and down to the stomach) at this time, hopefully not though.

6. Will I need a special diet?
As currently I'm on a really strict diet. Hearing that after I've healed I can eat whatever I like is brilliant! Bring on the steak and jacket potatoes and salads!

7. How long before bowels wake up?
We say wake up as whenever the bowels are handled they paralyse themselves. Stop working completely. This is the biggest issue for me, I'm so scared! He said the first time will probably happen and I won't have a chance to get to the bathroom or do anything about it. This is 100% completely normal and in the vast majority of cases, expected. Fingers crossed that doesn't happen to me.

8. How long will it take to settle down?
We don't know. Simple answer. We don't know because everyone is different and they also removed more of my bowel than expected. Hopefully it won't take any longer than 6 months.

9. Back up plan?
My back up plan is a permanent ileostomy. If all else fails! This however will NOT cure me. Crohns is incurable. Within a year after surgery there will be visible signs of crohns at the rejoin again. And they didn't manage to remove all of mine in the first place so more surgery is likely in the future.

10. Will I have sickness?
Yes, from day 2-4 post surgery it's expected. It should settle down though and there are medications to help sickness. I hate being sick! I was always sick when my crohns was bad! The amount of times I've puked in public.. ha.

So, that's basically it, my list of questions I took and the answers.

Surgery date is September 6th 2011.