...some interesting things one can learn, when maintaining a colostomy bag! For example, I have learnt that if you dont drink sufficient water, the contents of your small intestine look like brown sludge (YUCK!). I have also learnt that the digestive system seems to go into 'sleep' mode, just barely ticking over, after 10pm, and wakes up again at around 7am or a bit earlier. So, imagine eating at 9pm, and then your digestive system goes to sleep around 10pm, all that undigested food is sitting in your stomach, stewing, till the next morning. DOUBLE YUCK!
Of course, the fact that the system hibernates at 10pm makes that the BEST time to change the colostomy bag! Because if you try and change the bag anytime between 7am and 10pm, you remove the bag that is there, and start cleaning the stoma, and it is a NEVER-ENDING clean!! Because the digestive system is constantly pushing stuff along, and it comes constantly spurting out, necessitating constant wiping down with damp paper towels every couple of seconds to get the stoma clean, and then it is a rush to get the colostomy bag back in place in between one spurt and the next!! The end result - a stoma which has been traumatised by constant wiping down with damp kitchen towels every couple of seconds for several minutes! Whereas, if you change the bag at 10pm, when the system is quiet, the stoma is cleaned quickly, the new bag is in place fast. PHEW!!
I hope that was fascinating to you all too!
Other than that, went and got a "ripple" mattress for Husband to sleep on. Think of a PVC sheet the size of a single mattress, which has rows of air cells attached to it. The rows of air cells alternately inflate and deflate, which results in constantly changing pressure along the whole body, so there are no pressure points for further bed sores to develop, and it gives a chance for the existing bed sore to heal because there is less pressure on that part of the body. Luckily it is portable, so it is going to come back to KL with us too!
Husband is slowly recovering strength. Eating pretty much normal food, though we are avoiding oily stuff, hot stuff, foods with too much fibre, etc. He is supposed to eat lots of protein, but avoid the red meat for now.
This Friday afternoon we drive to Melaka (3 hour journey), spend the night with my brother and sis-in-law, then continue to KL on Saturday (2 hour journey).
So, that's it for now. Keep us in your prayers - Husband especially!!
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Updates on Husband's health
Some of you may (or may not) know that Husband has been having stomach problems for several months now. Well, by Saturday 31st January 2009, stomach was completely bunged up. It was like a very very bad case of constipation. So, I kept bugging him to go to a doctor..... finally, on Tuesday 3rd Feb, when I was out for a company dinner, he walked to the doc round the corner. The doc poked his tum a bit then prescribed 2 different constipation pills and told him he would be fine in 48 hours and sent him home. We had planned to drive to KL on Friday early morning, but I got home early on Thursday from work so we decided to head to KL straight away. On Friday morning I was working from home in KL, but in the afternoon I dragged him to my doctor in KL cos his stomach was still completely blocked. So the doc also poked and prodded his tummy, and then told us straight out: "There is nothing I can do for you, stop taking those constipation pills, and I will send you straight to the gastroenterologist."
We told her we were returning to SG on Monday, so she said she would make an appointment for us on Sat morning. While we were sitting and waiting in her waiting room for the reference letter, she called us back in and said she didnt want to wait for Sat, she was sending us NOW. So we went straight to the hospital (a private one called Pantai Medical Centre in KL), and saw the gastro. He poked and prodded, then got his nurses to arrange for a CT scan the first thing on Sat - and despite being full up, they were able to squeeze us in if we got there first thing in the morning. So, we got there 8.15am on Sat. At 8.30am they made Husband drink 2 glasses of orange juice with dye in it. Then at 10am they took him into the scan room, pumped a lot of dye up him, and also injected another round of dye via the vein in his hand. They then did the scan (only took about 10 minutes) and they were done. At 12.20 we went back to pick up the scan results, and went straight to the gastro. He went through the scans, and told us that:
1) There was a growth in the colon which was 100% obstructing the colon - which explained why Husband was feeling completely blocked!
2) He had to have an operation IMMEDIATELY - otherwise there was a risk of the colon bursting.
So, he called the colorectal surgeon, who told him to get Husband admitted immediately... and he would come and see us in the afternoon. We did all the relevant things to get Husband checked into a private room, then at 4pm the surgeon came by. He walked us through the CT Scans, showed us exactly where the blockage was, explained exactly what he was going to do, explained that Husband would likely have to have a temporary colostomy bag while the colon healed, etc, etc, etc. When we asked WHEN he could do the surgery he said that he could do it the very next day (Sunday)... so, that was that.
Sunday, Husband went into surgery at 11am for prepping. Surgery itself started around 12.30 - the first one hour was for them to remove his appendix, then push water through his colon to flush out all the built up matter. After that the surgery proper was done, and that took just over 3 hours. At around 4.45pm the surgeon came out to see me, and he explained the whole thing. Showed me what was cut out from Husband. He said Husband was stable all the way through the op. The blockage in the colon was very close to the ureter so he had to take a lot of care NOT to touch that! He had to ensure he got all the neighbouring nodes and the relevant blood vessels serving the part of the colon he was excising. In addition, the growth in the colon had also gone through the colon wall and attached to the abdominal wall, so he had to make sure he excised it with care. The rejoining of the two ends of the colon had to be done with care as well, as one side was expanded due to the build up of matter while the other side was really narrow - so he had to do a double purse string on the swollen end, and attach it to the other side with staples. As Husband heals the colon will shrink back down to its normal size and the join should be seamless.
So, what next? Once the main surgery has healed, estimated time is another 2 to 4 weeks from now, they will remove the colostomy bag and push the small intestine back into place.
So, right now we are still in KL, with Husband slowly recovering from the surgery. Unfortunately to add to his discomfort he has a bed sore on his bum - which happened because they had a plastic sheet under him for 2 days in ICU, and he is allergic to plastic!!! Though the sore is improving daily, it makes it very difficult for him to get any sleep, as he has to sleep on his back due to the surgery and the colostomy bag. The surgery wound is 10 INCHES long, running down his stomach and through his navel, like a zipper - the picture being even more vivid when you realise that the wound is not joined by sutures but by a whole series of titanium staples!!
This Sat we are seeing the surgeon in the morning, then, if Husband is up to it, we are driving to Melaka in the afternoon on Sat, spending the night with my brother (A) and sis-in-law (P) in Melaka, and then continuing our journey to SG on Sunday - mostly because I dont think Husband could handle a 4 - 5 hour car journey at one shot!
I will keep this updated, when I can... but, in the meantime, your prayers and your best wishes will be very valued by both of us.
We told her we were returning to SG on Monday, so she said she would make an appointment for us on Sat morning. While we were sitting and waiting in her waiting room for the reference letter, she called us back in and said she didnt want to wait for Sat, she was sending us NOW. So we went straight to the hospital (a private one called Pantai Medical Centre in KL), and saw the gastro. He poked and prodded, then got his nurses to arrange for a CT scan the first thing on Sat - and despite being full up, they were able to squeeze us in if we got there first thing in the morning. So, we got there 8.15am on Sat. At 8.30am they made Husband drink 2 glasses of orange juice with dye in it. Then at 10am they took him into the scan room, pumped a lot of dye up him, and also injected another round of dye via the vein in his hand. They then did the scan (only took about 10 minutes) and they were done. At 12.20 we went back to pick up the scan results, and went straight to the gastro. He went through the scans, and told us that:
1) There was a growth in the colon which was 100% obstructing the colon - which explained why Husband was feeling completely blocked!
2) He had to have an operation IMMEDIATELY - otherwise there was a risk of the colon bursting.
So, he called the colorectal surgeon, who told him to get Husband admitted immediately... and he would come and see us in the afternoon. We did all the relevant things to get Husband checked into a private room, then at 4pm the surgeon came by. He walked us through the CT Scans, showed us exactly where the blockage was, explained exactly what he was going to do, explained that Husband would likely have to have a temporary colostomy bag while the colon healed, etc, etc, etc. When we asked WHEN he could do the surgery he said that he could do it the very next day (Sunday)... so, that was that.
Sunday, Husband went into surgery at 11am for prepping. Surgery itself started around 12.30 - the first one hour was for them to remove his appendix, then push water through his colon to flush out all the built up matter. After that the surgery proper was done, and that took just over 3 hours. At around 4.45pm the surgeon came out to see me, and he explained the whole thing. Showed me what was cut out from Husband. He said Husband was stable all the way through the op. The blockage in the colon was very close to the ureter so he had to take a lot of care NOT to touch that! He had to ensure he got all the neighbouring nodes and the relevant blood vessels serving the part of the colon he was excising. In addition, the growth in the colon had also gone through the colon wall and attached to the abdominal wall, so he had to make sure he excised it with care. The rejoining of the two ends of the colon had to be done with care as well, as one side was expanded due to the build up of matter while the other side was really narrow - so he had to do a double purse string on the swollen end, and attach it to the other side with staples. As Husband heals the colon will shrink back down to its normal size and the join should be seamless.
So, what next? Once the main surgery has healed, estimated time is another 2 to 4 weeks from now, they will remove the colostomy bag and push the small intestine back into place.
So, right now we are still in KL, with Husband slowly recovering from the surgery. Unfortunately to add to his discomfort he has a bed sore on his bum - which happened because they had a plastic sheet under him for 2 days in ICU, and he is allergic to plastic!!! Though the sore is improving daily, it makes it very difficult for him to get any sleep, as he has to sleep on his back due to the surgery and the colostomy bag. The surgery wound is 10 INCHES long, running down his stomach and through his navel, like a zipper - the picture being even more vivid when you realise that the wound is not joined by sutures but by a whole series of titanium staples!!
This Sat we are seeing the surgeon in the morning, then, if Husband is up to it, we are driving to Melaka in the afternoon on Sat, spending the night with my brother (A) and sis-in-law (P) in Melaka, and then continuing our journey to SG on Sunday - mostly because I dont think Husband could handle a 4 - 5 hour car journey at one shot!
I will keep this updated, when I can... but, in the meantime, your prayers and your best wishes will be very valued by both of us.
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