Hello There Strangers!
Wow, it has been ever so long since I last updated and boy, do I have a TON to fill in!
Soon after my last post, the surgeons agreed to remove my infected J tube that had been causing issues since August 2020. The stoma still hasn’t closed off all the way which usually happens between 2-48hrs after tube removal. Trust my body to always “spice things up” I suppose. I talked with the surgeons right before they removed the tube and they weren’t nearly as obstinate as the hospital doctor had portrayed them to be. AND who knows what that doctor told them seeing as how she definitely didn’t care anything about my good. Anyway....off that soapbox! I had a little more hope for not as hard of a fight to get another J tube. We started the process of getting someone to do another J tube around 8 weeks or so after the tube was removed...I contacted my GI for a referral to get the ball rolling. Well, the referral was for the surgeon that has never wanted me to have a J tube and has always tried to find ways around it that never worked (just doesn’t want me to have to deal with a J but sometimes ya gotta do what ya gotta do!). I went ahead and made the appointment with VERY low expectations. I ended up getting a cold right at time for that appointment so it had to be postponed another 3 weeks. I was so irritated because I knew this was a useless appointment and I was only wasting time when I could be seeing someone who at least possibly might do the surgery for me. The Lord intervened in an amazing way! I went to the “anti-J tube” surgeon fully expecting it to be an absolute waste of time and he asks me to tell him what’s been going on and why I’m there to which I start telling him the whole mess. Then he starts talking and my expression had to be between “I’m going to fly through this ceiling with excitement!” and “are you really saying that?!” because he was talking like he might actually do it! He told me that he had contacted the doctor that helped him do my very first G tube and that doctor told him of a new way they can do a J tube that makes it permanent and better all around. He said it would be permanent so he needed my commitment that I wouldn’t let doctors just pull it and then if it got infected he would work through it with my doctors and wound care to get things better instead of just finally removing the tube. See, all we got from the surgeons on my last J tube was “don’t pull it” - we had no help in getting it better and preserving it. This surgeon said he would definitely help and work with doctors if something happened instead of leaving me and my doctors stranded and I know from prior experiences with other tubes that this surgeon does help when something is causing issues with a tube that he has placed. When we finished the appointment he told me to hang on while he did research on what the surgeons had done in placing my previous J tubes and what he was going to need to do. After around 2 1/2 weeks of waiting they called to schedule J tube surgery! So I’m officially scheduled for J tube surgery on May 17th. I’ll be admitted to the hospital afterwards for pain control but hopefully it won’t be too hard of a surgery! It depends on what he has to do. If he has to slice my abdomen open to remove scar tissue that is a much more difficult recovery apposed to just a laparoscopic surgery which is tough enough! I don’t have any details about what exactly he’ll be doing and I probably won’t get that information until I see him right before surgery.
My G tube has really gone downhill recently. It has been confirmed several months ago that there was an ulcer at the stoma and I’ve been on medicine to supposedly heal it along with doing a lot of “tricks” the GI has me trying and nothing is helping and the pain has gotten so bad I can’t sleep in my bed so I’ve been camping out in the living room. It came to the point we were making no progress and the pain is really interfering in every aspect of life so I’m scheduled to have a new stoma made endoscopically (like surgery without the extra incisions) on May 3rd so I’ll have a new hole for my G tube and we can let this one heal. If all goes well I’ll have to only spend one night in the hospital afterwards and then can go home.
My daddy had cancer that started in his voice box, penetrated, and attached to his thyroid and esophagus. The tumor was about 2/3 the size of the surgeon’s fist. He had surgery to remove his voice box, half of his thyroid, and part of his esophagus and to have a LaryTube placed (looks a lot like a trach). Praising the Lord they got all the cancer and they were able to repair his esophagus so he’ll still be able to eat. Right now he is on liquids/soft foods but hopefully he’ll get to expand his diet more as he heals! He sees his doctor on Friday to find out if he has the all clear or if something else will have to be done so please pray about that!
I finally got the opportunity to order my very own pair of figure skates! I got to go pick them up from the pro shop on Thursday and skate directly afterwards. Wow, what a difference! They glide so much smoother and faster than the rental boot skates. I about ended up on my tailbone a few times because of it! :) I’m hoping I’ll feel well enough to go one more time before my surgeries since it’ll probably be a little before I feel up to going again.
Sooo....a quick sum of appointments for you...
•Pre procedure covid test tomorrow (4/27) for my G tube “surgery”
•Daddy’s oncology appointment on Friday (4/29)
•Endoscopic G tube placement next Monday (5/3)
•Another covid test sometime before my J tube surgery
•J tube surgery on 5/17
Thank you for praying!!!
Taking Life One Ice Skating Venture at a Time...
Allison <3
