My Latest Update

I wanted to write this update a few days ago but have a sinus infection and it has laid me low. It seems likes it's finally getting beaten back by the antibiotics that my doctor prescribed me. The worst part has been the cough I've gotten again. This too shall pass...

As I shared with you before, I have lost complete confidence in my surgeon and am afraid that she will not do the right thing by reconstructing my colon but will take the easy way out and just leave me with an ostomy. If she does anything permanent, I'm out of options. So with that concern in mind, I made an appointment with my gastro doctor and hoped that he would help me. I was a bit nervous about going to him about this since he referred me to this surgeon in the first place. Would he take it personal? So, just in case, when I went to my primary care doctor about my sinus infection, I asked her if she would help me. I got a resounding yes! That made me feel much better to know that I had her as a back up in case.

I went to see my gastro doctor the next day and he couldn't have been nicer! Phew! He agreed with me that what she has done is not acceptable and he could understand why I had the fears of going forward with her. I explained everything from her leaving the bar across the stoma to her sending me home with no nursing. On and on I shared all the things that have been scary and unacceptable. He was so compassionate and agreed that I need another surgeon. I asked him about our local surgeon that has done two other surgeries for me, but he said he didn't want to do that. This local surgeon is a general surgeon and he feels I need a specialist surgeon who only deals with the gastro stuff. I know he's right but it would have been so nice to have had the surgery here instead of 2 hours away in the big city. It's hard on my family to travel and, of course, no friends visit, but it should only be for a few days, so I'll survive. 😉

Anyway, he told me the best surgeon is a doctor with the Mayo Clinic but he didn't think they took my insurance but told me to check it out if I want. I did and, at first, I was quite excited because the website said that they did indeed take my insurance. However, I have learned never to go just by that and I called them and they don't take it anymore. She said, "We need to update the website". I was like, yeah. 😑 I was a bit down about that but then looked up the surgeon he is going to refer me to and he has such a good reputation and so many patients have given him 5 stars, I felt so much better. He's considered one of the very best in my state, so that's very reassuring! I have hope again and that's huge because I was literally in tears last week with my nurse telling her how really scared I am of this surgeon I have now. My one nurse has been really upset with my surgeon for a couple months and has been questioning a lot of things she has done to me. She was really glad to hear that I'm going to be going to be getting referred to someone new.

I want to thank all those that reached out to me and prayed for me regarding all this. That was, and is, such a comfort to me. If you would continue to pray that this surgeon is excellent and that it will all work out. I'm praying that I get put back together and can put this whole ostomy episode behind me!

It's been five months since the initial surgery and this ileostomy was only only supposed to be a 3 month ordeal. Who knows how long my current surgeon would have waited until she had done the reconstruction or if she even would have done a good job? I shudder thinking about it....

I'm sorry for such a long post, but wanted to share with you about what's happening as so many have asked what I found out. I am so grateful for your friendship and concern!

I'll see you tomorrow for the Counting Our Blessings Linkup ~ Julie