The nurses visit daily to change the bandages on my stomach. The wound has slowly been shrinking (both in depth and width). I've learnt a lot of unpleasant wound related words: 'dehiscence' and 'slough' are two rather gross ones. I've had fun calculating the cost of my treatment:
- $1000 per inpatient day
- $1000 per trip to theatre
- $80 per nurse home visit
- $100 per day for vac pump rental
- $15 per day for wound dressings, creams, medications and other equipment
- $160 per home infusion of antibiotics
I am very slowly regaining my strength. I can't walk very far - about 200m one way at the moment, but I'm getting stronger each day. I can walk far enough to get to second hand books and magazines, so figure my basic needs are being met! I am BORED. Until the start of this week I've not felt like doing much except read or watch TV (TV box sets were invented for the ill/ rehabilitating person). I planned out the summer garden and ordered some seeds to fill in one afternoon.
I see the surgeon this coming week for what I assume is the last time. I think we have covered off most topics related to recovery. I'm still stunned that he brought up the topic of having plastic surgery on my stomach later on - but now that the wounds are getting close to being closed I can see his point - my stomach is lumpy and bumpy. I'm still not keen to jump into more stomach surgery anytime soon. I'm hoping to get his blessing to drive again. Hopefully in a few more weeks I'll be up to doing the school run again.
I am annoyed by my diet and bowels on a daily basis - until I look back and realise that I've made a lot of progress in this area too. With medication I don't need to go to the toilet too frequently. Gas no longer churns painfully through my bowel. Food still travels very quickly through my system and it is this that I have a long wait to resolve. I've started trying other food (basically because I need fresh vegetables). Having not eaten onion or garlic for a long time it tastes ridiculously strong to me. Hopefully in the next month or so I can start eating the skin of vegetables again. I experimentally tried a small amount of fizzy drink with most of the bubbles stirred out. Mistake. Since flat soft drinks taste disgusting I think it will be a very long time before a Diet Coke crosses these lips!
This entire experience still feels unreal - the fact that I had cancer is strange. I jokingly used the term 'cancer survivor' the other day but don't really feel entitled to it - I barely had cancer long enough to get my head around saying 'I have cancer.' I am absolutely floored by the day to day courage of people who have cancer and experience months or years of treatment. A lot of people with bowel cancer face surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy. I can't imagine getting to the end of recovering from this surgery knowing that a gruelling course of chemo was ahead.
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