My Endometriosis Journey Thus Far

My time off is coming to a close. I double checked with my doctor and she said I am good to go back to work on Monday. My work is cautious and will likely wean me into my duties. Even if I will need to leave early due to exhaustion, I have been assured it will be no problem. My ostomy supply bag will need to be in my car in case of emergencies. My JP port was taken out this morning. Now I know that a good amount of lingering pain I still had was due to the port pulling on my skin. Quality of life improvement!  Also, my menstrual cycle started today. No medication has been needed to treat any pain.  I took some yesterday though due to either the elongated walk through the grocery store or premenstrual cramps.  The only other time I took meds before yesterday was a week ago.  My daughter unintentionally pressed her body weight into my abdomen to get my attention and I cried out in pain. Since then, a barrier pillow is nearby at all times to protect me if need be... Sid...

 Monday evening was my first night back home.  I still wake up stiff, my legs and arms are still sore from being strapped in for my Davinci laser surgery, but I am still sleeping infinitely better and more comfortable here.  I am still working on finding the right balance in my diet.  Note: you cannot justify having even a half-cup of coffee, it does not end well.  But the tea my mother brought have been a delicious substitute with less caffeine to kick my butt.  My stoma has been happy burping out of turn (to my daughter's amusement) and being productive in general. My daughter has been rightly curious about my rebuilt body.  I introduced her to the JP port first.  Then the next day, she got to see and ask questions about the stoma, poke it through the pouch, and has taken it all relatively well.  I do assure her though that the stoma is temporary and is helping me poop and toot.  She is just like, "Oh, ok!" I have been trying to wait o...

Captain's log: October 4th 2020, 1800 hours approximately American Central Time. This is day 5 of my journey at Mercy Hospital. They have still been monitoring my JP port since it is still showing creamy chyle. Fortunately, it has been more serous (reddish yellow fluid) in nature as the bowel surgeon prefers. I have all my discharge stickers on my door. The one thing that is holding me back is the fact that I need an RN to visit me at my home in Louisville, Kentucky. I am not sure if it is the port that upgrades my medical professional to RN status, but it is what it is.  Discharge WILL BE tomorrow.  Other than still having the port attached to me, I will have the stoma bag as well. The ostomy nurse came by today and I successfully changed out my stoma bag on my own (for the most part). There will be a learning curve and hopefully I will not be too skilled at that art before having the surgery in 2 months to reattach my colon.  Guys, stomas are weird and fascinating at th...

The moment we have all been waiting for, the aftermath. So I woke up from anesthesia with 6" of my rectum removed (about 2/3rds of my rectum) and a temporary stoma bag (temporary colon bag). That means I will be functioning with 1/3 of my rectum which is definitely better than no rectum at all.  As it turned out, I had about 2 golf ball sized endometrial masses that were mashing up my rectum; the bowel surgeon was susprised that I was able to have bowel movements at all.  As she was removing the diseased tissue of my rectum, she said the NaPro doctor was exclaiming, "Kathryn is going to be so happy to be able to go the bathroom now!"  He is so funny.  I have one fallopian tube and one ovary now. I will not require a secondary surgery to remove the Gore-Tex, since he opted to suspend the ovary and fallopian tube.   A secondary surgery will be required in about 2 months to reconnect my colon to my rectum. That will require about 4 weeks to adjust and recogniz...