Disappointment

 Soooooooooooooooooo, you know how I have been waiting for this surgery to close my loop ileostomy?  First, I had to do a water-soluable (Hy-Pek) enema x-ray yesterday to make sure everything was clear at the surgery site where my rectum and colon were resected (anastomosis).  Well, I am one of the lucky 1% of patients who's anastomosis healed too well and caused a closure there.  They tried 3 different times to make the contrast fluid stay up my butt for the x-ray, but to no avail.  No clear pathway for fecal matter?  No surgery!  Not yet at least.  

My bowel surgeon pulled a few strings and got her GI specialist friend to come in on his day off to perform a dilation procedure on my anastomosis.  That means that my clear liquid diet was not in vain.  After that, I had to get a CT scan with contrast.  Unfortunately, I am a bad stick when it comes to putting in an IV.  It is even worse to find a good vessel when I am dehydrated (no drinking after midnight).  It probably took 15-20 minutes to get it.  After that, the scan was a breeze.

My bowel surgeon will let me know if I need another dilation procedure or not.  If not, it should be another 3 months of healing before the loop ileostomy closure surgery.

I am better than I was yesterday emotionally.  There was much disappointment and tears.  My husband has been great and shaking his head with me.  We had our expectations high that Fredrick was going back home and being reconnected with his family.  We had the expectation that I might be able to enjoy sitting in a hot tub around Christmas.  We had the expectation that we could get all of our procedures done within the year since our deductible was already met.  Things could be a lot worse.  I was not one of 1% who's anastomosis did not heal properly and would leak everywhere.  I did not need emergency surgery.  We knew that the over healing and extra scar tissue was a possibility to delay the surgery.  I joked with my husband that my super power was super healing.  But in this case, it was a curse.  The journey is not over yet.

We appreciate all of our friends and family following my journey and offering up their thoughts and prayers.  Wishing you all a good Christmas and New Year!