Victory Part 2: An Even Bigger Battle (Warning: Kinda Gross)

[csquared]

It looks like you are well on you way to a speedy recovery. Keep up the good work.

I know what you mean about nurses. Earlier this year, my mother's Alzheimer's took a turn for the worse and she ended up in the hospital. I went down to South Texas to help. At one point they had to replace her IV. Having to deal with a patient who is uncooperative, in pain and delusional, yet the nurses remained calm, caring and professional. I, on the other hand, had to leave the room.

So to all of our nurses, EMTs, paramedics and other medical professionals, and Thank You!

[Miss Maple Leaf]

Thank you csquared.

Okay, the plastic surgeon was in today (yay! ) and he had a look to see what was going on.

Right now he's not sure how he's gonna proceed yet. He's going to come back on Monday when they change the VAC so that he can have a look at the hole there and determine his best course of action.

So I still have to wait to find out what the verdict is. But since I wasn't expecting him until Monday anyway it's not a big deal.

He's a nice guy. Very friendly. I'm glad he's the one I was referred to.

[Eevie]

I totally get what you guys mean. Hats off to our nurses and medical personnel, you guys are awesome!

On another note, Maple, I'm really glad this turned out to be a blessing in disguise for you. If you're serious about going into the medical field, you're really going to be doing a lot of good for people. And I can definitely wager that all of us at CS will be supporting you all the way! Funny how we come about these choices...

Good luck with the results, fingers crossed!

[Der Cute]

Wow, ow. Wow. I didn't know that this got so intense so quickly. Glad to see you're on the mend, and you ARE bouncing back quickly!
Make sure to take notes of the nurses who take care of you, names and shifts! The docs too, but IMO the nurses do the grunt work. Then bring back cookies, fudge, home made goodies. Something to show how thankful you are. Shoot, paint pictures or doodle, something.
And yay, keep walking, keep going. Isn't it neat what kind of tools/devices are available now? (even if they do hurt).

[Miss Maple Leaf]

So, I've been a little quiet lately in this thread because I haven't had any major updates to report, but I've got a couple of minor ones so I'll post them.

Dr. B (the surgeon) was in this morning to see me, and told me that the lab results from the piece of bowel he removed were back. They confirmed what we pretty much already knew: it is indeed crohn's.
That's good news for me, because that means that once I'm healed up he can reverse everything and put me back together. This won't have to be permanent.

(He told me that there were two other bowel conditions that caused similar problems, and while one also meant a temporary ostomy bag, the other one would have meant a permanent one.)

Also, I have an incision running down my abdomen that they used staples on to close over. He told me that I can get them taken out this coming Monday, meaning that it's healed up nicely. Good news.

Finally, Dr. A (the plastic surgeon) was in on Monday to see the hole where the VAC is, but he's still not exactly sure how he's gonna proceed with it. He thinks he can close it over partially and leave a smaller hole. He hasn't gotten back to Dr. B yet, but Dr. B said that he would give Dr. A a call to find out what's up.

(Dr. A had written something in my report but Dr. B couldn't read it. You know a doctor's handwriting is bad when his fellow doctors can't even make it out! )

Eevie: Yeah, everyone here has been incredible. I love them all. And thank you for the support! I know what you mean. I find that it often takes a near-death experience for people to take stock of their lives and decide that they want to improve themselves.
It's like being given a second chance. And I for one don't plan to waste mine. I've got all these plans for when I get back on my feet (become a paramedic as I mentioned, join the gym to get in shape, and study gaelic language and culture at the gaelic college in St. Ann's).

I'm gonna be busy!

Der Cute: I'm gonna make them a cheesecake. I have a nice big pan at home so everyone will get a piece.

And I know what you mean about the tools. I love watching the nurses as they do what they have to do with all the stuff going on with my body.

[Sapphire Silk]

While I could never do what a nurse does (seriously, you guys all deserve medals), I've been reading up on what a paramedic does and when I'm healthy again and have saved up some money for the school I'm going to become a paramedic myself.

Good for you! I wish you the very best. It's not any easier than nursing school, but I think you'll find it rewarding.

I'm glad to hear you are doing better. You've been through a rough time; take it slow and let yourself heal up right.

[Eevie]

I get what you mean, Maple. I, myself, live smack dab in the middle of Tornado Alley. (No, the recent tornados haven't been in our area, but it's close enough to where we're getting it's aftermath weather). It's bad enough to where most locals can pretty much smell and feel a tornado coming. You can always tell who isn't from around here if they don't have their nose in the air and are standing perfectly still, judging the weather. Usually they'll have a few nervous, inquisitive glances at the sky as well.

That aside, we've been hit by some bad tornados before. One I remember had destroyed half the neighborhood. My house had minor damage, but to walk around some areas and see people's lives absolutely ruined has always had a lingering effect on me. Even worse, this is such a small community that we haven't any major hospitals equipped to handle this kind of thing until recently.

I, myself, decided to go into interior design exclusive to hospitals. Not only would I be creating a semi-normal environment (which I can speak personally that kind of thing does wonders for the moral), but I'd be working with equipment that keeps the area itself safe for all sort of people. Sometimes it just takes exposure to things like that to know what you want to do with your life.