I'm alive!

So it's been a long time since I last posted, and the bygone months have been the most dramatic, jam-packed ones of my life, without a shadow of a doubt. I spent the majority of it in hospital and have since been diagnosed with gastroparesis and intestinal failure.

On 11th December, I was admitted again to the same hospital and the same ward by my gastroenterologist, and stayed there until the end of February when I finally came home as a HPN patient. I still can't believe that "this is me" and that this is nearly the end of the road in terms of what can be done for my quality of life. Looking back and thinking about the things I've lost over the last few months is really difficult and I am sad in more ways than one for the sacrifices I've had to make.

I was tried and tested with nasogastric and nasojejunal tubes, then had a jejunostomy/J-tube placed, which proceeded to be unsuccessful on the nutrition front. I dropped to 38kg, at which point TPN became a life-saving means of treatment and we had no choice but to have a Hickman line placed for this to be initiated. Since then, I have gained about 6kg and although my symptoms are plentiful and extreme at times, I am back at home and enjoying my privacy, peace and quiet.

Gastroparesis and intestinal failure have really torn my life up over the past few months and have forced me to defer my place at university until September. I learned how much I really do love food and how it is the centre of nearly all social gatherings and occasions. I have learnt much more in terms of life and giving back, but I won't go into that for now.

I'll slowly fill my blog in with what's happened over the next few weeks when I'm feeling up to it. At the moment, everything is a struggle, mentally and physically, and even getting up and dressed takes more effort for me than it should. But anyway, just checking in - I am still alive and just about kicking!

30 days later...

Hello!

As I write this, I'm in a hospital bed hoping that today is the day I can finally go home once and for all. As you probably know, I had my operation on Wednesday, 6th February - and I was subsequently discharged one week after the initial surgery.

I did, however, need to return to the hospital due to bleeding problems and various other problems with the graft and donor sites. I sneakily returned to university (since we were doing dissection!) on Thursday, 14th February. I was still going to hospital for a number of reasons, including having my stitches removed under anaesthetic.

On Tuesday, 19th February, I had an ad-hoc emergency appointment with my surgeon as I had realised that the graft wasn't doing well. We took swabs of the area, and on the 22nd, the results were back. I had a "mixed infection" with a few different organisms that needed treating with intravenous antibiotics. I now realise that the reason for the infection was the fact that the person removing the stitches walked in, without washing their hands nor donning gloves, and started removing them.

So, I was readmitted to the same hospital, to the room opposite the one I previously stayed in. I have spent countless days here, around three weeks. I'm missing lots of lectures and practicals, and just can't wait to get home and back to everything I used to do. For me, it's been particularly tough, because I really am balancing two full on commitments and obligations.

I had a central venous catheter placed into my internal jugular for the IV therapy. This was done by the anaesthetist who did my anaesthetic a couple of years ago, and acknowledging my medical student status, he explained and showed me what he was doing from a clinical perspective.

Four times a day, for about two hours at a time, I received various antibiotics through the line. I finally finished all the antibiotics yesterday and have been put on oral drugs, though my stomach has taken, and is still taking assault from all the medications and it's a difficult task to keep them down.

I still have the infection, but hopefully the oral combination will work out... I'm not holding out a great deal of hope since my stomach has been so distressed, but right now I just need to go back to studying!

I'll post again when I'm home - or when I'm still here and have things to say, though I hope that won't be the case!