Well it's been a topsy turvy few weeks. I have finally had my surgery and can now get down to recovering and planning my next adventures.
I had so much planned for this year. I was going to re-do my trip that I didn't get to finish last year. I so wanted to get the chance to see the Flinders Ranges and Conarvon Gorge by bike. Not to forget pedalling along the Murray.
But it just goes to show how things can change in the blink of an eye. This time last year I was bike touring southward enjoying myself and looking forward to the adventure to come. When I fell unwell in Sydney and returned home who would have thought that Cancer was the outcome.
It was a long six months. I did the bowel screening test in early July 2019, but unfortunately when it returned positive there was a failure at my GP's end to contact me about it. Come November 2019 when passing blood became very bad I chased it up.
Since that day I haven't had a chance to catch my breath. A specialist met with me on December 8 2019 and bamo!!! Here it is, just six months later and I am recovering from Rectal and Pelvic Cancer surgery.
The surgery I had was a Robotic Abdominoperineal Resection. Essential my rectum, sphincter and anus has been removed. The Colon, or lower bowel, has been redirected and now protrudes from my abdominal wall just to the left of my naval. This is a stoma, and his name is Mini Me. Apparently it is customary to name your stoma when you end up with one. Basically now my arse is on my belly, this is what is jokingly known as a "front bum".
With the stoma, which is permanent in my case, is the use of a colostomy, or ostomy bag. I now shit in a bag folks, how delightful. It is something that I am still coming to terms with.
As part of the redirection my anus is no longer there between my butt cheeks. Yep, it's gone, I have literally kissed my arse goodbye. To close the wound over, my butt cheeks have been pretty much sewn together. This is known as a Ken or Barbie butt, depending on your sex. To be honest, it's quite painful, especially to sit, and it feels like one gigantic, never ending wedgie. Mine is healing exceptionally well in comparison to other stories I have read, so I count my blessings on that.
All in all my entire healing process is going extremely well. I shouldn't complain, although some days I find my self doing only this. It is still difficult to see the bike yet with so much cloud, or uncertainty still around. I know things will improve.
On the other hand, the operation was a complete success, but not after it's own dramas. It appears that I had a severe allergic reaction to one of the anaesthetic drugs used. Not long after I was knocked out I went into encephalitic shock. For two hours the anaesthetist, surgeon and team tried to stabalise me. The longer it took, the more chance that my surgery wouldn't be done that day. I was almost flat lining when I began to stabalise. If this hadn't of happened when it did, their next step was to begin resuscitation. To cut a long story short, what was to be a four to five hour procedure ended up being a ten hour one.
The marvellous team finished around midnight and I was kept sedated in ICU until the next morning. I was a woken by some balding man trying to pull a tube out of my throat. I was completely oblivious to what had happened, and it wasn't until I came to and my surgeon came to see me that I was aware of it. I suppose if something bad is going to happen, it's best to be knocked out.
Well I survived, and not only that like I stated, my surgery was a complete success. I can now proudly say that I am one hundred percent cancer free, a fifteen percent chance of this happening. I beat the odds. The Pelvic cancer was a big concern as it is difficult to operate on in that area, hence the robot. When my bloods and biopsy came back that had noticed that they had removed more lymph nodes that were possibly effected by cancer.
So I live to tell the story of how I beat cancer. Of course I had a of help along the way. The Chemoradition Therapy prior to the operation helped in a big way. It helped shrink the cancer and prevented it from spreading. I had a marvellous specialist who is at the top in his field, and the staff of the hospital, and Stoma Nurses who have helped prepare me for life in the real world.
Radiation Therapy will not be needed, but it is unsure if I will need further Chemotherapy. I hope not, it's not something that I want to tackle again.
So I sit here now blogging as I grimace. It's time to get off my arse, or what's left of it...lol
Cheers guys, and I hope to blog more regularly.
