Soon to be "ex bag lady"

I want you urge you all to take control and be your own advocate. Just because our doctors are “in charge” of our medical cases, doesn’t mean they always know best. Get second opinions the whole duration of surgeries if you’d like, and if your surgeon stops working for you, find someone who will. Switching is scary, but I really think I’m making a great choice. I guess we’ll see. Which bring me to this….

10 DAYS!! This has been 15 months in the making! I have had complications, extra surgeries, stoma problems, blah balh balhla…but in 10 days, I shall be pooping out of my butt like the rest of the world!!

So to all my jpouch people: I’m trying to make a list of the essentials for post op. I know there is some butt cream or something, and depends pads? I have no clue. What are the “must haves” for after your butt is hooked up again?

Thanks to Mark and Megan for this site..it has helped me a lot through this journey…and I’m sure it will also through the next chapter.

-Jackie

bloodpooptears.wordpress.com

Most Commented Posts

• July 24, 2008 -- Our Message Board (827)
• May 11, 2008 -- Photos 1: Colectomy (98)
• May 11, 2008 -- Photos 3: Jpouch (97)
• February 13, 2010 -- Take a walk in my shoes (93)

Happy cows come from Michigan...and are named Jackie

I’ve made a new update on my blog, Blood Poop and Tears, about my second surgery out of three, and how I’m struggling to get healthy enough for it even to happen. Ugh. Being fat is stupid.

Here’s a preview.

“So guess who has set a date for surgery #2? Yea, its me. Shabam! I was so excited I almost crapped my bag.This is far more exciting than setting a wedding date…though faaar more terrifying. You think committing yourself to someone for the rest of your life is terrifying…try letting someone cut you open and mess with your poop chute.

So while this new surgery date is awesomely excitingly rad…its also SUPER depressing. The reality has set in that I’m wicked fat.”

Check out the rest, and I’m going to do another post here shortly with some poop bag reviews. I’ve tried a lot and have some good stuff to share. Thanks!

Most Commented Posts

• July 24, 2008 -- Our Message Board (827)
• May 11, 2008 -- Photos 1: Colectomy (98)
• May 11, 2008 -- Photos 3: Jpouch (97)
• February 13, 2010 -- Take a walk in my shoes (93)

I’m FINALLY home! I had to get readmitted for pain control, you can check out the whole story at my other blog, www.bloodpooptears.wordpress.com. But I wanted to let you all know that I took some pictures, they are kinda graphic as usual. So if you want to check em out…here they are. Surgery # 1.

These posts might also help out:

• April 6, 2009 -- 4 feet less but still the best: My Jpouch Story (12)
• March 27, 2010 -- Colston Thomas Mills (4)
• February 8, 2010 -- A little insight on my insides. (13)
• July 20, 2011 -- 2 Years Post TakeDown (6)

This is not me in this picture. But it was so ridiculous I couldn't pass it up.

I’m so over this colon. Its like a pair of jeans that I’ve had forever that I refuse to get rid of. They were great and useful, but now they have a ton of holes in them. But for some reason, I’m hesitant to throw them out. Granted throwing out my favorite denim is a tad different than removing my colon, but you know, same principal. With all the problems and discomfort that I get from this dang thing, you’d think that I’d be more than jumping at the bit to get rid of it. But I’m not. I’m not at all. I’m more than pumped about the possibility of getting rid of it and feeling healthy and maybe getting part of my life back, but the road to get there just seems so daunting. It feels endless. Not only does it feel endless but the road has a damn colostomy bag involved with it. The road is gross. The road is filled with potential problems and questions and uncertainty.

Can you tell I like metaphors?

I have been pondering this surgery for a few weeks now and in that time I have talked to a few nurses and asked a few people at various stages in their surgeries a barrage of questions. I’m pretty sure my last Q an A session ended with “Did you wake up with a butt tube?”  So I’m not afraid to ask questions, but am I a little afraid of some of the answers? Affirmative.

Every time my stomach grumbles, I think about chopping old the ‘ol colon. Every time I sit on the toilet. Every time I second guess eating something. Every time I worry about the location of a bathroom. Every time I am humiliated in one way or another by this disease….I know I need this surgery.

Much like many people out there who are in my diseased bowel shoes, the surgery sounds like a god send. It sounds like an answer to all of our problems, aside from one thing. The one thing that makes me and I’m sure others second guess the WHOLE thing. The one thing that makes me consider living like this for the rest of my life because I can’t even fathom it. You know what I’m talking about. I swear I could just not even say it and we’d all be on the same damn page. But for those of you who are reading this with your head cocked to the side in confusion….its the colostomy bag. Yea, that thing. That super gross thing that makes us all feel disgusting and subhuman. It terrifies me. Its ugly, its stuck to you, and its def a damper for intimacy. I mean seriously, I know people get around it, but how? How do you even think about sex with that thing attached to you.

Yea I said it.

I think I’d probably swear off sex for the entirety of stage one of my surgeries. I cannot imagine living like that permanently.

Yea, I said that too.

I’m not one for sugar coating. I still don’t know what I’ll do just yet. You know, through all of this, since the very beginning of diagnosis I have told myself it can’t get any worse. And without fail, every single time, it has gotten worse. I have had the most ridiculous UC journey, that if it wasn’t me, I might point and laugh. (Eh maybe not, but I would probably talk about me behind my back). It almost seems fitting that I go out with a bang. That this redonkulous ride called UC would end with the removal of a large organ and the attachment of a colostomy bag. Everyday, slowly but surely, I’m getting over this…but I’m not gonna like it.

P.S.  I’ve found the overwhelming urge to write about this crap probably more than usual. So I’m gonna do Jpouch double time and update every so often here and more frequently over here:  http://BloodPoopTears.wordpress.com/

These posts might also help out:

• July 20, 2011 -- 2 Years Post TakeDown (6)
• March 27, 2010 -- Colston Thomas Mills (4)
• February 25, 2010 -- Commenter with Questions (13)
• December 20, 2009 -- New website for gay people who are affected! (5)

We wanted to welcome Jessica to our community. Below is an email we received from Jessica and like many of us, she has had many struggles with UC and she is starting her first surgery Sept 25th.    See the link to her website below.

Dear Mark,
My name is Jessica, and have had Severe UC for 5 1/2 years. Have been on and tried every med out there, and am facing the 3 step surgery here at the end of Sept. The first one is scheduled for Sept 25th. I am a sea of emotions, and have been soaking up information online. I came across J-Pouch Life, and am loving everything about the wbsite. I have recently started a blog on blogspot as a sort of diary for me and my husband to help us better see the progress from where I was to where I will be. I am very interested in blogging more broadly maybe through ya’ll if my story could help somebody else out there as so many stories on your website have helped me! Maybe you can take a look at my blog, and get back with me on how maybe I could do this. Here is the link. Thank-you so much for your considerstion!

Please visit Jessica at her blog http://jessicaronson.blogspot.com/

Most Commented Posts

• July 24, 2008 -- Our Message Board (827)
• May 11, 2008 -- Photos 1: Colectomy (98)
• May 11, 2008 -- Photos 3: Jpouch (97)
• February 13, 2010 -- Take a walk in my shoes (93)

Left: Hey, the J-Pouch is "J" shaped! Right: The red line is close to where everything is now connected. If I had a leak, the white contrast would be spilling out

Yeah apparently time flies, because it’s time to retire Stomie “Squirt” Stoma, PI from his day job as a wannabe Private Investigator, not to mention from his moonlighting gig as a temp loop ileostomy. His contract with the temp agency just ended. Check out what I learned from hanging out with Squirt, PI:
#1: Marshmallows are both lifesavers and delicious. Fellow J-Pouch site contributor Jamie once told me “Brevin, that’s illegal and I recommend you don’t ever bring that up again.” She also then told me that eating marshmallows before a bag change is a great, tasty way of preventing an active stoma. I don’t know the exact edible science behind this, but it slows down your digestive system and makes the bag change routine a lot less messy and complicated. So far this has worked wonders for me. The moral of the story is that marshmallows are awesome and the Ghostbusters are jerks for killing that big innocent marshmallow dude.
#2: The Perfect Bag Change. Everyone’s bag change process is different, but here is mine for a one-piece. I wake up, start eating three marshmallows (no breakfast), and lay out my supplies on a little table right next to the shower. Supplies include a new ileostomy bag (with the end already sealed up), the Wafer paste/caulk stuff, Stoma Powder, No Sting Skin Barrier, Kanalog spray, paper towel, and a trash bag. Sometimes I also have a sword nearby, in case a dragon shows up. While still chewing the marshmallows, I throw my awesome heat-sock into the microwave for 3 minutes. The heat-sock is literally an old sock that my mum filled with uncooked rice. When you microwave the heat-sock, the rice becomes heated and the sock allows the shape to be flexible. I throw it in for three minutes, because after the bag change it will be the right temperature, but we’ll get back to that. I get into the shower and wet some paper towel to start wiping/pushing at the existing wafer to take the old bag off. I don’t use Adhesive Removal wipes because my skin is a tad too sensitive. Once the bag is off, I throw it in the trash bag and say some one-liners from movies to it, like “See you in Hell, sucka”. I clean the stoma with a wet paper towel, while whispering sweet nothings to it. This appeases Stomie, and I then finish the shower while singing adult contemporary hits from the early 80s. With the shower done, I carefully dry around the stoma area and spray some Kenalog spray on the skin around the stoma (protecting the stoma by placing the paper towel around it like a wall). The Kenalog spray is for my irritated, itchy red skin, so you might not need this. I then put on a layer of Stoma Powder (spreading it out with a dry piece of paper towel, like evenly “painting” the powder on), followed by a layer of No Sting Skin Barrier. Once the skin barrier is dry enough on the skin, I put on another layer of powder and skin barrier. While that settles, I apply a very thin layer of paste to the inside edge of the wafer. I try to even it out with my finger to keep it smooth, but sometimes the paste loves to stick to my finger. In case you’re interested, I use Pre-Cut 1 inch opening bags, although I’m going to keep those little scissors for arts and crafts. With the skin prepped and the bag ready to be put on, I carefully place the new bag on over the stoma and press firmly. I also run my finger along that inner edge closest to the stoma and press down to make sure the paste is making full contact. At this point, I strap on the ol’ support belt to help keep the new bag in place and I get the heat-sock from the microwave. The heat-sock is now at a temp that’s warmer than my hand, but not a boiling hot sock full of lava straight form the sun. Please don’t put something too hot near your stoma, you’ll only cause damage. I plop down in the Lazy-Boy chair, recline all the way down, cover the new bag with the heat-sock and let the wafer and paste bond with the skin. The added heat source is a nice-hands-free perk. This takes about 15 minutes, consisting of me watching TV. So there you go. No fuss, no hassle, simple. And I’m zero leaks so far! This sounds great and all, but what makes it the “perfect” bag change? Because I then win the lottery. Twice.
#3: The Lazy-Boy and the Track Pants. When I escaped the hospital after surgery one, I spent a lot of time in the recliner at home. If you recline all the way it almost mimics a hospital bed, so you’re not completely flat. This feels better, and for some reason I just kept sleeping in it up to now. I’ve also been wearing the same Adidas track pants this entire time whenever I go out. The waist is nice and elastic to accommodate the baggy and people think you just came form the gym, so you automatically look cool. Don’t worry, I wash the pants very frequently. Sheesh.
#4: Poo: Variety is the Spice of Life. I’ve seen everything come out of that bag by now. From liquid that looks like iced tea to what can only be described as thick baby food that exploded in the microwave. Colors ranging from orange to yellow to green. Even smells that could kill a level 40 Tauren (for all you WoW nerds). And I’m glad. Because I know I will be an excellent dad one day, since I won’t be phased by diaper changes. Ever.
#5: Diet! I didn’t experience any blockage. Not once. Either I got lucky, or I can attribute this to my strict diet and chewing food a billion times per bite. I am very anal about what I currently eat (“anal”, ha! see what I did there? I swear every paragraph is about poo and butts over here). I did my best to stick with foods on the “ok to eat” list and avoided everything else. All you need is a vegetable peeler and a lot of chewing time. I ate plenty of yams and potatoes, sticking with fish and chicken for my meat at dinner. Yeah, I ate a butt load of burgers, but I took off the lettuce, onion, pickles and tomatoes. I also avoided the buns with sesame seeds on it. Pasta was pretty common too. I’m very proud of myself for somehow avoiding hot dogs this entire time, although the sweet irony with the diet is salad. I can’t stand salad and never eat it. But now that’s it a forbidden food, I’m craving it like mad. On a side note: I weighed myself today and I’m 171.5lbs!! This is a huge win for me, since this is the closest I’ve gotten to my pre-UC weight in over half a decade. I’m ecstatic. At my sickest (during a huge UC flare-up), I would drop down to 150.

So I’m ready for Takedown I suppose. Apparently there are supplies I should bring with, including: baby wipes, the softest toilet paper I can find with aloe, barrier cream (A&D ointment and other “butt cream”), a wooden stake to fight off a vampire, and chewing gum. I’m going to try the chewing gum tip (unscientifically references here). So until Monday morning 6:05 AM PST, I’ll be doing Kegel exercises. 1013… 1014… 1015… ngh… I’m doing so many… 1016… 1017…

Small Intestine/J-Pouch seen in its true form

These posts might also help out:

• July 20, 2011 -- 2 Years Post TakeDown (6)
• September 2, 2010 -- My Foster Bag Wants to be Adopted (6)
• August 17, 2010 -- IBS? Nah: Irritable Vowels! (0)
• April 5, 2010 -- Home from Surgery #1 (1)

Once in the actual appointment, it went pretty fast. To be honest, the only complications I currently have are not related to the J-Pouch at all. The two biggest issues I have right now are my irritated skin (I have super sensitive skin that loves to flare up when I’m within a thousand yards of anything that remotely resembles a seasonal allergy) and one lapro scar that isn’t fully healed. The doc can’t do anything about my skin of course, but she did look at my lapro scar and isn’t too concerned. The wound just needs to heal up, since it seems that it pulled open a little, unlike the other ones. The skin just needs to close up. I currently cover it with a saline-soaked gauze thing, but the doc recommends I use a vitamin A and D topical on it. Just as she said that, she went “Oh wait here’s something better! Try honey!” Apparently you take honey and mix in sugar until it’s the consistency of a paste. Cover the wound in that, cover with gauze, and let it heal. I then added “Sweet! I can then finish off the left-overs!”, at which point we both laughed and high-fived each other. Ok, we didn’t high-five, but she did look at me weird when I mentioned I could eat the left-overs. I just hope I don’t attract bees and … and bears. Or even worse, bees the size of bears.

She then, how can I put this, used her finger to see how my J-Pouch was feeling… from within. As I lay there on my side, wondering why I didn’t have a rape-whistle handy, she said I’m healing up well and seem to be on track for takedown. Not too shabby, methinks. The first week in July I’ll go in for an x-ray and they’ll verify if everything is where it should be, progress-wise. The take-down will then be scheduled the week afterwards, so the rough plan right now is I’m going back for round two in the second week of July!

So yeah, a pretty successful post-op, except for the part where I forgot to ask about my diet. When can I eat sausage again?!
Until then, my stoma and I will continue to solve mysteries each week. This previous week’s adventure is below:

On a side note, a special shout out to Elise, who is about to escape the hospital.

These posts might also help out:

• November 10, 2009 -- 6 Months Later: Jaypouchirifical (22)
• June 10, 2009 -- The First Surgery: One Month Later (9)
• June 6, 2009 -- Let’s just call it … IBD (8)
• July 20, 2011 -- 2 Years Post TakeDown (6)

The Pre-Op:

The pre-op went well as far as I could tell; it was a lot unexciting waiting mixed with even less-exciting waiting. I had the tests done, vitals checked, and got my stoma marked:

Left: Stoma marking. Right: Me leaving surprises for the surgery team.

The nurse who marked my stoma made the extremely bad judgement call of sending me home with a marker designed for surgeons (see image above), but she also slapped on an ileostomy bag for me to get used to the placement and feel. I’ll be honest, it wasn’t that bad. I’m a small skinny dude and was worried that I had to start wearing XXL t-shirts to cover up the baggy (I’ll look like I’m preparing for pregnancy), but you couldn’t tell when I was wearing my “normal” clothes! I was very happy with the test run… until I tried to take it off. You see, the glue went on my body hair. Glue + Body Hair = Brevin’s Hot Tip of the Day: Softly sobbing tears over the area doesn’t really help as much as you would hope.
The CAT Scan went Ok I think, except for the three bottles of prep liquid I had to down. Dear Medical Science, can’t you make horrible prep liquids taste like grape soda? Is it that hard? The CT Scanning machine itself is pretty cool. It’s a giant robot donut that spins around you, and yes, having one in your living room would be a great conversation starter. Some of you might be irked by my simplification of the technology, but CUT ME SOME SLACK! STRANGERS ARE ABOUT TO SEE MY INSIDES!

The New Painting:
This piece was a coping mechanism to embrace the idea behind having an ileostomy baggy for three months, so I named it “3 Months”. The ileostomy bag in the middle of the painting is life size, but for some reason the painting’s colors look a bit different in the picture. Yes, the plumbing is inevitably leaking : )

"3 Months", 20" by 24", acrylic and ink

A Question For The Community:
I’m reading on the site about people who are having long term complications after takedown. I know it’s not a cakewalk, but how common is severe discomfort for people who had the j-pouch? I’m just curious if everyone is having discomfort, or are we only hearing from the cases that need help. I’m hoping to get my quality of life back, so I hope you understand when I get nervous reading posts like these. Also, you refer to j-pouch BMs and how people have to adjust to them. Can you please clarify? What do I need to adjust to and what makes j-pouch bowel movements different? Thanks in advance!

The Take Steps for Crohn’s & Colitis 3K Walk:
Last but not least, a charity walk specifically for us. Stolen from their pamphlet: “This walk raises much-needed dollars to fund cutting-edge research and to support patients and families in our area. Take Steps will be held on June 7, 2009 at 5pm in San Francisco at Justin Herman Plaza.  There will be free food, drinks, a live band, and kids entertainment! Everyone is welcome to join in the fun and help us raise awareness about Crohn’s and Colitis.”
I’ll be there, limping along (or doing backflips on a unicycle while lit on fire, depending how recovery goes). I’m there to support the community, so if you’re in the area: http://online.ccfa.org/goto/teamucsf

This is the official logo/banner, not a personal art project

Most Commented Posts

• July 24, 2008 -- Our Message Board (827)
• May 11, 2008 -- Photos 1: Colectomy (98)
• May 11, 2008 -- Photos 3: Jpouch (97)
• February 13, 2010 -- Take a walk in my shoes (93)

Results are in

I have a kwazillion questions to ask the surgeon candidate. A kwazillion. Scientists maintain that’s a real number when it comes to questions regarding anything related to a scalpel. I’m currently compiling a list, spanning all areas from the ileostomy bag and the recovery process to insurance coverage and surgery experience. Each time I think of something, I add it to this list. If I don’t break the surgeon down into tears from the mass amount of questions on the list, I obviously don’t have enough questions. There are a few questions I won’t ask the surgeon about having a J-Pouch, though. Questions I won’t ask the surgeon:

1 ) Can I tell my friends I’m half android with a J-Pouch? Or is it half cyborg?
2 ) With the J-Pouch, will I still get nauseous from watching CW ads for 090210 and Gossip Girl?
3 ) Is it true I can time-travel with the J-Pouch if I eat enough chili?
4 ) What are we looking at for the percentage gain in Chick Magnetism with a J-Pouch?
5 ) Did you cry at the end of Titanic? The Notebook?
6 ) Since I weigh less (hello, I’m missing a colon), am I better at Pop-Lock dance routines?
7 ) Do J-Pouchers get discounts?
8 ) Are you House?

These posts might also help out:

• February 25, 2010 -- Commenter with Questions (13)
• July 20, 2011 -- 2 Years Post TakeDown (6)
• March 27, 2010 -- Colston Thomas Mills (4)
• January 25, 2009 -- Jessalynn (10)

Surgery day, March 27th, seemed like torture as I laid in my hospital bed with the clock on the wall across from me. I watched the minute hand tick as I waited for my 3pm surgery. I was finally taken from my room and wheeled down to the basement where I would have my 6 hour surgery. My doctors told me that I would feel better almost immediately, and I really did. The day after surgery I felt a different kind of pain. It wasn’t my usual sharp pain that made me sit in the fetal position, but just normal pain from just having surgery. My colon was sent to pathology because it still had to be determined whether it was definitely Colitis or Crohn’s. My colon was diseased at the sigmoid colon and then it skipped a large part that was “healthy” and the colitis showed up again at the ascending colon. This is uncommon in Colitis which led to the possibility of Crohn’s. I was relieved when the results came back as Colitis. I think for a split second it was the only time I was happy to have Colitis.

I must confess when I found out I was going to have a temporary ostomy, I did not take it well. I thought I was going to look like a freak and everyone would be able to notice. I told my parents I wasn’t going to leave my house the entire time I had it, I wasn’t going to do anything and just sit at home. The first time I saw my stoma, I didn’t know how to feel. I couldn’t handle the fact that part of my small intestine was now sticking out of my skin, this is not how it’s supposed to be. I eventually got better with it and with the help of amazing ostomy nurses I learned how I would take care of it for the next couple of months. I remember seeing my doctors for the first time after my surgery and asking when I could eat, it was the first time in months that I actually had an appetite. My doctors told me I had to name my stoma, I told them I didn’t plan on getting that attached. Little did I know how attached I would really get to it. I eventually gave him a name, yes somehow I decided it was a male entity and his name was Jeffrey. I was finally released from the hospital and returned home where I had a home nurse for a few weeks. After a month or so I finally returned to school and was able to finish the semester only having to drop 2 classes and miraculously achieved a 3.75. My biggest fear of not being able to stay on track with school was over, it was now summer and I was in the clear, or so I thought.

My next surgery was scheduled for July 23rd. I figured this gave me 6 weeks of recovery to start school again in the fall. Everything looked good, my health was up, and I felt like a new person. I must say that though I thought I would never leave my house with an ostomy I did everything I would have done without having one. I went camping, went on a road trip to Ohio, swam, went to amusement parks and went on rollercoaster’s, went tubing on the lake, lived a normal life. My friends made living with Jeffrey so much easier. We joked about it and by having a common name like Jeffrey made it possible to talk about it no matter where we were. My friends never treated me differently and I appreciated that the most throughout my whole ordeal

I went in the morning of my surgery; everything went as planned though they were unable to connect everything in one surgery, so I still had Jeffrey which was a disappointment. I would continue to be let down when I found out I had gotten an infection inside near my pouch and another one in my incision. On the plus side, due to my infection I received a private room which made it easier for my mom to stay the night. I must mention the hospital I had my surgeries done at was an hour from my home so my mom stayed with me every day and night. I am thankful to have a mom who stuck by my side as much as she did, I don’t know how I would have gotten through it all without her. Due to the infection in my incision I had all my staples removed and the incision was wide open and it was packed. Doctors would come in daily to check and see how the infection was. When I say doctors I mean many doctors, there were like eight of them standing all around my bed and they would lean in to see my huge incision. I felt like I was a patient on Grey’s Anatomy.

I was finally released from the hospital 17 days after my surgery to go home on antibiotics for my infections. Once I returned home, my home nurse was re-instated and things seemed to be going ok. That all went downhill really fast. I was vomiting and became really dehydrated. After 8 days of being home, I returned to the hospital to get liquids and was admitted once again to keep an eye on me. After being in the hospital for 8 days I went home with my second picc line for antibiotics, my first one was taken out after a few days because I developed a blood clot in my arm. Things seemed to be going well and after a CT scan showed the infection near my pouch was gone I had my picc line removed. I returned to classes but my health started deteriorating again. The second week of classes I found myself back in the hospital due to dehydration. After finding out that the infection had come back I had a third picc line put in. I also had a tube placed through the top part of my butt and placed near my pouch where the infection was to hopefully help drain it. Now I really looked like a freak. I had a tube attached to a bag coming out of my back that I had to pin to the inside of my sweatpants, a picc line hanging out of my left arm, Jeffrey was still there and I had lost about 50 pounds since the whole thing started which meant all my clothes were falling off of me. Still I was determined to go to school and with the help of family they drove me the 45 minutes from home to St. John Fisher College. Things definitely started to look up, I had my tube removed, then eventually my picc line and I felt fantastic. My third and final surgery was scheduled for December 10th, the day after I finished my finals.

My third surgery went so well, better than I could have guessed. I went in on Wednesday and returned home on Friday, my shortest stay yet! It’s been almost a month since my surgery, my incision isn’t completely healed but I feel great. I feel like I’ve been given a second chance, I feel like I’ve started a new life. When I was going through it I would sometimes find myself asking “why me” but feeling bad for myself wasn’t going to get me anywhere so I sucked it up, dealt with it, put my best foot forward and kept going on with my life, trying not to let it take over me. So many people have said, “You’re too young to go through something like that”. I feel it was the best time. I was at the age where I could understand what was going on, research stuff on my own, had the ambition to go on and achieve all that I wanted, and had the great support of amazing friends to help me through it all. I think surgery was the best thing that has ever happened to me, my best decision (not that I really had a choice). Now that it’s just about a month since takedown I find myself going to the bathroom about 6 times a day with the help of Imodium. This seems like nothing compared to the 20 or more times before my surgeries. What doesn’t break us makes us stronger, and I feel like I have grown a lot as a person since all of this has happened.

These posts might also help out:

• July 20, 2011 -- 2 Years Post TakeDown (6)
• March 27, 2010 -- Colston Thomas Mills (4)
• February 25, 2010 -- Commenter with Questions (13)
• January 4, 2009 -- Boots’ UC Journey (0)