Scarred Beautifully - Operation 2004

    In the hospital bed I laid there that night alone in my room as I did most nights over the past several months of being in and out of the hospital. I had been to the hospital so often that many of the nurses on the fifth floor of that hospital knew me, or had heard of someone taking care of me. It was this night in particular that I recall calling my brother. My brother when we were growing up always made things okay in my world with the things that he would say to comfort me. As usual bless my brother's heart he tried so hard to comfort me but, I could hear in his voice that he too was concerned about me and the difficulties I was facing with my health and falling short for words. 

    I believe it was a day and night that passed before, I saw my wonderful brother's face walk into my room. He took the time to listen to my understanding of what the surgeons and gastrointestinal doctors were telling me as to why they could not operate. (This is the first time that I learned how to identify when it is time to get a different opinion. I was young and never realized that it was ever an option. I saw it that those were my doctors and trusted that they were doing what was in my best interest) It was then that my brother demanded to speak to both doctors to find why they were both allowing  a young girl who should be enjoying her life with her newborn instead to be spending it alone in a hospital bed while, her mother-in law tended to her son. At this point he wanted to hear their justification for not operating when my quality of life was so poor. 

    I can recall hearing very loud voices coming from the hallway where the men were speaking for several minutes. It was only my brother who entered back into the room to speak to me. My brother discovered the concern was not falling with the stomach doctor but, instead on that of the surgeon. The two were not in agreement and therefore, the gastrointestinal doctor was forced to think outside the box when it came to the symptoms my disease was presenting. Once I understood what was going on he informed that he demanded a different surgeon immediately with a new perspective on my case not tomorrow but, today. If that surgeon came back with the same answer as the first then we will accept that surgery is no option.

    It was several hours my brother sat in my room with me, before a nice man in a long white coat entered the room. The man introduced himself as the new surgeon requested to review my chart. The two men once again left the room but, this time there were no loud voices just silence. It was not long before my brother calmly entered back into the room. The two surgeons did not agree on everything. They did agree that yes, I was young and when one operates on a Crohn's patient they find that it leads into additional operations in the future often, caused by scar tissue. It was another way to say it was not a cure all for what was happening to me. The surgeon did not agree that the quality of life I was expected to continue living was acceptable either. Therefore, they came to the agreement that if my intestine did not open within the next 72hours with the medications and bowel rest then he agreed he would operate. However, "if" it did resolve (open) then I would be sent home on liquids only, without any TPN. If I returned to the hospital with another blockage within seven-days of leaving the hospital he agreed he would then operate removing the diseased portion of bowel causing the blockages.

    I was in the hospital a little over a full day when my blockage resolved itself. I was placed on a liquid diet under hospital observation for twenty-four hours before I could go home. Three-days after being released I found myself once again unable to keep any liquids down and in the most agonizing pain possible. Back to the hospital I went but, I could remember feeling hopeful because; I knew now finally they would operate. Within twenty-four hours of arriving to the emergency room I was being taken into the operating room for what would be first operation. 

The operation turned out to be successful and with maintaining the upkeep on my Crohn's medication for around two-years I had my quality of life back .