The Lewis County Herald - 2/28/23
Tammy and I traveled to Lexington on Valentine’s Day eve and checked in to a motel across from St. Joseph Hospital where the surgery to reverse my ostomy had been scheduled.
I started preparations for the reversal surgery several days before with a change of diet and the consumption of delicious pre-surgery drinks provided earlier by the medical center.
The motels we have stayed on nights before procedures are right across the street from the hospital.
We were up early and walked across the street about 7:45 a.m. for the 8:00 a.m. check-in.
For those who have been traveling on this journey with us, I was able to locate the surgical marker which had earlier been seized and just prior to our walk to the hospital, created a special valentine message for the surgical team. It was well received, for the most part.
The prep went smoothly and I was wheeled to the operating room a little later than the planned 10:00 a.m. time because the surgeon’s first case went a little longer than scheduled.
Tammy and her support team for the day went to the surgical waiting area where they would receive any updates and ultimately be informed when I would be taken to a room where I would recuperate for a few days before heading home.
An hour or so into my routine ileostomy takedown the surgeon came out to update Tammy.
He told her that during the first part of the procedure he had encountered an ominous mass the size of a mango and that the procedure would take longer than initially planned.
I learned later that on his way back to the OR, the surgeon enlisted a pathologist to accompany him and have a first-hand look at this newly found fruit-size object that had grown inside my belly since the initial surgery to remove my entire colon 20 weeks earlier.
Mangos average about five inches by three inches and weigh about a pound, according to some information I conjured up on the interweb.
According to the surgeon’s notes, he encountered an “appreciable mass effect in the right upper abdomen.”
Here are a couple of other outtakes from those notes . . .
• “The findings were concerning for metastatic cancer.”
• “Broad differential of concern including metastatic cancer, pancreatic cyst, renal cyst.”
There was a lot more information about this “ominous” object concerning its proximity and connection to several organs and apparent make-up.
The successful removal of this mass resulted in a little more cutting and fixing back than was initially planned. I came out of the OR with two incisions. One about seven inches long and the other about five inches long, plus a drain.
The surgeon updated Tammy following the procedure and at that time said he thought the mass was likely scar tissue.
That evening he visited our room and said he felt “comfortable” that the mass was benign but wouldn’t be “happy” until pathology results confirmed that.
On Friday evening we received a telephone call from the surgeon about an hour prior to his usual visiting time.
He told us he had just received the pathology report confirming the mass to be benign and wanted to let us know as soon as possible. He provided some more information about it during the visit.
I was released from the hospital on Saturday, February 18, with a sack of medications and other supplies.
The ileostomy reversal was successful and I no longer have to wear an appliance on my belly.
My body is still learning how to operate with the new internal configuration but healing is progressing and we have some follow-ups with the surgeon and other doctors in the next few days.
Recovery from this procedure is going a little slower than with the total colectomy in September but I am improving each day.
We are blessed and thankful.
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