I'm Here To Stay As Long As I Can.

[Barnyard]

I have been getting a few pms and phone calls asking about my condition. So I thought I would just let everyone know how things are going.

Yesterday I finally had my follow up visit with the surgeon who removed the abscess from my colon last month. He said this bout with my colon was a warning shot. Last year my colon was telling me to slow down. This time it gave me a stronger warning. He said if this happens again, I will probably lose at least a part of my colon through surgery. That is 6-7 days in the hospital and 6-8 weeks of recovery at home. I asked what I could do to prevent a third time (the charm?) and he said there is no way to tell other than start eating a lot of stuff I don't like. He said after two times it is hard to say if it will happen again, but the odds are very high. I can still eat a lot of what I have been eating except oily fried foods and red meat. I need to do that in moderation. I just need to add a lot more fiber.

Fiber, fiber, fiber.

Today, I had a visit at my family doctor's office. My diabetes is still under control so there are no restrictions or meds involved there as long as I get blood work every six months. He said my overall health is pretty good and about average for my age. He said he might have rated me a bit higher, but he knows about my ice cream fetish. I stepped up on a scale and found that I have lost 18 pounds since I entered the hospital one month ago. I attribute that to not having a full appetite. Once I increase my intake, I hope I can keep those pounds off.

Yesterday I finally worked outside for about four hours. Today I was out for two hours (it was a bit colder). I am getting out and about more, so laziness doesn’t set in. The more I do, the better I feel.

Bottom line, the Bash is still on in June and I plan to get to a few Cub events and other shows. Long travel may be curtailed for a while. There are a lot of folks out there with worse problems than me. I am just happy to have what I have in life. I really can't ask for any more than that.


Rosie and I want to thank everyone for there concern.

[tinnerjohn]

That sounds encouraging Bill. Good luck keeping those pounds off, but I think I know where they ended up! If you want them back I have them. Since my heart surgery I've tried to eat the recommended stuff, but it really doesn't taste as good as real food does. Maybe that's why it's supposed to make you lose weight.

John

[Indy4570]

the best of health to you. I hope your are feeling your old self soon. It ain't over till its over.

[lyle11]

I am not in the medical field, nor am I an expert on diet. But I have direct experience with having part of my colon removed. In my case I was in Cincinnati traveling for work and became deathly ill. It ended up that I had peritonitis due to a perforation of my colon. The doctor wanted to do emergency surgery, but I didn’t want the colostomy bag, so I declined it and fortunately recovered very fast with antibiotics.

I was only 42 years old at the time and this happened 23 years ago. I followed up with a local doctor and was told that most likely I would have a repeat of my colon issues due to diverticulitis. I elected to have surgery before this could happen, and because it was a planned surgery, I was able to prepare by cleaning out my digestive system in advance and was prepped to have it laparoscopically with less cutting and avoid a colostomy bag. They removed 18 inches of my colon. They did not and could not take every part of the colon that had diverticulosis (pockets in the colon that can hold food material and get infected) so I still had and have a greater possibility than the average person that this could reoccur. The nice thing I was able to eat pretty much anything I wanted to immediately. I mean right after the surgery. But, that didn’t mean I should eat anything I wanted. I was told to eat a lot of fiber!!!

I was, as I said, only 42 years old at the time. And also I think because it was laparoscopic with a lot less cutting I went home on day 3 and I know I was back to work in two weeks. It must be because of my age at the time that I recovered so quickly. Plus, with laparoscopic I only have 1 incision bigger than 1/2” which is about 2 1/2”.

In a way, I actually probably benefited from this by eating a lot better than I did before. But I am by no means a health nut. Not even close. What we did was buy a commercial grade blender (Vita-Mix) and in order to get the fiber, and the fruits and vegetables, we make a daily shake. It contains protein/fiber powder, and some mix of sweeter vegetables such as a carrot, plus bananas, and three or four varieties of the frozen fruit you get at Costco. This way, I drink the shake in the morning and I pretty much got my fiber and most of the recommended “servings” of fruit and vegetables for the day. It’s easier than trying to make meals on a daily basis with fiber filled fruits and vegetables. Plus, we make up shakes for a few days rather than cleaning the blender every day.

Other than this I eat normally which includes far too many processed meals like you get a Costco or Sam’s. But, I rarely eat French fries or greasy food, and almost never eat fast food. It’s easy for me to avoid hard to digest stuff like red meat because I don’t care much for it. Most vegetables we just make in an air fryer oven without any oil on it. A little more food sticks to the pan but not much.

The only other thing that I have done is that I drink about 6 to 8 ounces of Kefir every day. Not the sugary stuff that you buy at the store. This is a kefir culture that I have had going for probably 15 years in 1% milk. The only cost is the milk. I strain and drink the liquid every day. Like taking vitamins, I have no idea if it’s really benefited me other than 23 years of no digestion problems. It is supposed to add a lot of good bacteria to your digestive system to help keep you healthy. It can’t hurt that’s for sure.

Maybe my digestive system will eventually lead to my demise. That would be my best guess based on it being the biggest health related issue in my life. But for me, the surgery plus very reasonable diet changes worked and I am grateful for 23 trouble free years. In my case, since I was told the issue would reoccur in all likelihood, I felt like having a planned surgery gave me a lot more control, rather than waiting for another infection to happen.

In general I would take the position to avoid surgery if possible. But this isn’t like a bad knee that you can monitor and rest. It can come on fast out of the blue and you’re having emergency surgery in order to survive. So I took a “nip it in the bud” approach to it that so far worked out for me. Not sure what I’d do if I have more colon issues because I’m 65 now but 42 was too young to not try to fix the root cause. So for Barnyard or anybody else with colon issues I’m just telling about my good experience with surgery and diet changes.