Not One but Two...

Hey guys,
So it’s been a hot minute since I’ve had time to sit down and write. My life has been crazy busy the last few months. July was filled to the max with drama, excitement and relaxation.

• July 1: we celebrated Madilyn’s fourth birthday.
• July 5: Tanner and I celebrated 2 months dating.
• July 15: we celebrated Tanner’s birthday with his family. My Baclofen pump appointment ended up turning into a nightmare. The doctor stuck me 11 times bending two needles in the process trying to find the insertion hole in my pump. He couldn’t find it and said I needed to get X-rays. He thought the pump had flipped over in my belly, which would require emergency surgery.
• July 16: I went to Alexandria for X-rays which looked fine to us. Tanner moved in with me.
• July 17-18: we went to the casino for Tanner’s 21st birthday. Saturday, I started a three day clear liquid diet for my colonoscopy the following Tuesday according to my paperwork.
• July 20: Got a call to start my test prep which consists of drinking a gallon of medicine to clean out my bowels. Nurse said to start a clear liquid diet but the paperwork said a three day one. I was angry and hungry. Halfway through the gallon, the nurse calls back to tell me to stop my prep because the facility couldn’t handle a person in a wheelchair. I was miserable from drinking the medicine and extremely angry. They knew about this appointment a month ahead of time, they should’ve known.
• July 22: I go back to the Baclofen pump appointment to find out about the pump. He said the X-rays weren’t right and sends me downstairs for more. While I’m still on the table he comes to look at the X-rays. We go back up to the office and he says it’s not flipped but loose in my abdomen. I’ll need surgery but it’s not an emergency. He tries to fill it up, sticking it eight more times before he finally gets it.
• July 24-26: We went camping at a campsite on the river. It was nice and relaxing. I mostly stayed on the porch but everyone else swam, fished, played in the river and rode on the boat. It was a nice little getaway.
• July 30: Salem, the momma cat, was supposed to get spayed but we couldn’t catch her to take her.
• You can’t forget that I have probably forgotten about a lot that’s happened plus I have schoolwork to do just about every day in order to keep my deadlines for grades.

August is already looking like it’s going to be just as busy as July. Yesterday I traveled four hours to New Orleans for a doctors appointment. I was fed up with my gastrointestinal doctor so I got my urologist to refer me to his favorite gastrointestinal surgeon. I went to meet her yesterday. She sent me home with a temporary solution to my bowels, a round of test that will take a week to complete and said she’d call in two weeks to schedule the surgery. The test is swallowing two pills that light up on my xrays. I’ll get X-rays on the first day, third day, fifth, and seventy day. It’s going to show if my intestines are moving stool or just not working. It determines where the bag will be placed in my colostomy. She even noted on my X-ray orders that I could stay in my chair which was awesome.
I’m hoping to start my test Friday so I can be done by next Friday. The sooner I get these test done the sooner the doctor can call to schedule my surgery. My recovery won’t be as bad as I thought because she wants to do it with robotics. I’ll only have a few small incisions instead of opening me up but there’s a chance something could go wrong and they have to open me up anyway.
I haven’t heard from the neurosurgeon that’s supposed to be calling me about my Baclofen pump. I’ll be having two surgeries before too long which is scary. I do have some more exciting news but I’m not quite ready to share those with you guys yet. Until next time guys!
-April