April Otwell
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I See The Light...

9/5/2020

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Hey guys!
How have y’all been? It’s been a REALLY long past few weeks. I have had tests done, finals, a hurricane, and all kinds of good stuff happen since I last posted. So I’m going to just list everything that I remember and hope I don’t miss anything.
I went to New Orleans to a new doctor for my colostomy and absolutely loved her. She agreed that a colostomy sounds like the best solution to my stomach problems. She sent me home in order to have a SITZ test done. Basically, I swallow two capsules and have X-rays on days one, three, five, and seven. It tells the doctor how fast your stool is moving through your intestines. She needed this information to know where to place my colostomy bag in my intestines.
That Saturday we go to a hospital to get the first set of X-rays done. I swallow the pills before we even go inside the building. Well... they are closed. We call all over the place trying to find somewhere that would do the X-rays. I already took the capsules so I HAVE to get the first set of X-rays to do the test correctly. Finally, we find someone willing to do it and rush over there. All week was hectic from having to drive an hour from home to get X-rays every other day.
I finished up the classes I was taking both with an A. These two classes have been the most challenging because of everything that has been going on but well worth the trouble. When classes ended I got a week break which ended this Monday. I made the decision to take this term off because of the hurricane and my surgery coming up. A term is 8 weeks long so I’m total I’ll have nine weeks off of school. I needed a break but I hate it at the same time because that pushes my graduation date back eight weeks but sometimes things happen. I know I’ll finish getting my degrees so that’s all that matters.
The next week, we have a category 4 hurricane come through Louisiana. It got rough around 5 AM on Thursday and we lost power about thirty minutes later. The worse of the storm didn’t finish passing overhead until around 9 or so. The only damage that my property received was the wind blew some of the skirtings off my trailer and a bunch of branches in the yard. We didn’t get power back for 5 days but that’s not nearly as long as we expected the power to be out. Our sheriff told us to expect to be out of power for two weeks. Some of my friends and family still do not have any power as of this morning so I’m lucky.
Being a quadriplegic, going without power while the heat index is 110 degrees was hard, to be honest. Since my injury, my body can’t regulate its temperature so I can get overheated very easily. I was miserable, hot, and tired on top of being overheated.
I got a call this Monday about the results of my test and a date for my surgery. September 21, 2020. That’s only two weeks away which makes me extremely happy because I have been in some horrible pain lately and hopefully after the surgery, I won’t be in pain anymore. I will have to stay at least three days in the hospital because they are doing it without cutting me open. The nurse said that if after three days there are any complications that would keep me in the hospital they will keep me otherwise they were going to let me go. Most of you know that I hate the hospital but right now I will take them three days gladly to get rid of my pain. It’s affecting every area of my life. I can’t eat and drink like I need to get the nutrients I need, I can’t sleep, I can’t be intimate with my boyfriend, I’m constantly in pain and that makes me snappy and grouchy. It’s just horrible.
For now, that’s it. Today we are doing a birthday party for the girls at my house and I have to start cleaning up.
Until next time.
-April
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    Paralyzed from the neck down after an ATV rollover at 14, April Otwell is beating the odds the doctors gave her. She's a blogger, fantasy writer, college student, sugar glider guardian and spinal cord injury survivor.  She's even writing her first fiction novel!

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