November 26 Hospital Update

Hey hey! I’m still in the hospital… the surgery went really well on November 17, no pains at all and I’m healing very nicely. I found out from a week of steady monitoring that I’m in very good health… so much so that the hernia issues were mild for years when I should have been showing big warning signs with bloodwork years ago. The nurses have told me that this good health was also what disguised a complication that arose a few days ago when I was discharged from the hospital. There should have been warning signs but my body is running so well that there was no indication that my recovery had a big hiccup waiting for me.

This is going to get gross, so… WARNING!!! Disgusting stuff ahead….

I was released from hospital on Wednesday, 6 days after my hernia operation. I went home, had a nice little dinner with lots of fresh fruit, crackers and cheese. I caught up on a week’s worth of Coronation Street episodes and got to relax with my hubby and the pets. It was really nice. I was just a minute from going to bed at 11pm when it all turned into the goriest nightmare i could imagine - again, WARNING!!! This is nasty stuff ahead.

So, I was heading to the washroom to pee when suddenly my feet were wet and I looked down to see the floor covered in blood. I woke my hubby up with some panicked screams and held a towel against my belly to stop a steady stream of blood from falling to the floor. My hubby held a cup under the flow and it was draining from me at a rate of about a cup a minute. I’ll never forget the look on his face as he did the mental calculations of that rate of bleeding multiplied into a 20 minute drive to the hospital. A big bath towel was soaked with blood already after just 5 minutes so we raced to the emergency room.

Through all of this, I felt fine. No pain, just lightheaded from the shock of so much blood. We got in quickly and they reassured that this type of bleeding happens often after a major intestinal surgery, and 5 hours later, after lots more bleeding, the flow stopped and they said I was okay. The second I stepped outside of the building, however, my pants were suddenly soaked as another bleed began - not dripping… flowing like a faucet like earlier. We rushed back in and I spent more hours being bled and monitored. And it happened again… and again. They decided to keep me here for observation and care, reassuring me that it is common for blood to pool after a surgery as the body’s circulatory system gets a bit damaged in fleshy spots while they operate and this leads to pools of old blood trapped inside the body between the muscle lining and the skin. … and since I have so much flesh around my belly, several large pockets of blood had formed - 2 litres worth of it.

On Thursday night, they did a small procedure where they opened up a few of the staples on my belly and vacuumed and flushed out the operation area, pulling out another shocking amount of old blood. They put a small collection pump in the now cleared spot and stapled me back up again… I still have this attached to me and it’s pulling out smaller and smaller amounts of blood… no sign of infections or anything, everything is healing very well… but it was a terrifying and frustrating addition to the healing process that I wasn’t expecting.

I also discovered I have covid when they got me back at the hospital - virtually no symptoms but I means no visitors and extra protocol with the nursing staff… but I’m just one of many because there’s a bit of an outbreak happening here again. It’s a small hospital so it puts a lot of strain on staff but they’ve been amazing.

I’m here until Monday at least, and hopefully it’s the last time I’ll be here. I’ve never really had any major health problems before and never stayed overnight in a hospital so it’s been weird to stay overnight for so long. I’m not used to it at all. I’ve never been apart from my hubby for this long or not slept in my own bed for so long. I can’t wait to get back home again.

Okay - that’s all the gross stuff. Sorry it was so graphic but I figure if anyone else has to go through this, it helps ease your mind.

I’m so thrilled to have this fixed up. The hernia had really done a number on me mentally. I was ashamed of my belly and hated seeing it change so much. Even with a shirt on, I was incredibly self conscious of that bulging mass pushing out against the fabric. I was depressed because of it, and the daily upkeep ritual was something I thought I’d never escape. I wanted badly to get the surgery, but I always thought, deep down, that I’d never get it. I thought I was going to have to live with it for the rest of my life, and that it would never improve. Although the whole emergency experience was brutal, I wouldn’t change a thing about it. I was able to get repaired, discover that I’m in excellent health, and know that when I get out of here and heal up, I’ll be back to normal - something I never expected to feel ever again.

I also have to note that since I live in Canada, this whole treatment, the operation, the extended stay in the hospital, the daily care and monitoring - is all essentially free. I’m so proud to have been born in this country, and it almost brings me to tears to think that some other countries don’t have this level of standard health care provided to its citizens at no cost. Everyone pays a little tax and it provides a safety net that can give people a new lease on life. I’m filled with hope and optimism that I can leave the hospital without debt, and get on with my life.

I plan to do a lot more living once I’m fully healed. It’ll be months of slow going and making sure I heal fully, but next summer I plan to be out and enjoying life more. I’ll have a big scar on my belly but its not looking much different than it did back before the hernia happened. I won’t have a bellybutton anymore, but I don’t give a crap about that. If I really want one, I can get another operation to give me one or I can just paint one on. Lol. Losing it means I get to live and I’m going to proudly embrace that. I survived something I thought would cripple me for life so I don’t have patience for feeling embarrassed about the lack of a naval.

I want to thank you all for being there for me. This has been a rough ride, but I’m glad you’ve all been sitting in the passenger seat alongside me.

I am absolutely stir crazy to get back at my desk and get writing again. Life is going to get so much easier and mentally I feel like a world of weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I want to be so much more productive and I will take advantage of this good health as much as I can.

Alright, my thumbs are sore from writing and I should take another nap before dinner arrives. The food isn’t great, but the photos of the best meals are in this post. Been keeping myself full and well rested… and with all the talk of how healthy I am, I see it as a major sign that I was born to be fat- very fat. My body can handle it and it actually seems to thrive from it, so don’t expect me to be losing weight at all. I’m going to get much bigger in the future, full steam ahead,with a new drive and focus to confidently become a massively obese pigman.

Thanks guys. You’re all amazing. I love ya all.

Take care! I’ll be posting more soon!