Reality check and pre-op assessment

As he was leaving last week after coming with me to the meeting with the consultant, I said to son Jack "take a look at me now because the next time you see me, there won't be quite as much!"  It was meant as a joke, but just saying it brought home to me the reality that surgery to remove part of my colon was going to happen in the not too distant future...

Reality came a bit closer yesterday, with my pre-op assessment: height, weight, blood pressure, blood oxygen levels, echo cardiogram (repeated several times, I think because the machine was playing up rather than my heart) followed by a whole lot of questions about my medical history. 

I've been given leaflets "Preparation for your operation and theatre direct admission" and "Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS)".  I'll have to do the dreaded bowel purge again the day before and on the morning of the operation (and shower/wash/dry my hair that same morning...not sure how that will be achieved in between frequent trips to the loo!).  I didn't have to see the stoma nurse or anaesthetist, so I assume that's a good sign that the former won't be needed and the latter will be straightforward.  I do hope so!

The last solid food I can eat will be a light breakfast on the day before surgery.  I been provided with six high carb drinks called Nutricia PreOp which I can have later that day and the following morning to give me some energy.  

I also have a list of things to take in with me (not a lot, so at least it will be an easy pack).  I'll find out the time of the operation and when to arrive at hospital at some point during the preceding afternoon.  On the day, I go straight to theatre admissions and it all kicks off from there...

I won't pretend that I'm not nervous about the prospect of being cut open, having a length of bowel removed and the cut ends being stapled together again.  Who wouldn't be?  But I think the time has come to take action, as I'm very conscious of changes in my digestion since March, which I assume are associated with the cancer, stricture or both.  

Up until February, I was eating and drinking normally without any problems.  The episode of abdominal pain and blood loss, followed by Covid in March meant that I didn't eat much that month.  During April, May and June, I was on and off the merry-go-round of low residue diet, purging and fasting associated with colonoscopies and a CT scan no less than four times over a 9 week period.  My poor gut didn't know whether it was coming or going - often going!! - at that time.  

Now I find I can eat breakfast and lunch, but then it gets difficult.  It's not that I don't have an appetite - I do.  But if I eat a normal size meal after 6pm, I'm still digesting it when I go to bed around 11pm; it feels uncomfortable and I often experience heartburn i.e. acid reflux.  The digestive process seems to have slowed down significantly recently, whether due to the suspected cancer mass or stricture further along the gut or both (or neither), I have no idea.  However, to help the food go down, I have to prop myself up in bed rather than being flat, and sitting up isn't good for my back which needs to de-compress.  I'm finding it easier just to snack lightly in the evening, rather than have a main meal (which sadly limits some socialising...)

I know there will be changes to bowel habits following surgery - that seems to be inevitable when the colon is shorter and therefore food is in it for less time.  But I'm hoping that with a clear run once things settle down, I'll be able to enjoy and evening meal without having to deal with discomfort at bed time.  

Whatever happens, I might as well make the most of this short period before the operation to enjoy some good food before purging, feasting and surgery.  Who knows when I'll be able to do that again??