I don’t know if everyone who goes through ostomy surgery feels like this at first, but I’m constantly worried about surgical complications. Every little pain that I feel puts me on edge.
It seems as though I shouldn’t be so worried because I’ve already been through this process. But, sometimes I wonder if I feel this way because I’ve already had 6 surgeries, and I can’t imagine where another new stoma would be placed if I needed one. I NEED this new one to last!
To put my mind at ease, I’ve been reminding myself of the phrase “2 steps forward, 1 step back.”
Up until this point in my recovery, things have been progressing smoothly. I’ve been able to be way more active than I expected I’d be this Summer. I’ve already been backpacking and hiking and biking. I even went on one run (walk-jog).
But for the past two weeks, I had a constant pain on my right side near my old stoma site. I can’t think of anything that would have caused it. I saw my surgeon, and she didn’t appear too concerned and based on her physical exam, she didn’t think it was a hernia (unless it is a very small one). I’m planning on following up with my PT to see if myofascial work helps. My GI hopes that if it is Crohn’s related pain that my Entyvio infusions will help. Talking to my providers and having a plan for PT in place helps, but I still worry. The 1 step back can be so frustrating when the 2 steps forward were feeling so good!
Luckily, the pain seems to have dissipated in the past few days, so I decided to take advantage of that and took 2 more steps forward this weekend!
A group of us headed out to the Snowbird Glacier this weekend. It was my first alpine backpacking trip since surgery, and I’m happy with how it went! Tyler still has to carry most of the gear, but I’m able to carry a bit more water and I’m back to using a regular backpacking pack.
Tyler and I biked to the trailhead, and met Shelley and Gati on the trail. We enjoyed the climb up in the sun through the snow patches and rocky terrain. The pass had some steep snow climbing which still feels tough since surgery in terms of balance and unexpected sliding, but it all went well. We had a fun time crossing the glacier and heading up to the hut where we set up camp for the evening. The hike out the next day was just as beautiful and uneventful ostomy-wise.
Side Note: The only real ostomy fun was my awkward use of the outhouse. In case you were wondering, using an outhouse with a urine diverter makes emptying an ostomy quite challenging. Luckily, my output was a little more formed because it would have been quite messy otherwise. I should take a video or some photos next time because using the outhouse is a hard acrobatic maneuver to describe!
Successfully completing the trip without any pain (so far) and not spilling poop all over the outhouse were definitely my 2 steps forward for the week. I’m hoping my good fortune lasts for a while, and that I’ll be more prepared for my 1 step back if it comes.
