That Time of the Year

Mighty Frog said:

Me too coming up next month... this time different

But this time quite a bit different.  My last 3 scans was on MRI scan... the coming one will be on CT scan.  Last MRI scan detected abnormal colon thickening but after colonoscopy turnout everything is normal. Not sure what CT scan will find this time....

Gosh..... 

Sorry Bay Area Guy... not to scare you..... Maybe i just too worry... after the last scan.... 

 

Mighty Frog

Hi Frog.  My intestines.....gosh, what can I say?  In 2004, I was giving a presentation at a restaurant dinner meeting and had excruciating abdominal pain.  I finished the presentation, then went home and that night, I could not even put a sheet on my abdomen without it hurting.  A trip to the ER showed a part of my intestines had flopped over another part.  A “simple” operation got that corrected.  Then, six years later, we had just gotten home from an extended cruise when the same abdominal pain hit.  Back to the ER where they determined I had a sigmoid volvulous.  My sigmoid colon had twisted 540 degrees and had essentially shut itself down.  Back to th3 OR, but this time, 18 inches of colon got removed and I had to spend 10 or 11 weeks with an ileostomy bag Before everything could get reconnected.  That was a real joy.....not.  It seems bad digestive systems run in my family.

If you look at my posts about recovery from kidney surgery, you see that my recovery wasn’t very painful for me.  I think one reason is the Two abdominal surgeries.  To get to the intestines, there was nothing subtle.....just a rather long incision from Just bellow my navel to just above my groin.....right through some rather dense muscles.  And when those muscles try to heal, any movement is painful.  During the recovery for the second abdominal surgery (the one with the bag), I came down with pneumonia, likely from aspirating something when they put the NG tube in at the ER.  Let me tell you, coughing fits with your abdomen stapled and sutured up is very painful.  A pillow became my best friend because I was hugging it so much while i coughed.  i think that’s why the relatively modest pain of the kidney surgery seemed like a comparative walk in the park for m3.

Hopefully, all of that is behind me.

APny said:

Bay Area Guy, good grief, but

Bay Area Guy, good grief, but you went through a lot. That sounds extremely painful. My husband had abdominal surgery for diverticulitis and recovery seemed much worse than for my kidney surgery. 

Wishing you and everyone good scan results. If insurance won't cover CT after 5 years perhaps you could switch to US. 

If I can’t get a CT paid, I can ask my PCP for the US.

Yeah, those muscles in the abdomen are brutal when they get cut.  My dad had numerous operations throughout his 90 years, including both abdominal, as well as bypass surgery and an aortal replacement ( i think our family didn’t opt for the extended warranty or something) and he said his heart operations were much easier to recover from, pain-wise than the abdominal ones.