One Month Post Surgery

Hello family and friends!

It has been a while since I, Sir Joshua has written on here. I am very thankful to Anna for writing the last few blogs to keep you all posted about what has been going on.

Since Anna’s last post, there have been some fun (sarcastically said) developments.

Let me start by saying, thank you! Thank you to everyone who has been praying for my family and me. Your prayers are being answered! To those who have checked in on Anna during this time, thank you so very much. She has appreciated those calls and text messages. Thank you so very much to those who have provided meals, gift cards, and money for my family; these wonderful gifts were very much appreciated.

The Lord has provided me with some amazing people during this medical journey. The doctors and nurses that I have had the privilege of working with have all been absolutely incredible. I am so blessed to have these men and women on this journey with me.

After I left Good Samaritan Hospital, where the surgery took place, I was home for about 3 days, and then I decided I liked the hospital so much that I wanted to go back.

Starting on Wednesday of that week, I began to experience some weird pain in my stomach area. I thought it was gas. My output was okay, I thought. I wasn’t told when I left the hospital to continue tracking it, so I guessed it was okay. My input on liquids was good, and Anna has been doing a good job of ensuring that.

We tried a heating pad that seemed to comfort me, and I thought it was working. I was also walking around the neighborhood every day I could, so I figured things were going okay.

On Saturday, I woke up feeling good, but as the day went on, something was going on. Anna left with Addy to do some much-needed girl time. When Anna came home, she could tell I was in misery. She called my surgeron and they wanted me to go to the hospital to get checked out. Anna called my dad to help transport, and we got the kids settled here at the house with our amazing neighbors.

Just before my dad came, I threw up (first time in decades) and felt somewhat better. Got into the car and was miserable all the way to the hospital. The surgeon wanted me to go to Providence Portland, as it was closer to his office.

I got checked into the ER. They ran a scan and found I had two bowel obstructions. As is the common procedure for obstructions, they tried to get an NG tube in me twice but failed. After the second failed attempt, they booked me into a room in the hospital.

When I got to the room, a doctor came up to my room to discuss what was going on. What they saw was, in fact, two obstructions, but the most pressing one was the obstruction at the stoma. To help with this, they would insert a ‘red catheter’ into the stoma to help with drainage.

Anna had been in contact with the doctor, and before I was released, she wanted to know how to place the ‘red catheter’ in case we needed to do it at home. So on Sunday afternoon, when Anna came up, the sweet doctor came in and gave Anna a hands-on lesson. It was weird to have this in me, but the good thing was that I didn’t feel a thing when it was being placed or when it was in me.

The funny thing about the ‘red catheter’ is that they have to secure it, or the body would just push it out. So the doctor gave me a very high-tech medical device to secure it: a binder clip. Yes, the same office binder clip you would use to secure a bunch of papers! The clip worked perfectly!

There were a few funny moments at the hospital this time around. The doctor explained that this obstruction is common in the first three weeks after surgery and is especially common in men, and younger men in particular. The reason my obstruction was at the stoma is that during surgery, my abdominal cavity is inflated with gas to inflate the area to perform the surgery better. Then the small intestine is pushed through the abdominal wall. When the muscle wall is tight, as it is with younger men, the muscle fascia is tight and will pinch the stoma, kind of kinking a hose. As the abdominal cavity shrinks back to normal, the pressure on the wall will go down.

However, what I heard the doctor say was that I have a six-pack and that I am ripped. It is just that my stomach is camouflaging the six-pack. When I told the doctor what I understood, she said, “umm…okay…yeah, you have a six-pack that is causing the issue.” This became my takeaway from this hospital trip, and I made sure everyone knew about my hidden six-pack!

The other humorous thing about my hospital visit is that I was placed in the maternity ward. I kid you not. What I learned is that the birth center was down the hall, and then after delivery, the moms would be moved to these rooms to recover. They only did this if there weren’t many births. The nurses told me the birth rate was low, so the moms were just staying in the birthing rooms and then moving them if another mom needed the room. When the ER and Med. Surge was crowded, they would send their patients to other floors with available rooms.

What made this funny is that I had this checklist to complete before discharge:

My family and the nurses had fun with this checklist for me. Anna even offered to break my water to move the process along. Pray for my wife, she keeps saying she will earn an honorary nursing degree after all of this.

You need a good sense of humor when things are tough.

I came home on Tuesday, the 20th. Since coming home from this visit, things are going really well, and thankfully, there are no more obstructions as of this writing. I have been diligent this time in tracking my output and even found an app to help me track. It is interesting to see the changes in output using the app.

Day-to-day living has been good. I am thankful to an amazing church family that has allowed me two months off to heal and get used to this new normal for a few months before the reversal. I know I’m mentally ready to get back to work, but I need to heal more physically.

I have weekly appointments with a Wound Care/Stoma nurse. This service is amazing. We have been trying to find the right fit for an ileostomy bag. We have been through multiple different types of bags and rings. The last time I went, I had a nurse who had been doing this for 23 years, and I think she helped us find the proper fit and the equipment we needed.

Anna has been to all the appointments, and she is an amazing help as well. To change the bag, I am so thankful to have Anna help me. I am sure I could do it myself, but it would be a little difficult as the site is still sore, so having another pair of hands is helpful. Anna has learned a lot during this time and is a strong advocate for me as well. When we need to change the bag, which is a bit more frequent as we are trying to get a rash under control, we tell the kids, ‘It’s time to change Dad’s diaper.’ We need to have some humor at this time.

Speaking of the kids and humor, they’ve decided to name the stoma, just as we named the tumor. The kids decided on naming the stoma Bob-Lee. I would like to show you a picture of Bob-Lee, but many of you, I think, would be grossed out by his presence. Let me just tell you he is a cute little red-faced knob! Anna affectionately calls him Bobby Lee. And since last week’s wound care appointment, I get to eat 5 large marshmallows a half hour before we change the bag, so Bobby Lee isn’t active during the change. So far, this has worked really well, and Anna is much less stressed out!

In all this, I want to say that I have had some sweet times with the Lord. In both of my hospital visits, I made sure my room was filled with the Holy Spirit. Every morning, I would read Scripture and then play worship music. At night time I would play instrumental worship music all night. I know this mattered as it helped me to have conversations with my nurses about the Lord, and it set a tone for the room.

This book was on my tray, and I read it every day with a cup of coffee or tea.

This process has not been easy, but it has been more manageable having my family nearby, an amazing church family and staff, caring neighbors, and the Lord’s presence.

There is more to share about future things, but for now, we can celebrate that I am healing well. Please continue to pray for complete healing as I am still recovering from the surgery. Please pray for the doctors’ wisdom as we discuss the next steps in this journey.

I love you and am so blessed by all of you.

Before I go…here is a picture of two bags of port pillows I took to the oncology office. They were once again blessed by these donations. If you want to keep making them, please do so (here are the instructions again: making a port pillow). I still have a few years with the clinic and can take them in at appointments. The doctor and nurses were overwhelmed by this donation. Thank you for helping care for other cancer patients.

May the Lord bless you all. Thank you for the love and support you are showing the family and me.

-Josh