20 weeks? I can’t believe that it’s been 20 weeks since the installation of My New Bum. Apart from the ongoing Ken Butt issues and the parastomal hernia, everything has gone really well and I’m still glad that I had the operation.
Ken Butt Update
20 weeks ago I never thought I’d still be seeing a nurse on a daily basis but here I am. I imagined it taking perhaps 6 weeks to heal but after all this time both the wound that was created by the surgeon post-surgery and the pilonidal sinus are still being dressed daily by a nurse and a district nurse on the weekend.
It is getting better but still bleeds and after repeatedly having a dressing applied and removed has taken its toll on my skin. It’s not bleeding as much and my clothes and furniture are getting less leakages on them. At present I’m fully booked up until the end of July and at present there’s no end in sight. I have been keeping both nursing staff and receptionists happy by treating them to chocolates from Hotel Chocolat.
Stoma Update
20 weeks is a good amount of time to get to know My New Bum and we’ve been getting on really well. I’ve thrown a lot of different things at it and it’s done a stellar job of handling it all. Occasionally it throws a wobbly and I fill a couple of bags in quick succession and I have a feeling that if I eat a little too much quality cheese it has an adverse effect but overall it’s well behaved.
Current State of the Stoma
Hernia Update
As expected, the hernia hasn’t got any smaller but it also hasn’t got any bigger, I don’t think. It’s still around the size of a half tennis ball. It does protrude quite a bit and does mean that the top of the bag does stick out beneath my clothes. Add some poop to the bag and it become really noticeable. Naturally, when it becomes more noticeable one starts to adjust posture and clothes to try and make the bag less visible.
For the past week or more I’ve been wearing my hernia support belt that I use for exercising to keep the hernia from bulging outwards and to help mask the outline of the bag. The belt is not ideal as it’s quite small so I’m constantly having to adjust it but I’ve arranged a home fitting with the manufacturer SuportX so that I can get something more suitable such as ones that cover more but also allow you to open it at the waist to access the colostomy bag.
When I signed up for My New Bum, a hernia was not something that I factored in and having to always wear a support belt, which is what I think I’m going to have to do, was definitely not something that I thought I would need to do.
Running Update
I’m managing to still run each week (perhaps 5-15 miles) but am purposely taking things easy. I’m not sure if this is having the right effect or not and despite always thinking about running, I’m not always up for it. The motivation is both there and not!
I have been getting a lot of brisk walking done each day (6-8 miles) so am keeping my fitness levels up but the downside is that I’m not feeling like running due to having tired legs all the time. A lot of the walking is due to going back and forth to the nurse each day so when that’s finished I’m hoping I’ll get more into running.
When I do run I’m enjoying the fact that I don’t have to worry about going to the toilet before a run and the bag allows me to poop and run without a need to change it on shorter runs.
