1:30am and the Butt Machine is shouting at me. The alarm is intermittent and whilst not terribly loud it’s tone is annoying. I’m still half asleep as the alarm continues to shout but the sound doesn’t register but when it did I feared that there was a leak in the vacuum. Thankfully the charging cable hadn’t been fitted correctly so the battery was running low and there was no leak. But, at the same time I realised that my colostomy bag was full.
Read moreHaving a VAC Installed
With a perineum wound that was refusing to heal, was frequently infected and had joined up to a pilonidal surgery, a different solution was required in the form of a vacuum-assisted closure aka a VAC aka negative-pressure wound therapy.
Read moreKen Butt v2
Over 8 months after having an abdominoperineal resection as part of the proctosigmoidectomy, I’m back having the entire thing reopened in a bid to try and resolve the wound healing issues.
Read moreThe Ongoing Saga of the Unhealed Perineal Wound
After 8 months my issues with the Ken Butt have continued and it doesn’t look like they will be resolving themselves without intervention.
Read moreStoma 66
66 days for Ostomates to walk, run, and dance their way to 66,000km. That is the new challenge launched by Colostomy UK to help promote fitness for those that have undergone stoma surgery.
Read moreKen Butt Update
For over 7 months the Ken Butt has been a right pain in the butt. It’s stubbornly not healing and may appear to be getting slightly worse with the wounds tunnelling inside.
Read moreDo I Regret Having Surgery?
This is a question I’ve asked myself many times and I find it difficult to answer. The ultimate answer always tends to be no but I’m forever questioning whether that’s the right answer.
Read moreThe Psychological Effects of Having a Proctosigmoidectomy
If I rewind back to early 2018, I was embarking on a time of running to the toilets, feeling lethargic, feeling like I was forever having a fever, this was Crohn’s Disease reminding me that it was still there and trying to treat the flare up with the usual treatments of steroids and Humira injections would prove to be futile.
Read moreIs 2019 A Write Off?
First Crohn’s stopped me from running, and then a stoma gave me a new lease of life. Now, the ongoing issues with the Ken Butt have scuppered things again.
Read moreWhen to Run, When to Run?
Post-EUA (Exploration Under Anaesthetic) things have been generally good. Initially there was a lot of leakage (both blood and exudate) from the newly opened wound so much so that I had to invest in some sexy incontinence pants. Thankfully that seemed to reduce quite quickly thus reducing the need for the pants.
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