Friday 2nd July-MOAS Five Month Anniversary.

I went for a walk at lunch time today. I've been back to work three weeks and it had been a very busy morning. I'd got into work early to finish my board report, answered the numerous e-mails and telephone calls and done two meetings already. It was now 1 pm and I needed to get out and get some air and clear my head.
As I was walking it dawned on me that exactly five months ago to the day I was in the operating theatre. In fact, I'd been there for six hours already and had another six hours to go. I imagined the scene in the theatre.Today all around me people went about their daily business, whizzing around in their cars, hurrying here and rushing there, just as they would have on that day five months ago. Oblivious to what was happening to people like me up and down the country in the numerous hospitals and operating theatre's. We all take life for granted.

My recovery continues to go well. I was given the all clear by the nurse this week and no longer have to do the twice weekly visits to the surgery to have the stoma closure wound checked. Its healed up nicely.
I have also been given the all clear to start some light exercise. I have started using the exercise bike and intend to slowly increase the time on the bike and the resistance settings. I can also do some light weights to try and re build some of the muscle wastage that was lost whilst in hospital. I have also promised to take the girls swimming in the next couple of weeks. All good cardio and light impact.
I also have been doing plenty of walking in preparation for our fundraising walk up Snowdon and have a 10 mile walk in the Brecon Beacons planned for the 18th July. The fundraising is going very well and we hope to make a sizable donation to Basingstoke and Northampsire Hospital PMP fund.
I still get the odd aches and pains. The area around the stoma site can be tender especially when doing my shoes up. From time to time my lower back will ache and there are other odd niggles from but nothing I cant live with.
I have finally started putting some weight on too which can only be a good sign that the body is starting to recover.
Eating is now pretty much back to normal and my portion size's have increased (I guess that's why the weight is going on, coupled with my reduced exercise routine).
I still get a little more tired than I used to and again that's probably the recovery from the op and the lack of exercise.
Mentally I'm doing OK. There are odd days now when I don't think about the PMP but these are still few and far between. Last week I heard on the forum that one of my fellow PMP sufferers sadly lost his battle with the disease. He was about my age and had a wife and young family and had kept himself fit and healthy. The MOAS had not gone so well and there had been complications yet he battled on for months. The news shook me. I do hear this type of news on the forum occasionally but for some reason this one really got to me. Images of my hallucinations came flooding back to me as clear as when they happened.I felt down for a couple of days. Its so unfair that I could get through this relatively easily and this person should loose their battle.

Tonight I soaked in the bath, relaxing. I looked at my watch it was about 7pm. This time five months ago I was just coming out of theatre and being transferred to the intensive care unit.
I washed and went to get that strange blue fluff out of my belly button and stopped........oh yeah, I aint got one! I smiled to myself.....old habits die hard!