One week to go.....

Its only one week to go now until my next visit to Basingstoke. It's strange, on the one hand I'm excited to get rid of the stoma and finally get back to normal whilst on the other hand it means going under the knife again and feeling poorly for a few weeks after.
Hopefully though this time the recovery should be much shorter and I'm hoping that within about three weeks after the op I can consider getting back to work.
The nice thing is that I can really start planning for the future again and can start looking forward to plans that I'm hatching! Number one is to book a nice holiday with the family. We have all been through a lot this last year and deserve a couple of weeks in the sun. Next I'd like to start planning a few adventures with the boys again and tie it in with some fundraising!

It's hard to believe that about a year ago all of this nightmare we have been through started.Looking back at my blog entries from the early days things were very dark and we thought our world had ended. Sure we went through some really rough times especially when the MOAS was done but we got through it. Talking to other PMP sufferers on the Christies forum its clear that I have been very lucky so far. Many people have suffered far worse than I have, not being able to have the MOAS, complications and the hospitals being unable to remove all the disease. I have been lucky indeed.

In terms of recovery from the MOAS all has gone well, my scar(s) have healed well and without problems. I have not suffered with any pain at all and feel really well. The patches of hair loss (two small patches at the back of my head) that I lost due to the chemo (I think) have now grown back. Shame about the one big patch on the top and front not caused by the chemo! In terms of weight I am still the same and havent put any on. I'm presuming this is due to the food I do eat only being in my system for 50% less time than usual and I'm just not getting the calories from it that I normally do. Once the stoma closure is done I'm hoping this will rectify itself. Whilst my food intake is increasing its still not as good as it was and portion size is smaller. I'm also missing some of the foods that I used to love, salad's, spicy foods, fruit and fizzy drinks. Again once the stoma closure is done I can get back into these and am looking forward to a curry and a beer.Energy levels are good and I'm doing without the afternoon naps and early nights. I have continued to walk and am managing some good distances now and hope that this will again help with my recovery from the next op. I'm also hoping that my overall fitness levels havent suffered too badly so that I can quickly get back to running and caving.

We are not sure what the future may hold for us but we have to make the most of our second chance and enjoy life to the full. Get this next op out of the way and then making good on our plans for days out and holidays and of course getting back to work.