Tuesday 13th April- Ten week anniversary.

Ten weeks,where has that gone?! Its hard to imagine that this time ten weeks ago I was still in the operating theatre (19:30hrs GMT) having started at 07:00hrs. This last few weeks have gone really well. I feel well, better than I have done for ages and am now ready to carry on from the point I left off. I feel that I can start thinking about doing some of the things that I did prior to my operation. Of course I have to take things easy, slowly getting back to normal and taking note of what my body is telling me and when it complains, take a step back.
The stoma I feel is now holding me back a bit. When I do go out for the day I have to plan carefully and ensure that there are facilities nearby for me to use periodically. When you enjoy the wilderness, walking and caving this can limit you. So these things will have to wait a little longer.
I visited work last week for the first time since the operation. It was good to see some friendly faces and catch up with whats been going on. I discussed starting to do some work from home. I'm lucky enough to have access from home and have identified a number of non time critical (non stressful!) projects that I can do for a couple of hours a day. This way I can phase my return to work and keep myself busy whilst also contributing a bit.
I did manage a couple of walks over the last few weeks. Over the Easter weekend we walked from Oldbury Court to Snuff Mills. Just Tracey,Chloe,Jess and me. We took a picnic and sat and ate before heading for the playground for the kids to have some fun. It was a great few hours and nice to get out, quality family time.
The following week I managed to walk the furthest so far. My good friend Jon and I walked the Bristol cycle path to Bitton station and back. It was a beautiful sunny day and there were loads of people about. At the station we stopped for a rest and and sat and ate an ice cream. We took a steady stroll back and luckily for us at the point where we get off to head back to mine there is a pub so we stopped for a pint and watched some of the Grand national on the big screen.
Physically as well as feeling good, results and tests are going well too. I phoned for the latest blood test results today and found out that my platelets have fallen below 700 and are now at 535. This should mean that I can now finally stop the Aspirin,I find out for sure tomorrow. If this is the case then all I'm left with is the penicillin and as I now have no spleen will remain on these possibly for life. My weight still hasnt changed and I'm holding stready at just below 11 stones. I'm eating well now but still not quite back to normal in terms of volume. I dont think that this will change until after the reversal.
I have also spoken to Sue Alves(specialist nurse) in the last week who has indicated that the Stoma reversal should take place in "early May". This will mean another stay at Basingstoke and Northamptonshire Hospital for around a week or so and then recovery at home after that. Then hopefully I get back to normal, return to work full time, book a family holiday, start walking (Pen-Y-Ffan & Snowdon are planned for this year) and caving (next year I hope to be fit enough to go back to Derbyshire and tackle Titan),pull on my trainers and go for a nice long run. I cant wait.......