Hey guys, you all have been so supportive, and many pm's here and in discord have been asking for an update. I may be giving out TMI but I think I'm well past that at this point anyway, and I don't care, u guys are awesome and I'm not ashamed.
I had another tube removed yesterday, and final tube removed today (still hurts where it was though), and the doctor expects to send me home sometime tomorrow/Sunday but he couldn't promise. Still, I'm confident tomorrow is the day, as he has been saying Sunday for the last 3 days in a row now.
I spoke to my 4 boys for the first time on the phone in 10 days earlier today. Omg after we hung up I was balling like a baby but I was strong while talking to them. We're making plans to see the new Mario movie in theaters when it comes out, and generally looking forward to seeing each other again. I f'ing miss helping my 8yr old with his reading and we're gonna start doing that again asap (I'm proud to say I can read Greek at a better level than my 8yr old, lol, at least for now, but I'm even more proud of him).
I will have to self administer abdomen shots for 10 days. And after 10 days my stomach staples should be ready to come out.
At around the 2 month mark they will do a colonoscopy and check for more damage and if more surgery is warranted. If some bowel/tumor needs removal it will be a surgery similar in seriousness to this one and that would happen no sooner than around the 4 month mark.
If another serious surgery is needed then I'll have to keep the colostomy bag for another 4 months (so around the 8 month mark, around October-ish). If I'm all clear then the surgery at the 4 month mark will be minor to remove the colostomy bag. So either way I'm guaranteed some kind of surgery in 4 months at the start of June.
My work has been amazing so far. Without me asking they've given me time off until March (but if I can I may work from home a bit sooner to help the team out during our busy season). After that we'll see. I'm sure I'll be allowed to work from home for awhile, but if it's all the way until October.... That's a long time I hope it won't be an issue. I could in theory return to the office with my colostomy bag, but it would be strange to be sitting at a meeting and hearing/smelling uncontrollable bodily functions. Ppl live full lives with these "shit bags", heck I can in theory even swim with mine, but it's strange. I'm very lucky that for me it should be 4-8 months of it, if I had to live the rest of my life like this it would be very difficult to stay positive.
I also recently learned that what I'm suffering from is a serious case of the same thing Brock Lesnar had, explained here:
https://www.thesportster.com/wwe-brock-lesnar-history-with-diverticulitis-explained/
Now I have some martial arts training and used to teach nunchucks and other weapons, but I'm no Brock, lol. I recently (before illness) lost about 20kg, and in the last 10 days another 5-10kg, but I'm still about 100kg and should probably be down to 90 or 85kg based on my height/build. So yeah, my gut isn't helping my stomach staple situation, but I'm lucky I already started losing some lbs before all this (due to stress and yard work). And I promised my doctor to get to at least 90kg by June for my next surgery, it makes his job easier and obv improves my outlook/health.
This last part might sound crazy, but despite the hard road ahead, and the pain, I am the HAPPIEST I've been in years. I've been so worried and stressed about things outside my control (mostly the asshat I hired to build my home, who stopped working and wants more money even though he's been paid more than the work completed so far, and leaks, and other issues blah blah blah). I have been so depressed, especially since we moved into this construction zone and builders started ignoring us and stopped working back in September. I am legit HAPPY. My toilet and bathtub broke (brand new house remember) a week ago and my wife didn't have the heart to tell me because of all I'm dealing with. But I am so blessed that one of my friends came over, despite being sick with the flu, and fixed it all. They only told me after it was all fixed. I have another friend who's helping me hang curtains in the new house so I can rest without the sun interrupting me. My parents are buying me a new electric recliner so I can be more comfortable (omg my back is killing me now from hospital bed, so bad), and I have friends /family arranging to deliver it and carry it to my room tomorrow before I'm released. I have so much love and support from friends and family and THIS COMMUNITY. I was going down a dark depressed road, I have now changed course, the future is so much brighter. The road may be bumpier with all my issues and pain, but I'm not walking the path alone anymore.... Maybe I never was, but now I don't feel alone. I feel happy and blessed and lucky. So what if my bedroom is missing a wall for now? Or my builder was paid to build me a garage that's nonexistent. That will come in time and will be built by someone new I actually trust. The house is warm, I have a roof over my head and the heads of my kids (which mostly doesn't leak these days
), and everything else will get done in due time. I don't need my shit to be 100% together to be happy anymore (pun intended, lol)
Anyway, this turned out to be way longer and more detailed than expected. I'm sure I could go on but I'm going to stop here cuz it's time to rest, tomorrow is a big day, and I'm going to see my boys again for the first time in 11 days! I'm already planning darth Vader "more machine than man" jokes to tell them, of course followed by the promise that I won't turn evil like Vader did, lol!
Stay positive everyone, be nice to each other, pay it forward, etc. You are all amazing
) Stormtrooper avatar is iconic, and I can’t imagine how many people owe him for years upon years of support, especially when it comes to the Wii mod scene. Sending my best wishes of a speedy recovery, stay strong!
