Everyone - I'd like you to meet Chuck.

Well tomorrow is three weeks since surgery and I have to say the time has absolutely flown by. It's like I blinked. Today I finally got the last of my staples out - a little bit of stinging but nothing too serious and I'm finally ready to introduce you all to Chuck.

Chuck is the name of my Stoma - which is the medical term for the small intestine that is now protruding out of a hole on the right side of my stomach. Here is a picture of what a stoma looks like - it's not my stoma because I didn't feel like taking off my bag and getting all cleaned up for one picture so this is an internet picture, but they all pretty much look the same. (This one is way more healed than mine is right now - I still have disolvable stitches around mine and it's got a more crater look to it. Plus they shrink as they heal so every couple of days mine is getting smaller.)

This is what my tummy looks like now while I'm wearing my bag. You'll notice in the top picture the appliance has a ring that is like tupperware and that is how you change the bag. The sticky part on my skin gets changed once every four or five days. I can shower, bathe, swim and all that good stuff with it. The bag usually sits in my pants waist band so you can't even tell I have one.

I have what is called an ileostomy. That is where my small intestine is sticking out of my body and something that I have to keep in mind is that it is a surgically made hernia so it is healing and will always be a little bit weak and I'll always have to be a little bit careful of it.

Basically this bag fills with poo all day long and I empty it several times depending on what I'm eating and how often I'm eating. I won't lie - my first day of really being aware and taking care of it in the hospital was not a good day. On top of the fact you have to get used to all this surgery and pain - the bags they stick on you in the hospital are clear because doctors and nurses insist on knowing what kind of poo you have, how much you have, how often you have it and all that stuff. Not good times. I'm much happier now that I'm at home, it's a private thing and the bags I have are not see through. Much nicer.

First impressions - it's weird. I compare it to waking up with boy parts. A guy's equipment moves around during the day and does its thing and guys are used to it and its no big deal. Stomas are constantly moving - the same way your intestine constantly moves in your stomach to push food through your digestive system. The difference is when it's all in your abdominal cavity you can't feel it, but when it's on the side of your body you notice it.

A very nice lady named Liz from the Edmonton Ostomy Society called me right after I got home from the hospital and we spoke for probably about 45 minutes. She's had her ileostomy for 35 years and was a great help to me. She had great advice, was a good listener and even has two cats of her own and warned me to watch out for what she calls her little bag busters - they can puncture your bag with their claws if you're not careful. Good to know and not something I had thought of - especially since I have two little bag busters of my own.

Now I have to say that she was honest with me and said that all ostomy patients had accidents and we carry kits to make sure we're prepared. I had to say that as a Crohn's patient I would be lying if I said I hadn't had any accidents before the ostomy so really this is just a new thing for me to learn to live with.

As I'm going along there are huge advantages to this fabulous bag. I don't have anymore abdominal pain from illness. There are no more "oh my god I have to find a bathroom right freakin' now or I'm going to mess myself" feelings and even more important - if the bathroom is gross I don't have to use it. I can wait and empty the bag in a more clean and better environment. It means car trips are going to be easier, life is going to be easier and I may even start sleeping through the night. Oh yeah - and when I pass gas no one can smell it or anything. I don't have any control over anything like that and sometimes the gas noises that the bag makes are a bit funny - but now I can fart in an elevator and no one would be the wiser. Nice!

When I first got home from the hospital we had some problems with some bag blow outs. I am currently coming down off prednisone and one of the side effects is terrible night sweats - so much that I would wake up and the sticky part wouldn't be stuck to me anymore and I would be coated in a nice layer of poop. Those 2 a.m. bag changes complete with clean up certainly teach you how to take care of things for yourself way faster than home care nurses.

Paul has been really awesome, getting up and helping me get cleaned up. We haven't had a blow out night for about a week and we're both very happy for that. I have learned that if you eat really gassy foods during the day you can wake up with something that looks like the Snoopy blimp on the side of your body - and I've heard that some ostomy patients get so gassy they have blow outs from that but I'm not up to eating that way just yet. Paul is my official "cutter" and he fits the sticky part on my skin. It's still painful for me to bend over or look down too far so I can't see the bottom of Chuck very well and he has a better view. Plus on top of that the first time I tried to cut through the hard plastic part that fits around the stoma I slipped with the scissors and gashed my thumb open. I think I must have failed arts and crafts in school. 

So I've named my stoma Chuck because I don't want to call it the Stoma all the time and besides he "up chucks" my food so I thought it was appropriate. 

I have healing pain still, but I haven't had to take any pain killers for three or four days now. I get tired very easily. Going around the house isn't too bad but tonight the trip to the doctor's office and then a trip to Shopper's to buy some Polysporin was enough to wear me out.

I eat six times a day right now - part of the small stomach thing. It's small plates of food but I pretty much nap and then eat, nap and then eat. Last night I actually had to get up in the middle of the night to eat because I was so hungry. My body doesn't get liquid and salt the way it used to so I've had to make adjustments for that. But as the weeks go by I get to eat what I used to - I have a chocolate bar in the pantry with my name on it - and my stomach stretches a little more all the time. When I first got home from the hospital one piece of toast with too much peanut butter was enough to put me over the edge pain wise - now I can actually have two pieces of toast in the morning and be okay as long as I don't over do it with the peanut butter.

So there you have it. I'm healing slowly but surely - slower because of the steroids. I am eating, resting and generally not able to do a lot of anything as of yet. Still can't lift a milk jug and I have to be careful with any twisting motions. It means sleeping at night is a bit of an adventure. I can't just roll over and be comfortable and there is barely enough room for Paul in bed with all the pillows I need to prop me up.

In about a year we will consider doing the surgery to put me back together but I have to be honest and say at this time it's not something I'm even remotely interested in. Turns out I can get pregnant and everything with this little bag and going through surgery pain is not something I'm eager to try out if I don't have to. The size of my one scar is enough for now.

I am going to be attending a couple of Ostomy Society meetings - they don't have a lot of younger people and I really would have liked someone around my age to talk to at the hospital. My ET nurse (she's my ostomy nurse) is awesome, but it's not the same as talking to a 30-something about what it really means for daily life. I hope maybe I can visit ostomy patients at the hospital and help them - it's something I'll be looking into. I'm also hoping Paul will become involved in the spouse support group they have. They have a few wives but from the sound of it no husbands. Our partners go through it just like we do - with different emotions and even though I'm extremely lucky (Paul assures me it doesn't gross him out - he knows it's poo but it's not the same he says) I'm sure other people aren't as lucky.

Thank you to everyone for your well wishes. I'm doing well - still not able to do things like shower without my shower chair or walk very far but every day is better. Life doesn't have to be perfect to be great!