A Good Night’s Sleep

It’s been a long time coming, but I finally got a good night’s sleep. I was still up several times during the night, but I didn’t struggle for hours with the pain or mucus and I was mercifully able to get a solid 6-7 hours. I needed it.

Overall, things seem to be trending in the right direction—albeit very slowly. We changed my ostomy appliance yesterday with no complications. There was no sign of leakage under the wafer, and the stoma itself and immediately surrounding skin looked healthy. The incision wounds remain raw and ugly, but looked no worse than they did a few days ago. If anything, they may be showing slight signs of improvement. (Because the incisions will heal from the bottom up—or inside out—it’s very difficult to see any progress during these early stages, because it’s happening well below the surface.)

All of my other issues and inconveniences—incision pain, back pain, mucus discharge discomfort, occasional odd and painful cramping, etc.—remain, but I’ve either become more accustomed to them or they’ve been less of an issue over the last couple days (though the mucus issue was out-of-control and extremely unpleasant on Friday). I was able to get out of the house a couple times over the weekend—to go grocery shopping and to visit some friends and their new baby—which was definitely a welcome change of pace. If things continue to improve (or remain steady), I may try returning to work part-time next week. If not, hopefully by the following week. But for now, as I try to do every day, I’m focused on getting through today and am hopeful it will be a little easier than yesterday. That’s all I can really ask for.