It was only supposed to be a routine surgery
I went in the hospital to have an ovarian cyst the size of a grapefruit removed and three days later I was back in surgery with perontitis. I woke up about a month later in Shock Trauma Center. I vaguely remember coming to and feeling like a cork was in my throat. I was told months later that I had been on a ventilator for about three weeks. When my ordeak was over I would have had 18 major surgeries and numerous surigcal procedures. I spent about a month at Kernan Rehabilitation Center for 3 hours a day of physical therapy to learn how to walk and bath ect. It’s been a little over 2 years since this all happened and I can remember it like it happened yesterday. I thought I would be off work for 6 to 8 weeks and I ended up being off work 2 weeks shy of one year. I developed surgical complications from the ovarian cyst surgery as as a result developed perontitis. If you know what perontitis is it is basically a nasty infection that can spread throughout your body. I can’t really go into specifics about how I came to acquire this infection but I did end up with a colostomy bad for roughly 8 months and I was on total parenteral nutrition (TPN) which is the process of TPN will drip through a needle or catheter placed in your vein for 10 to 12 hours, once a day or five times a week. Due to the perontitis I lost a lot of abdominal tissue because the infection cause it to become necrotic. This left a large hole in my abdominal cavilty that was subsequently covered with a skin graph from my thigh. The skin graph was so, so painful and the TPN was brutal not being able to eat a single piece of food for 8 months. My faith in God was tested and through many drugs I was able to recover. I am not going to give you all the gory details of my ordeal. It has been a little over 2 years and although I can eat again and I am virtually pain free. I am mentally a mess. I go through everyday some better than others, thankful to be alive. I have many scars as my badge to remind me of what I went thru I am for the most part thankful to be alive. I am writing this to possibly help someone who is stuggling thru their trauma. Tomorrow isnt promised you can be flying high one day and flat on your back fighting for your life the next. Just enjoy life and dont take it for granted.
