You ooze you lose

Eleven days in the hospital and all types of different surgical issues to deal with yet not once did the incision come into play. One day at home and the base of the stapled divide has decided to expel some slime. The home care nurse who made her second visit today wasn’t happy about it. We’re off to have the doctor check it out tomorrow.

Depending on what the Doc says the staples may come out tomorrow also. Renee won’t let me do it. I don’t know why. I operate a pretty mean staple remover.

We’re up to about 24 hours nausea free. Renee hasn’t taken the medicine to control the sensation all day. Her gut reaction to the introduction of small meals has been good.

Speaking of the home care nurse, she helped Renee change the bag today. Her methods differed considerably from the hospital nurses. The biggest difference is she had Renee sit up for this. In the hospital we were instructed to lie down if you have an assistant. Right in the middle of the changeover, Renee performed a stoma chuck and made a complete mess of the bathroom. To make matters worse about a half hour after the nurse had left, Renee discovered that the seal around the bag was leaking. This left even more of a mess to clean up.

Nurse Bob to the rescue, I donned my scrubs and gloves and dove in. I had been paying attention when the Stoma Nurse in the hospital gave the how to. Maybe the home care nurse needs a refresher.

Things are always a little different in practice than when you watch so it was slow going. I got the leaky bag off as there was no way to plug the seal. While Renee cringed and moaned, I cleaned the goop and crud from around the stoma, cut and attached the new bag. That seal is now tighter than a duck’s rear. The only problem may be getting it off. You are supposed to use superglue right Renee? I’ll let the weekday nurse figure that one out.

So there it was, our first ‘bagcident’ and we survived. Now excuse me while I go hose myself down.