Eric Tapley

I met with the surgery team and a variety of specialists at Boston Medical Center on Friday for pre-operation stuff. What kind of stuff? Questions about my medical history, testing, someone else asking the same medical history questions, more testing, more medical history questions, testing, one long wait, and then more testing integrated with medical history questions. It’s frustrating that each test starts with the same set of background questions (don’t they have a central database with this info by now?), but I am glad they are thorough.

And just for reference, no I’m not allergic to latex or penicillin.

I am tested and questioned out. But that’s what it takes to be cleared for surgery. Now everything is all set for next Wednesday, June 29th, when I’ll have the colostomy bag removed and the ileostomy reversed. Prior to that I just need to drink a lot of fluids, stop ingesting anything 24 hours before the surgery, and use some bowel cleaning magnesium citrate to ensure I’m truly emptied out.

After this surgery I will be recovering for 3-7 days in the hospital, depending on how quickly I bounce back, and then I should be able to return to a light life schedule after arriving home. I will have a new abdominal incision to watch and be careful of, and will continue on the low-residue, low-fiber diet I’ve followed for the past 2 months. This is it for the surgeries, though.

Yea!