Hey there, friends.

Well, I’m home from the hospital after my operation. I had surgery on Monday, and was able to come home on Thursday evening.

As I mentioned in a previous post, my fate was undetermined until I was actually in surgery.

I did end up having to have an ostomy put into place, but it is temporary. Sometime over the next few months, I will head to a GI doctor to get my Crohn’s disease under management, and then within a year or so, I should be able to have my ostomy reversed.

So, at this time I am wearing a colostomy bag. It is a huge change…made even more daunting by the fact that I also got sent home with a catheter in place to allow my bladder a little extra time to heal. That will hopefully be removed within the next week or so, and then I can actually move around the house without a leash tied to me. 😂

Thankfully, the hospital that I was at provided me with a lot of tools and information to make this transition as seamless as possible. Yes, it’s an adjustment, but it’s definitely not the end of the world.

My next step on the road to recovery is packing in the calories. I’ve got about 20 pounds to gain back, and am anxious to do so. Eating is hard right now – even the thought of food makes me nauseous, but I’m not doing myself any favors by not doing it. (Bonus – my stomach doesn’t hurt hardly at all…well, aside from the midline incision currently sealed by staples.)

I hope that you will join me on this journey as I learn how to navigate this new part of my life.

As for the rest of the family…

Eric was super-dad while I was away. I’m not surprised, though. He’s a gem. 💎

The girls have once again shown their incredible resiliency and taken everything in stride.

I’m so blessed to have these 3 amazing people by my side through all of this. I couldn’t ask for better partners for the ride. ♥️