this talk: is about going through life changing surgery as a young adult - with Saptieu Sarr
I simply came back from my holiday in Denmark, Copenhagen. On my holiday I had a scare. Maybe a small allergic reaction, but it was still scary. I came back and within 10 days of my arrival I was ill and with everything going on around me (it was a hard year) I thought I should take paracetamol just thinking that it was a stomach bug and all. Not really caring about the dosage, I was taking too much paracetamol, and I was in so much pain it was mad. I thought that maybe I’d get my period the next day or week... I went to the GP and they told me to take samples and when they checked they assumed it was a urine infection and I say ‘assumed’ because when I went back they said it was a urine infection and when I think about this I think back to real-life situations where doctors or GPs assume something without a full investigation and the patient is fully affected or worse. The second time I went to the GP they had decided that they’d give me some medication to help with the pain. I couldn’t get it that night as Asda was too far for me to walk in pain so I left it till the next day. My mum went to work and decided to get it when she finished but with my symptoms, I couldn’t wait any longer. I started to have diarrhoea and now I think that’s when my bowel stopped working. I kinda vowed to myself that I shouldn’t take paracetamol or painkillers for pain unless I’m in so much pain and can’t handle it. I don’t know what labour pains are like, but I swear that the pain I had was worst than that. I couldn’t sit upright for more than a few seconds and food would smell and taste nasty. That was the worst week.
I also noticed that my stomach was increasing not a food belly but it was swelling. It was bad.
The day I collapsed in pain I had to be taken to hospital and that was the 30th of August, 2019. I was taken to emergency surgery the next day and the surgeon had to make a quick decision.
I was in ICU for days, I think. But my memory is so bad as I was on so many drugs and I was weak. Thinking about it makes me so sad. I was drained completely. I forgot that the day I came in I wanted to tell my closest friends that I was not well and in the hospital, because I wanted them to know as they were the ones I was telling how painful my week was after my holiday. I was so weak that when I tried to pick up my phone I dropped it. I felt so useless and annoyed. I really couldn’t talk as I was so drowsy.
I can only remember that the first time I saw my bag was probably days later as I never acknowledged it as I was out of it. This may be no one's business but I had a catheter and two bags under my belly removing the waste from my stomach and body. I was a human punch bag. I had blood clot injections because I could hardly walk. I was on and off emotionally. I just couldn’t be bothered with people telling me to be positive and patient. I tried my best. I was never depressed or suicidal.
Unfortunately, I had to spent my birthday there. I went in 16, had the Op and came out 17 and not happy with the choices. I was let down many times when they gave me hope, telling me that I would leave earlier than I did. But I actually left on the 30th of September, 2019. I had the chance to stay off of college for a year or carry on and I made the decision to carry on as I love education and can’t bear to forget the basics. I was not confident and was very very very paranoid with my bag.
Now I have a much better attitude and view of life!
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