Things learned during a recent illness

Here's the short version.......my first colonoscopy in early January found abnormalities, a pre-cancerous lesion that needed to be removed through a second colonoscopy last Thursday. I had complications, ended up getting admitted to the hospital. The removal of the lesion created a situation where now I need to eat a low fiber/low residue diet (short term) to give my colon time to heal and not dislodge the clips/staples holding the colon together. Here's what I learned, in no particular order:

1. Its very easy to pass up food on the "off limits" list when the consequences are dire. At a super bowl party last night I was not the least bit tempted to eat the pepperoni stuffed bread, the bean dip and chips or anything else I wasn't supposed to. I was certainly disappointed and wished I could eat it but it never occurred to me to actually eat it. I was so afraid it would cause me problems that it was easy to say NO. I need to find a way to translate that into everyday life when I am tempted by foods.

2. I really do eat very healthy most of the time. Low fiber/low residue means nothing with added fiber, nothing with whole grains, excludes most fruits and veggies, no nuts or seeds. I couldn't find a single snack in my house that satisfied the low fiber/low residue requirement. Even when I buy white bread its the whole grain kind. My new diet consists of all the stuff I usually don't eat a lot of.....white pasta, white bread. It made me realize I'm really doing quite well in the eating department....and I hope to get back to that real soon!

3. My fitness program has paid off. I normally have low blood pressure and a low resting heart rate. When my blood pressure dropped to 70/40 they grew very concerned, and it certainly is a low number. But my normal pressure is usually about 100/60. At one point they brought someone in to reassess me because they were concerned about my heart rate (59). It finally occurred to them to ask if I worked out. Once I told them my routine they were comfortable with my heart rate. Basically, I was the healthiest sick person they'd seen in a while

4. I'm OK at the weight I am right now. I've been feeling bad about the 5 pounds I gained back in 2013. I'm still below goal and still happy with how I look but I feel like a bit of a failure for gaining some back. I've struggled with it for many months. At some point one of the nurses was helping me get back into bed and said something about me being such a tiny woman. It made me think about perspective and made me realize I need to not get so caught up in the numbers. Someone called me tiny......whoo hooo!!!!

5. Eating right and exercising doesn't make you immune to illness or bad news from your doctor. I've got a bit of a road ahead of me now.......restricted diet, no exercise. A recheck next week and then another colonoscopy in 3 months to make sure they got the whole lesion out. Eating right and exercising does make your recovery easier though. Being in generally healthy condition when something bad happens increases your chances of full recovery.

6. Testing really does save lives........the surgeon who removed the lesion told us the first doc who found the lesion saved my life. It was big but in a hard to see part of my colon. It could have easily gone undetected until it was too late. This was a routine screening colonoscopy because I hit the BIG 50 in July 2013....I had no symptoms or problems.

If you remember nothing else from this post.......remember to schedule your screening colonoscopy....it could save your life!