Cancer 184

Well, I am healthy again, as far as healthy goes with my body. When I say healthy, I mean unhealthy, because my latest worry is my hernia. Nothing can be easily contained within my abdominal area (apart from cancer, so far), and that is increasingly true of my hernia.

My hernia is a result of the operation, where my abdomen was split from top to bottom to remove cancerous nasties and my lower colon, and from having a permanent abdominal hole that is my stoma.

It is growing, poking out. It hurts when I cough. I cannot cough unexpectedly because I have to hold on to the hernia so it doesn’t explode, taking my guts with it. The hernia belt I use (thrupence from Amazon), does its best, and I replace it every few weeks, but as Scottie might have it, ‘I can’t hold her Jim, she’s breaking up’. The belts recommended by the hospital don’t work because they crush the stoma bag, leading to awful leaks. Not a good idea.

I don’t know if there is an operation I could have. Is it worth it for someone in my situation? What I need is to go to a vineyard, find a cooper, and get him to fit a metal belt. That would be a barrel of laughs….