Other Chat DCC

[Neo Emolga]

Ah wow, great to see there are still people around! Hope you guys are doing well!

I've had a lot going on recently, actually. I need to go in for a colorectal surgery on the 18th as I had a pretty severe lower GI bleed back in September that landed me in the ER for two days and they found the growth that was causing it was cancerous after doing a biopsy. They think it may have been fully removed but I opted to have this surgery done to make absolutely sure, because that is not a thing I want to chance coming back. Thankfully it was caught and it was only a stage 1, but geez, it's a bit concerning. But yeah, once the surgery is done, I'll be in the hospital likely until the 21st.

The "low residue" diet I'll need to go on after that is pretty limiting. Basically fruits, nuts, vegetables, grains, seeds, chocolate, and anything fried are all things that need to be avoided, but white rice, white bread, potatoes (no skins), broiled meat, and a small amount of low-fat milk are ok. Coffee and tea will also need to be decaf. Beyond that, no lifting heavy weights and no driving. Definitely going to need to go shopping next week to load up on the stuff I'm going to need to prepare for this, because it's going to be a really weird diet for a while.

[Cleobel]

Best of luck with your colorectal surgery and low residue diet, Neo! I'm very sorry you had a lower GI bleed, had to go to the ER, had a cancerous growth, and will have to return to the hospital soon. I can't imagine how painful and stressful it must have been. It's great that the cancerous growth was caught early, though. I really hope you will be cancer-free after this surgery, if you aren't already.

Also, hi Dragon Master Mike!

[Neo Emolga]

Thanks, yeah, the diet and activity restrictions are going to be for four weeks, so while it will affect Thanksgiving and I'll likely be limited to the turkey and mashed potatoes only, things will be back to normal come Christmas.

Because of the weight-lifting restriction, I decided this weekend I'll clean the house and then next weekend I'll take care of the leaves in the backyard and put up Christmas decorations a few weeks early. Otherwise it'll need to wait until December 16 and that feels kind of late. I'm also going to need to go to a few post-op follow-up visits to the doctors, but at least those will only be one-day things.

Hopefully by the time 2026 comes, all this stuff will be resolved.

[Cleobel]

Good luck with cleaning the house, taking care of the leaves in the backyard and putting up Christmas decorations! I really hope the post-op follow-up visits will go alright as well. I'm sorry your diet and activity restrictions will last so long and interfere with Thanksgiving.

[Neo Emolga]

Thanks, managed to get half of the house cleaned up today and I should be good for cleaning the rest tomorrow. I've also been stocking up on the stuff I'm going to need for this 4-week diet. Today was the shopping run and I managed to get most of the stuff. So between what I got today and what I just got from Amazon, I should be good for a while.

And yeah, I hope this surgery goes well and post-op recovery goes smoothly. Thankfully I'll be asleep during the actual procedure itself.

[Cleobel]

Congratulations on the tasks you have completed so far! Good luck with the ones you still need to do!

[Neo Emolga]

Yep, managed to get the house fully cleaned up, so at least that's all set. Next weekend will be for taking care of the leaves in the backyard and putting up Christmas decorations, as I don't think I'll be able to do those after the surgery. There's a 10lb weight-lifting restriction and I think both the Christmas tree and the nativity scene manger (it's a pretty big nativity scene) exceed that. Not to mention all the boxes and bags all the stuff is in probably go beyond that weight, too.

I think if I'm only able to bring stuff down from the attic and at least set up the tree and nativity scene, that should be ok. But it would be nice to have everything done before the procedure happens, and just use the weekends after to rest up and recover.

[Cleobel]

Congrats on getting your house fully cleaned up! Good luck with taking care of the leaves in the backyard and putting up Christmas decorations! I really hope you will be able to get everything done before your surgery.

[Neo Emolga]

Thanks, right now I'm at the stage where I can't eat corn, popcorn, nuts, beans, or seeds. It sounds easy at first, but it's easy to forget all the places where nuts and seeds might lurk. I didn't think about it at first but even tomato slices have seeds in them. Strawberries are also full of seeds. Some granola bars have them, too (plus the nuts!). It knocks out more foods than you'd think!

And Monday comes the REAL fun! Nothing to eat for a full day, only water. And on top of that, I'd got three rounds of anti-infection pills that I need to take at very specific times in the afternoon, two laxative drink mixes to drink at different times at night, and more water to go with that. I'd say I'm pretty good at guzzling water, though. We'll see how it goes, but I definitely plan to pay very close attention to it and make sure I follow this all to the letter.

And then yeah, on Tuesday, it's off to the surgery center and I can't eat or drink anything at all until the procedure is done.

[Cleobel]

Best of luck with the next few days, Neo! A day and a half without eating and half a day without drinking is going to be really tough.