My 10th and 11th thread change

I’ve had my 10th and 11th thread change since my last entry, and both were easy peasy. They are definitely still painful, but a LOT less. (A great suggestion is to walk after a thread change as it helps ease the pain. I rest for as long as I need and then pace the clinic to adjust to the feeling and let it kinda settle in). I then went in for my 12th thread change but doc did a clean instead. That was a bit difficult and left me walking like a penguin for the day and into the next day a bit.

I haven’t written for a while as I’ve been out and about exploring and enjoying the fact that I can. I went out for 12 hours one day and it was the first time in a year that I’ve been able to do that! That was liberating! Exhilarating! When I look back, I can see how much I’ve progressed in terms of healing. Physically a lot better and mentally a lot happier. It’s a gradual process but it’s not something I think about every day, and when I do realise how far I’ve come, it fills me with joy. I feel human again. Not such a ‘slave to pain’ as a friend put it. Sure I still have pain, but I welcome it as this pain signifies healing. In my mind I’m already fistula free.

I am now at a stage where I can go out and have adventures and see all the wonderful things that Bangalore has to offer with my fellow fistula fighters. I have formed genuine friendships from a very unusual situation! The number of patients here in the hotel has more than doubled in the last couple of weeks, and this fills me with joy because that means others are on their way to healing. I think when coming here, everyone is focused on healing which is our sole purpose, and then you have all these other amazing experiences that you didn’t anticipate, and it makes the whole thing so much more special. I’ve been here 3 months now and am feeling comfortable with everything, with day-to-day life, with my friendships, with the hotel and it’s lovely staff, with the kind locals…and in the last week there have been a couple of people declared fistula free. This served as a reminder for me that I’m pretty much next! And to be prepared! 


                                                Bangalore is colour:









a cow with a 5th leg growing out of it's back! 
just casually riding in the back of a truck...





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