I sit here in a dark hospital room, watching over my brother as he sleeps. He's just underwent his second major abdominal surgery in a year. It started a year after his heart attack, when at the age of 53 the doctors said that they had discovered a mass in his colon. After a failed laparoscopy resection of his colon, they had to give him an emergency colostomy.
During a pre-surgery colonscopy to check the state of his colon, they found chronic uclerative colitis.I'm here with him now, because they went ahead with the planned surgery to remove the colostomy, however, from the beginning the surgeon was already acknowledging that there might be complications. Well the surgery did have complications, there were adhesions that have developed on his colon, and he had several ulcers in his small colon. For me, it was conclusive. He had Inflammatory Bowel Disease.
In the end of the surgery, they had to give him an ileostomy. There was just no risking connecting his large bowel, it had to heal first. Now they've said that since he's healthy, he can expect another surgery in 6 to 8 weeks to get the ileostomy removed.
It's odd to see my brother enter my world at such a late age. I guess it just goes to show that age isn't as limitation, it can manifest at any time. My heart goes out to him, really, After the heart attach, the heart surgeries, the colon surgeries, the failed resection, and now an ileostomy, he's had a tough last few years. Add to that, he must now begin treatment for IBD, So far, his will to live has been strong, but everyone has their breaking point, when enough is enough. Hopefully he'll still admire the daily miracles that happen all around us, and thus keep up the good fight...
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