last post before surgery

I wanted a couple of shots of my bonce under the dressing before the staples (36 IIRC) were removed but had no camera and the staff were rather busy getting things ready for a couple of discharges. Got a few of the wound after staple removal though - probably posted them a couple of years ago! Probably the closest I've ever come to fancy dress for halloween and it wasn't a costume! Had all faded quite well by then though, even the forehead bruising had gone down to almost normal thanks to Arnica cream and Bio oil.

Dean, all the best for a full and speedy recovery and enjoy the freedom of a bagless existence!
 
just wanted to update and say thanks for all the well wishes and words of support. been home a few days now. a little sore and had a few staples removed as they were rather close spaced and tight to the skin, still around another 45-50 to be removed. the wound where the stoma was has been a little leaky so im having dressings changed daily by the district nurse ( who i swear is an incarnation of Nurse Ratched! )
No fizzy drinks ( so no kopperberg cider arghhh ), no peas, green beans, baked beans, jacket spuds, no spicy food so no curry or chilli con carne or pepperoni pizza etc etc etc.
cant lift anything heavier than a cup of coffee ( at least im allowed that! ) so will be several weeks before i can get out with the camera gear .
Mentally much stronger and positive as of course having the reversal means im essentially back to normal again ( but with battle wounds and a little less bowel ) and of course will have to watch my diet from now on. The original emergency surgery coming out the blue the way it did and leaving me with a colostomy bag was a huge mental and emotional rollercoaster.
Physically this time round is harder as ive got the internal stitching from the re-attachment , and externally i have 3 exit wounds with the stoma hole, the sugical incision and the drain hole wound so higher risk of infection internally and externally as well as higher risk of hernia , so though i feel stronger mentally i have to keep myself in check phyiscally so as not to overdo things and do serious damage.
so the long slow road to recovery continues but with a positive bag free future to look forward too..
onwards and upwards as they say.
oh and i can fart again too woooot!
 
just wanted to update and say thanks for all the well wishes and words of support. been home a few days now. a little sore and had a few staples removed as they were rather close spaced and tight to the skin, still around another 45-50 to be removed. the wound where the stoma was has been a little leaky so im having dressings changed daily by the district nurse ( who i swear is an incarnation of Nurse Ratched! )
No fizzy drinks ( so no kopperberg cider arghhh ), no peas, green beans, baked beans, jacket spuds, no spicy food so no curry or chilli con carne or pepperoni pizza etc etc etc.
cant lift anything heavier than a cup of coffee ( at least im allowed that! ) so will be several weeks before i can get out with the camera gear .
Mentally much stronger and positive as of course having the reversal means im essentially back to normal again ( but with battle wounds and a little less bowel ) and of course will have to watch my diet from now on. The original emergency surgery coming out the blue the way it did and leaving me with a colostomy bag was a huge mental and emotional rollercoaster.
Physically this time round is harder as ive got the internal stitching from the re-attachment , and externally i have 3 exit wounds with the stoma hole, the sugical incision and the drain hole wound so higher risk of infection internally and externally as well as higher risk of hernia , so though i feel stronger mentally i have to keep myself in check phyiscally so as not to overdo things and do serious damage.
so the long slow road to recovery continues but with a positive bag free future to look forward too..
onwards and upwards as they say.
oh and i can fart again too woooot!

Dean

All pointing to a return to normal

When you can get some "spice" in your diet, save up a really good loud fart for somewhere you can get maximum effect, Chislehurst caves perhaps or the Croydon shopping centre. Bow, Smile and Sing.... You've earned it!

Steve
 
lol been wanting to go chislehurst caves for ages but missus wont go ( scaredy cat ! )

Very interesing place

Was a bomb shelter during WW2 - apparently only the tax man knew where everybody was down in the caves.

If I get down there I will give you a call. My brother lives in Chislehurst.
 
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25 miles or somethign silly if i recall of tunnels though the tour only covers 1 mile. not a place to get lost in i think at least not without a very long ball of string a flask and some cheese n marmite sarnies!
not sure what its like for shooting as i know the tours last around 45 mins and go on the hour so doesnt sound like you get much of a chance to stop , set up tripod and get some more interesting shots though if i recall they do private photography based tours though not sure of the cost for those
 
a quick look seems to quote £100 an hour minimum 2 hours for filming/ photography. quite a lot unless you have a minimum of 10 of you to split the cost.
 
a quick look seems to quote £100 an hour minimum 2 hours for filming/ photography. quite a lot unless you have a minimum of 10 of you to split the cost.

Dean

Thst could be the outline of a plan for next year.

I have a knee op mext month so by springtime I could be running!

I have a pile of manual an ttl flashguns and Yongnuo triggers (603c and 622c) if we need them.

Like anything we all need an impetus to do things and for me, I coulf make it part of a Lomdon trip aroind the areas of my childhood (though some might meed a more discrete shooting style.
...
 
have a couple of speedlites and rf603's here too so light shouldnt be a problem.. spring is def when im looking to get back out in the field again, bringing me round full circle 1 year of being out of action. missed out on the Poppies in London which is something i wanted to shoot and several of the Lancaster /spitfire flyovers too . also been itching to get back up to Battersea again before its completely ruined by glass and chrome surrounding it with the new developments.
 
have a couple of speedlites and rf603's here too so light shouldnt be a problem.. spring is def when im looking to get back out in the field again, bringing me round full circle 1 year of being out of action. missed out on the Poppies in London which is something i wanted to shoot and several of the Lancaster /spitfire flyovers too . also been itching to get back up to Battersea again before its completely ruined by glass and chrome surrounding it with the new developments.

Battersea is a must do. I have loads of pics the old North Thames Gas coking areas around Nine Elms and for the Ninè Elms coal wagon yards pre the New Covent Garden flower market and Nine Elms GPO sorting office. As a kid in 1963 I went to school in Vauxhall and our weekly swimming lessons were held at the Nine Elms Public Pool and Baths!

At that time I only had my gran's Box Brownie. The developments emanating out of St Georges Wharf are extremeĺy expensive so getting the pre full development shots could be of interest.

Steve
 
Battersea has been my biggest online seller , though im missing a couple of key shots of it from specific locations which i really need to get . though generally i prefer to shoot Battersea at night as it just looks so much better and has more impact.

Nurse has just been out , all my staples have been removed but the stoma wound is infected and now has a 5cm hole in it packed with silver coated dressings.
was one of those ok i'll think i'll look away while she deals with this . seems to be quite common to happen when stoma wounds are closed up as they are designated as a "dirty area" having been an open wound in the body for several months. the surgical and drain wound have both nicely healed with no infection.
still with it all drained and packed out hopefully ait can now start to properly heal.
does seem currently like my dressings are getting bigger not smaller and if it carries on im going to be mummified by the end of the week!

Would be nice if we got some snow over christmas as would love to get a snow covered battersea.. will just have to wait and see!
 
Battersea has been my biggest online seller , though im missing a couple of key shots of it from specific locations which i really need to get . though generally i prefer to shoot Battersea at night as it just looks so much better and has more impact.

Nurse has just been out , all my staples have been removed but the stoma wound is infected and now has a 5cm hole in it packed with silver coated dressings.
was one of those ok i'll think i'll look away while she deals with this . seems to be quite common to happen when stoma wounds are closed up as they are designated as a "dirty area" having been an open wound in the body for several months. the surgical and drain wound have both nicely healed with no infection.
still with it all drained and packed out hopefully ait can now start to properly heal.
does seem currently like my dressings are getting bigger not smaller and if it carries on im going to be mummified by the end of the week!

Would be nice if we got some snow over christmas as would love to get a snow covered battersea.. will just have to wait and see!

Dean

The silver dressings are brilliant at dealing with infection.

I had them on my left leg after I wrecked it in November 2012.

Steve
 
just an update the main scar and the drain wound all nicely healing.
the wound where the stoma was actually has a cavity behind when stitched and this had to have the staples removed and drained as there was some fluid build up.
i currently have a pico negative pressure dressing on it which has a battery powered pump that creates a vacuum and draws all the fluid away and speeds up healing.

havent wanted to look at it but today decided to get a pic taken of it. be warned its pretty graphic. this will take at leats a month to close up and heal.
look away now if even remotely squeamish!
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Dean

Its getting there!

Steve
 
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