Its Nuclear Rush weekend!! My Love affair with OCR continues

Once again I find myself only days away from my favourite race of the year…Nuclear Rush.  This isn’t just because this is my home team’s race.  It is due to this being the anniversary of my first ever OCR. 

All of the experiences I have had in the last few years can almost all be traced back to this date.  It is almost like the fixed point in time where my life began to really change.  

It is when the idea of writing a blog began when I started seriously training.  Its also when my relationship with Beating Bowel Cancer began.

It was shortly after this that Clinimed became aware of my activities.  Its where I began to meet my OCR family.  

Where I made some great friendships with my fellow Nukes and members of our OCR family.

It really is where most of this journey began!

Importantly it is also the first time since having my operation that I put myself outside of my comfort zone.  I had NEVER done anything like this before, even before my op!  I guess that’s what I love about OCR.  It’s the fact that it pushes everyone that competes just far enough outside of their comfort zone.  It becomes an addiction for all levels of fitness.

The real reason I hold Nuclear Rush in such high regards was probably best described in my blog last year.  Its one of the first times I recall my son looking at me with such pride.  A beaming smile watching his dad wade through a muddy bog!

http://mudbagrunner.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/nuclear-rush-forever-my-special-race.html 

This year I get to run Nuclear Rush with my wife and the following day run the Nuclear Rookies course with them both!

Looks like Rush 2015 could be my new special race....see you in the nuclear mud Saturday ;)

#LOVEMUD

So what is next?

Ever look at yourself in the mirror and wonder who it is staring back?  Wondering what the world thinks of the person looking back at you?

I’m not referring to physical vanity but instead how you are seen as a person.  Recently I have been reflecting asking the ultimate question,……..and the answer isn’t 42 (only the geeks will get that)

Yes life is good, hectic and no two days are the same.  Between, family, work (which is mad at the mo!), training, my love of OCR, Ostomy awareness, blog writing and overall desire to make the most of life I have had a number of unique experiences over the last few years. 

 

But I find myself asking is that enough?

I think it could be that life is too busy!  I have too many things on the go and as such lose enjoyment in many of them.  As I type this blog I find my mind wandering to other things, work, my desire to train.

Perhaps I have also become a victim of my own success? Eventually always asking the question ‘what next’ and answering what is next makes asking the next ‘what next’ question difficult to answer!

So What is next?

To be honest I don’t know?  Perhaps I have reached a point where the ‘what next’ also has a timescale associated to it?  I have reached a level of fitness for example that means the ‘gains’ are not always so obvious.  The better you become at things the harder it is to improve.

Perhaps it is an opportunity for me to take a step back, slow the world down a bit and concentrate on what is important?  

The one thing I do know is I’m not stopping here!  I may just bumble along for a bit but I will definitely continue to enjoy life, to train hard and play harder. 

What the last few years have definitely taught me is you never know what is around the corner….I think I just need to give myself a swift kick in the ass, get my priorities right and move forward one day at a time.

A part of my story I almost forgot!!

Once again I find myself claiming I am sooooo busy I haven't posted a blog in ages!

 Well this time its the same excuse, except...this time I have written a number of blogs that have been accepted by Clinimed/securicare.

The most revent after I was invited to the 1st Get Your Belly out Ball. #GYBO is a charity raising awareness for Chrons and Colitus, forms of IBD.

If you wanna know more check out the blog

www.securicaremedical.co.uk/Menu/Securicare-Blog/ArtMID/15413/ArticleID/53/What-The-GYBO-Ball-Was-Really-About.aspx

Anyway this made me realise I post so often about bowel cancer that Id forgotten it was an undiagnosed IBD Colitus that had progtessed to bowel cancer....so time to rectify that ;)

I have refered to IBDs but what are they you say...glad you asked ;)

What are IBD's?
Chrons and Ulcerative Colitis are forms of IBDs. They both produce symptoms of urgent and frequent diarrhoea,  rectal bleeding, fatigue and anemia (due to blood loss) Malnutrition  and weight loss are very common. The pictures of me in my mid 20's at 9 stone confirm that ;)

IBD Key facts
It is estimated that one person in every 50 are affected by a IBD.  There are around 120,000 people with UC and 90,000 it Chrons in the UK. (Source NEW choices)
These are lifelong conditions and most commonly first present in the teens and twenties (25% present in adolescence; median age at diagnosis is 29.5 years).

There is no cure. Cause is likely to be multifactorial, a combination of genetic predisposition and an abnormal reaction of the immune system to intestinal bacteria, triggered by something in the environment

Over 50% of patients with Crohn’s Disease will undergo surgery (often resulting in an Ostomy) within 10 years of diagnosis.

There is an established link between IBD and an increased risk of developing colorectal cancer.

So there you go hopefully a bit of information on IBDs raising awareness of symptons. However most importantly it was an opportunity for me to reflect and share on another part of my story.

The Ripple Effect...........One small change can have an ENOURMOUS effect

As many of you will know I have spent the last few years doing what I can to raise awareness for bowel cancer and IBD's. But whilst talking to someone at a recent charity event I realised I've referred to BBC a lot but have never really highlighted all the hard work that they do. Time to fix that....

As April is Bowel Cancer awareness month it seems appropriate :)

Their vision is a world where bowel cancer is beaten. Beating Bowel Cancer is the support and campaigning charity for everyone affected by bowel cancer.

They bring people with bowel cancer together to share experiences and create a powerful voice for change.

• promoting early diagnosis of bowel cancer
• campaigning for the highest quality treatment and care for bowel cancer patients
• raising money to fund our vital work

Each year Beating Bowel Cancer
-          distributes over 120,000 information booklets to help patients and their families understand more about bowel cancer and to support them in making vital decisions

-          Their nurse helpline receives over 3,300 contacts from people needing support

-          780,000 people visit the Beating Bowel Cancer website to find out about symptoms and get vital information about the condition

Key facts and statistics about bowel cancer
• Every half an hour someone dies of the disease
• Each year around 16,000 people die of bowel cancer
• Bowel cancer is the fourth most common cancer in the UK
• Around 110 people are diagnosed with bowel cancer every day, that’s someone every 15 minutes
• Bowel cancer affects both men and women
 
• Your lifetime risk of developing bowel cancer is 1 in 16.

Reading the statistics above hopefully now you can see why I never feel like I can do enough.

My hope is my humble ramblings create a small ripple of awareness which may in turn create someone else to create a ripple.

I hope they do......so Ill keep rambling ;)

March 16th

March 16th will always be a very memorable date in my calendar.

This was the date of my operation to remove the cancerous tumour and create my Stoma.  People have referred to this a lifesaving operation.  In some ways I suppose it was (although to be honest referring to this as 'life saving' does seem a bit dramatic!)  Either way it was the date that my life changed.

I’m not sure I have written a post with some additional details from this day.  On reflection it wasn't the most  straight forward of procedures.  If you know me, or have read these blogs that shouldn’t be a surprise :)

As I write this blog a strange visual flashback has popped up!  Just before I was wheeled down for my op the stoma nurses came by to 'draw' on where my stoma was to be located.  Strangely when this was drawn on my right side it came as a bit of a shock.  I’d gotten it into my head it would be on my left side.  Weird now how this insignificant detail bothered me?

The time came and I was wheeled into the theatre.  Due to the nature of the operations I was due to have an epidural.  This didnt quite go according to plan.  After multiple attempts they decided to sedate me and deal with this later.

My operation was due to last 3-4 hours.  Obviously at the time I wasn’t aware but due to some complications (fiscals in my bowel) the op took ALOT longer. Nearer 8 I believe!  I can only imagine how distressing this must’ve been for my wife and family.  Expecting me to return to the ward but each time they check being told I hadn’t been brought back yet and with no update!

Due to these complications an unscheduled incision was required.  Simple enough in itself, however, this additional incision was made above the point of the epidural pain relief. Meaning that all I recall when I awake was searing pain!

After some unexpected time in the recovery room and some drugs ;) I returned to my ward.  I don’t recall much as the morphine I was on really made you slip in and out of consciousness.  I do recall my step dad wanting to take a picture?  Memories are wierd things.

Unfortunatley this wasn’t the end of the challenges.  A day later during the numerous test as and checks they found my blood count was too low.  Now apparently they normally don’t like to do blood transfusions over night, in true smith style my transfer was an emergency they need to get the blood in quick.  

I recall about 3 pints being required.  As they were trying to get this into me fairly quickly I also recall my arm swelled fairly substantially.  A very bizarre sensation!

I finally started to recover from the op and my real recovery began!

Now if you read all of the above, you could assume that I look back at March 16th with a heavy heart. Focusing on the negative aspects of my operation. What it ’took’ away from me.

March 16th has become a day where I reflect on what my operation has given me..........

strange right ;)

To Declare or not to declare....that is THE question!

I do not travel much but recently I have had to travel to Europe for business.  It was on a recent trip whilst travelling through airport security that I became aware of a very unique Ostomy question. 

To declare I have a stoma or not declare?

Let me explain how this question arose:

 On the outbound journey I decided to treat my wife to a new bottle of perfume (I know nice aren’t I.)  It wasn’t until the return journey that I realized this may have been a mistake.  I had purchased the 120ml bottle of perfume after I had passed through security at Stanstead.  On my return in Belfast I now had to take my expensive 125ml bottle of perfume through the 100ml outbound security limit!  Fortunately (although probably not a good thing) the perfume was not flagged as an issue when scanned, however, I was!

Even after taking off my belt & shoes I had still failed the metal detector.  In Belfast they seem to of upgraded from the normal ‘pat down’ to a new electronic system.  You basically stand in a pod and the scanner makes a 360 degree sweep around you (see image below).  It then by the magic of technology displays any areas of ‘interest’.  I assume abnormalities/lumps bumps from what it has been programmed to think the ‘average’ human body looks like when scanned.  

You can probably now see the reason for my original question.  The machine had flagged my stoma site as ‘an area of interest’  I was then called over to be padded down in that area the traditional way but focusing on this area.

Now I know there are plenty of Ostomists in the UK & Northern Ireland but like me before my op does the rest of the population have any idea on what a stoma is?  Would this airport security guard have any idea of this strange bulge on my stomach with liquid inside.  As I wear a midi bag I must also add a bag containing what felt like over 125ml of liquid (I had been queuing for 30mins and my flight was shortly after dinner!)

What should I do?  My stoma nurses hadn’t covered this when they told me about the new challenges I would face as an Ostomist.  In this situation I’ll be honest I panicked, I didn’t say anything and ironically the security guard patted down the area, seemed happy and sent me on my way.

Whilst on the returning flight it made me think, should I declare I have a stoma?  I would’ve hated to make a scene when one wasn’t necessary.  I am happy to tell people I have an Ostomy bag, but would I want to be escorted to an isolated room to be searched?  In this security conscious times it was also a concern that the security guard hadn’t noticed (or had he?)

During my previous journeys I had passed through security with no issues.  I asked some friends in an Ostomy group about their experiences.  It was definitely a mixed bag of responses.

Since this flight I have found that you can you can get a passport of sorts for you Ostomy.  A small wallet sized card that explained in several different languages what this ‘strange’ bag of liquid stuck to your body actually is.  I have decided that being a forward thinking Ostomist next time this occurs I will use this card and explain.  Perhaps all airport security guards aren’t educated on what an Ostomy bag is.  By highlighting this to them in a professional way perhaps it could save someone else the embarrassment of it being ‘discovered’

 

If one new person learns what an Ostomy is and they educate 4 people and they then educate 4 people, well…you get the idea :)