Thursday, 7 June 20127.21pm I can hear my eldest son making home made pizza so I thought that it would be a good time to get out of the kitchen and let you know what has been happening. On the cooking front I have had the thinnest victoria sandwich cake ever baked for me by my 13 year old son Nathan and I can smell cupcakes in the oven that my daughter has been making. So as you can see the cake update is going very well, the washing up is still a bit dodgy but it must simply be something to do with my kids eyesight as they seem to ignore kitchen surfaces full of cake mixture, cream, icing sugar or anything that resembles a mess. Just as a final cookery round up my wife is now in to baking bread so there is no shortage of food being put in front of me on an hourly basis.

On the bowel transplant front there isn't a massive amount to report. Since my last scope the antibiotics have started to work a little. I was sick for a number of days afterwards but over the last few days the sickness has settled a bit and is now not every night which is a relief. Stoma out put continues to mirror the weather here. Pouring for large parts of the day with the occasional break for sunshine and a dog walk. You never really get used to having a stoma, or at least I haven't. I must have some very warped mind because most days I wait till the very last minute before making a dash for it. Logic would say empty as it fills up but me, no, I can't be bothered to always get off my backside so it ends up being that mad dash. At night it is very different though, always when you are in the cosiest of sleeps the gurgles start and you wake up needing to run. Now I play the Mission impossible tune in my head every time I get out of bed!!

Perhaps one of the biggest changes over the last few weeks has actually been other people's view of me as opposed to my own view as to how I am doing. I mean I look in the mirror and see Tom Cruise, maybe a shorter Brad Pitt or perhaps on occasions Daniel Craig, others probably see Shrek or Dumbo or Woody from Toy Story. See, the same face but very different thoughts and it is a bit like that right now. Someone recently very accurately described bowel disease as an invisible illness. In other words how you look on the outside does not always reflect what is going on inside. There is a real tendency for people to assume that because you are out of hospital then you must be fine. Sometimes that really isn't the case but after a while it becomes easier to say that I am fine rather than explain my problems on a daily basis. In other words how you look and feel to yourself is often very different to how other people see you, especially those who thankfully haven't experienced what you have been through. In someways I think I find it easier to talk about other people's problems and try and be a support to them than spend time talking about my own trials and tribulations.

I am definitely starting though to do more on a daily basis. I can tell that by the fact that I get shouted at more. Mind you that is a pre requisite for having a wife and kids. Oddly though for my kids it means that a bit of normality has filtered back in to their lives and dad can just be treated as dad. As far as my wife is concerned though it just means that I am more annoying than I used to be. I get that.

Thankfully I have an extra week off from bowel transplant HQ so hopefully I am home for a little while longer. The battle of reversal vs nutrition continues. It is a bit like England V Germany at football. We go in to it full of hope but really know who will win in the end. In my case Marion, the dietitian definitely plays for Germany although she has opened a chink of light so I am hopeful that one day England will win the penalty shoot out and reversal won't be that far off.

Ok my indoor putting green is up and I have actually been to the driving range to try and swing a club. Tiger Woods I am not but then again I haven't had as many birdies as he has! Hopefully though it means my goal to play in the transplant games can still happen. I am exercising daily which is hopefully helping to improve my overall well being, just not so sure that our dog is that pleased to be dragged out in such bad weather. I have found that sometimes getting out is a good distraction for stomach pain. The bloating and bad taste in the mouth still remains although having a small bite of garlic bread a few minutes ago won't have helped. If I could get rid of the discomfort then I would really feel I am off and running. So many things to constantly be aware of, I think I need a pa just to manage myself. Then again my wife does an amazing job of knowing when to ignore things and when to step in and help. Yes I am a very lucky man.

Catch up soon and don't forget to click in to our Bowel Disease One Global Family. Link is on the right.

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Readers who submit articles must agree to our terms of use. The content is the sole responsibility of the contributor and is unmoderated. But we will react if anything that breaks the rules comes to our attention. If you wish to complain about this article, contact us here