My Lord, what a story! As someone who has dealt with more pain, hospitals and surgery than I ever want to remember (but nothing compared to yours!!), I sit here and marvel at your courage, patience and persistence. (Like what other choice, did you have, honestly ... except the obvious one.)
(Do you think substandard / incompetent care was in any way to blame for this? Just wondering!)
Three years of what you have described does indeed sound like absolute hell. And as for your Fentanyl withdrawal, that sounds like exactly what happened to me the first and only time I took it. I was literally afraid my heart was going to give out before it wore off ... which took more than 16 hours. Double what they told me to expect. Now it's on all my medical records. Don't ever give me that stuff again!!
I am glad you lived to tell the story. But I'm so sorry for what you went through. That you've managed to make lemonade out of these sour lemons is a bloomin' miracle. Good for you!
That made me laugh, you would be surprised how many people tell me that they could never survive that and your comment is spot on, you survive because there is no other viable option.
My first gastroenterologist almost killed me, sending me home just before my bowel perforated sure that I was fine, even though I had lost 20kg and was in immense pain, so I would say yes, it played a part but what happened happened, I'm alive and that's what matters most.
Thanks for taking the time to read and comment on the post, I appreciate that a lot :-)