Struggles with sleep

I apologise for jumping around a little bit (from my operation to the present day, some six weeks afterwards), but I really don't feel like I have enough energy today to write the second half of my hospital experience. The reason for this is sleep, or rather, a lack of it.

Now, I am extremely grateful that, due to the skill of my surgeons and a lot of luck, my wounds have now fully healed on the outside and my pain is now restricted to when my curiosity overrules me and I prod my scar, or when I sneeze or cough. As a result, I'm able to sleep relatively well, even on my side, with suitable support from some cushions, but some nights, things just don't go right, for one reason or another, and I feel it a lot more at the  moment as I'm generally so tired anyway.

Last night was one of those nights. I half-woke up a couple of times, feeling feverish and sticky, but was so exhausted, I just tried to roll over and find a cooler section of the mattress. Having never previously had much trouble with sleeping, I have to admit that I've found this to be something that I've struggled with since my initial illness last month, and something that I hadn't considered being affected in the long-term. Hopefully, as with most things, this will settle down as things heal and I get used to my stoma, but so far here are the variety of issues currently affecting my slumber:

• going hot/cold;
• pain (recently, only due to blockages or indigestion, thankfully);
• pressure on my stoma/needing to empty my bag;
• needing to urinate (due to increased water intake); and
• being uncomfortable sleeping on my back (or, generally, not being able to easily roll onto my stomach, which I regularly did before my surgery).

I tell you something, though: at least I don't have a tube down my nose or out of my stoma bag (and taped to my leg) any more! I'm sleeping so much better at home than in the hospital ward, I really shouldn't grumble at all!