Surgery

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tko683
tko683 Member Posts: 264 Member
in Colorectal Cancer #1
Hi everyone! My husband is scheduled to have rectal surgery in 3 weeks. He had liver surgery on 11-30-11. I was just wondering if anyone had any advice, things to expect, what to do or not to do. The plan is for him to get a temporary ileostomy also. I wondered if this surgery is going to be as bad as the liver surgery or maybe worse. Anything I can do to help him? He hated being in the hospital before so I just am so stressed about the whole situation. We aren't even scheduled to meet with the stoma nurse until the week before the surgery so we have no idea of supplies or anything yet. Any advice is welcome. Thanks for your help. God Bless you all. Teri

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  • Lovekitties
    Lovekitties Member Posts: 3,364 Member
    #2
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    Dear Teri
    Take a deep breath and try to let some calm wash over you.

    Yes, surgery is always a big deal but if you have a good surgeon things should go smoothly.

    I never had liver surgery so can't compare, but I did have perm colostomy, removal of rectum and anus, and total hysterectomy. While it was not a walk in the park, it could have been worse. I did have a second 'invasion' before leaving hospital due to a twisted bowel. I was in hospital about 3 weeks, about 7 days longer than originally expected.

    Meeting the stoma nurse a week before the surgery is about normal. She will mark the best spot, and give you info about supplies, etc. If you want info before that I recommend getting the following book:

    The Ostomy Book: Living Comfortably with Colostomies, Ileostomies, and Urostomies by
    Barbara Dorr Mullen and Kerry Anne McGinn RN BSN OCN.

    It is very informative. You may be able to find it at your library or local book store. I know it is available at Amazon on-line. The authors are mother and daughter (mother had ostomy and daughter is ostomy nurse).

    Once out of surgery there are two things they will be wanting to happen...walking as much as able to start the bowel working again and to see output from the bowel. Any supplies needed during his stay will be provided by the hospital. If you don't have a local supplier you can get on-line and look up Holister and ConvaTec, major suppliers. Call them up and they will work with you to send out sample boxes to get you started.

    If you look at the profile for John23 he has listed his personal recommendations regarding the care of an iliostomy. At the top of the page on the right is "search CSN members", slick on that and then enter John23 into the screen name box. When it brings up the little icon, click on that and you should be able to get to the info.

    Keep us posted on how hubby is doing and don't hesitate to ask about anything you are concerned about or don't understand. We will always try to help.

    Hugs,

    Marie who loves kitties
  • tommycat
    tommycat Member Posts: 790 Member
    #3
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    Hi Teri,
    I had rectal
    Hi Teri,
    I had rectal surgery and a temporary ilestomy for a year. Getting used to the ilestomy was awkward at first, but surprisingly easy once you get the hang of it. Your husband will have someone teach him how to use it while he's in the hospital, and ideally--insurance willing--he will have home health care for a bit when he first goes home.
    His stoma will shrink in size and once it settles into that size, applying the bag will become easier because the openings are pre-cut.
    I used the Hollister brand and really liked it. The brand the hospital used was very flimsy, so please remember there are plenty of choices.
    There is much to say on his upcoming surgery, but I don't want to overload you.
    Hope this helps for now~
  • tko683
    tko683 Member Posts: 264 Member
    #4
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    tommycat said:

    Hi Teri,
    I had rectal
    Hi Teri,
    I had rectal surgery and a temporary ilestomy for a year. Getting used to the ilestomy was awkward at first, but surprisingly easy once you get the hang of it. Your husband will have someone teach him how to use it while he's in the hospital, and ideally--insurance willing--he will have home health care for a bit when he first goes home.
    His stoma will shrink in size and once it settles into that size, applying the bag will become easier because the openings are pre-cut.
    I used the Hollister brand and really liked it. The brand the hospital used was very flimsy, so please remember there are plenty of choices.
    There is much to say on his upcoming surgery, but I don't want to overload you.
    Hope this helps for now~

    Marie who loves kittens and Tommycat
    Thanks for the advice. I will try to look for that book. I tend to overwhelm myself with too much information at times like this but I would rather have too much information than the opposite. I have read some about the surgery on here since he was diagnosed in June of last year but I think I forgot about some of the details since we were first dealing with the liver surgery. The surgeon told us he would have the temporary ilestomy until he was done with chemo which should be September. Tommycat did you have to wait a year because of complication or was that your surgeon's recommendation? Thanks again for being so helpful! Hugs, Teri
  • tommycat
    tommycat Member Posts: 790 Member
    #5
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    tko683 said:

    Marie who loves kittens and Tommycat
    Thanks for the advice. I will try to look for that book. I tend to overwhelm myself with too much information at times like this but I would rather have too much information than the opposite. I have read some about the surgery on here since he was diagnosed in June of last year but I think I forgot about some of the details since we were first dealing with the liver surgery. The surgeon told us he would have the temporary ilestomy until he was done with chemo which should be September. Tommycat did you have to wait a year because of complication or was that your surgeon's recommendation? Thanks again for being so helpful! Hugs, Teri

    I waited a year because of
    I waited a year because of complications---on the bright side it gave me and my bum more healing time from all of the radiation....
    My tumor was low in the rectum, and between the surgery scarring and the radiation burns, I developed a serious stricture. So the surgeon made me a new opening. Then that took time to heal.
    A side note to all of this: When I found out I was going to have a bag I was mortified and afraid. Having the ilestomy turned out to be not so bad, and there were times after my reconnection that I really missed it.
    Good luck with everything Teri, and please ask questions along the way.
    Oh! If you haven't already done so, type in "resection" or "take down" in the CSN search engine---you'll be sure to find all sorts of useful advice. :)
  • Varmint5
    Varmint5 Member Posts: 384 Member
    #6
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    Hi Teri...
    I am not the patient, I am the mom of the patient, my daughter, age 32. We got some good information from the stoma nurse at the hospital but the best thing was using the lists and ordering samples from everywhere. They had used Convatec supplies for her at the hospital and we got samples of those. I've been an RN for years and had worked a bit with ostomy patients and I can tell you honestly that I've never seen anything as nice as the Coloplast system that we tried on my daughter. So that's what she's using now. It's easy to manage, easy to snap onto the base unlike some of the "tupperware" types, nice opening for emptying unlike the ones where the bag just "ends" in a cutoff, and she loves it. We got her supplies from Liberator Medical but I know there are lots of companies out there. It was listed on the info from the stoma nurse. Maybe Liberator Medical were the ones to send us the samples, I can't remember. In my experience it seems most of the hospitals around here send people home with Convatec or Hollister supplies.

    I mention Liberator Medical because that is the one we ended up going with because they got the Coloplast supplies covered by her insurance. Some of the other companies didn't carry them or said the insurance would not pay for them. She paid nothing out of pocket. I am not any kind of "spokesman" for Liberator Medical, and we had some issues with an incomplete order, etc. but got those straightened out. Not sure we would use them again, but they did get her the Coloplast supplies.

    Good luck to your husband. You probably already know that the best thing he can do after the surgery is to walk, walk, walk to get those bowels going again.
  • tko683
    tko683 Member Posts: 264 Member
    #7
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    tommycat said:

    I waited a year because of
    I waited a year because of complications---on the bright side it gave me and my bum more healing time from all of the radiation....
    My tumor was low in the rectum, and between the surgery scarring and the radiation burns, I developed a serious stricture. So the surgeon made me a new opening. Then that took time to heal.
    A side note to all of this: When I found out I was going to have a bag I was mortified and afraid. Having the ilestomy turned out to be not so bad, and there were times after my reconnection that I really missed it.
    Good luck with everything Teri, and please ask questions along the way.
    Oh! If you haven't already done so, type in "resection" or "take down" in the CSN search engine---you'll be sure to find all sorts of useful advice. :)

    Thanks Tommycat
    Funny you should say that I have read many posts about people wishing they never had the reversal which is understandable. I'm so glad to see you doing so well now. It sounds like you had a lot of surgery and treatments. It is nice to see people like you doing so well. You are an inspiration to everyone. I'm sure you will hear more from me! Thanks!
  • tko683
    tko683 Member Posts: 264 Member
    #8
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    Varmint5 said:

    Hi Teri...
    I am not the patient, I am the mom of the patient, my daughter, age 32. We got some good information from the stoma nurse at the hospital but the best thing was using the lists and ordering samples from everywhere. They had used Convatec supplies for her at the hospital and we got samples of those. I've been an RN for years and had worked a bit with ostomy patients and I can tell you honestly that I've never seen anything as nice as the Coloplast system that we tried on my daughter. So that's what she's using now. It's easy to manage, easy to snap onto the base unlike some of the "tupperware" types, nice opening for emptying unlike the ones where the bag just "ends" in a cutoff, and she loves it. We got her supplies from Liberator Medical but I know there are lots of companies out there. It was listed on the info from the stoma nurse. Maybe Liberator Medical were the ones to send us the samples, I can't remember. In my experience it seems most of the hospitals around here send people home with Convatec or Hollister supplies.

    I mention Liberator Medical because that is the one we ended up going with because they got the Coloplast supplies covered by her insurance. Some of the other companies didn't carry them or said the insurance would not pay for them. She paid nothing out of pocket. I am not any kind of "spokesman" for Liberator Medical, and we had some issues with an incomplete order, etc. but got those straightened out. Not sure we would use them again, but they did get her the Coloplast supplies.

    Good luck to your husband. You probably already know that the best thing he can do after the surgery is to walk, walk, walk to get those bowels going again.

    Thanks Varmint5
    I appreciate all the information on the ileostomy supplies. That is really helpful. I would like to try to get some samples just so we can see. Thanks so much for all the information! Hope your daughter is doing well now. I keep seeing young people on here with this cancer soo scary. My oldest is 22 and I feel like he needs a colonscopy now....so scary....Hugs to you both!
  • Varmint5
    Varmint5 Member Posts: 384 Member
    #9
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    Hi Teri...
    I must have done something and posted my response twice - sorry! Anyway, I've deleted this one since it was a repeat of the other one. Good luck!

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