Back to a Second Surgery to Complete Staging

2

Comments

  • DrienneB
    DrienneB Member Posts: 182
    Prayers for Rebecca's Mother and her Surgery

    Hi Rebecca,

    Will be praying for your mother and her surgeon, and will probably ask for some others tonight to do the same. Hoping that all is done with skill and care and that the surgery will yield the best possible outcome. Wishing peace and stamina in the upcoming weeks as she begins the other treatments.

    hugs to you,

    jane

  • rcdeman
    rcdeman Member Posts: 263 Member
    DrienneB said:

    Prayers for Rebecca's Mother and her Surgery

    Hi Rebecca,

    Will be praying for your mother and her surgeon, and will probably ask for some others tonight to do the same. Hoping that all is done with skill and care and that the surgery will yield the best possible outcome. Wishing peace and stamina in the upcoming weeks as she begins the other treatments.

    hugs to you,

    jane

    Thank you so much Jane. Any

    Thank you so much Jane. Any and all prayers are definitely appreciated! Will keep you updated!

    Love,
    Rebecca

  • Soup52
    Soup52 Member Posts: 908 Member
    Prayers for your moms

    Prayers for your moms successful surgery!

  • giggs100
    giggs100 Member Posts: 91 Member
    edited October 2016 #25
    Lymphadema

    Rebecca, about the only thing I did was kept hydrated and kept using my exercise bike. Right after my chemo treatments I had a CT scan and everything was good no radiation at this time.  Until Labor Day this year when I started having pains in my right lower back and right front groin area.  Had another CT scan and that is when 3 lymph nodes showed up swollen in size.  Then I had 16 external radiation treatments.  Am having another CT scan scheduled on Nov. 9th to see what is happening with the lymph nodes and starting another round of chemo on Nov. 11th.

    Jerri

  • rcdeman
    rcdeman Member Posts: 263 Member
    giggs100 said:

    Lymphadema

    Rebecca, about the only thing I did was kept hydrated and kept using my exercise bike. Right after my chemo treatments I had a CT scan and everything was good no radiation at this time.  Until Labor Day this year when I started having pains in my right lower back and right front groin area.  Had another CT scan and that is when 3 lymph nodes showed up swollen in size.  Then I had 16 external radiation treatments.  Am having another CT scan scheduled on Nov. 9th to see what is happening with the lymph nodes and starting another round of chemo on Nov. 11th.

    Jerri

    So sorry to hear that it came

    So sorry to hear that it came back. Praying that the radiation and chemo will get rid of the cancer for good this time!

    Love,
    Rebecca

  • Mmpeterson
    Mmpeterson Member Posts: 124
    edited October 2016 #27
    Prayers and hugs for your mom

    Prayers and hugs for your mom, yourself and family that her surgery will go extremely well!   Maryanne 

  • rcdeman
    rcdeman Member Posts: 263 Member
    I'm quite upset right now. We

    I'm quite upset right now. We went to the hospital today, and when we got there was told that the surgeon was cancelling us today due to an unspecified emergency. We have been rescheduled to Saturday. They didn't tell us about the cancellation until we arrived and didn't bother to call us beforehand even when they gotten news earlier that the doctor wasn't going to make it. My mom is especially upset becaeuse she now has to fast an additional day before surgery. Fasting and taking the magnesium citrate has been difficult for her because she is one of those petite people who can't skip a meal easily. She's lost 12 lbs ever since her hysterectomy and can't seem to gain that weight back, so this is quite upsetting.

    Sigh, I know emergencies pop up and sometimes it can't be helped, but I'm mostly upset the doctor's office were so lax and procrastinated in notifying us until the last moment when we already there waiting to be admitted at the hospital. Now it's back to the frustrating wait...

    Can you tell it's just one of those days? :(
    Rebecca

  • Diya
    Diya Member Posts: 93
    edited October 2016 #29
    Oh rebecca, i wish hospitals

    Oh rebecca, i wish hospitals were better organized than this! Surgery is such a big thing for cancer patients physically and emotionally. Not to mention the family members and friends who shuffle everything around for it. Even in case of emergency they should have called you. 

     

    Hope it goes well on saturday. Hugs and prayers for your mum.

  • Editgrl
    Editgrl Member Posts: 903 Member
    edited October 2016 #30
    I am so sorry this happened

    I am so sorry this happened to you. They absolutely should have let you know as soon as they knew.  I can totally identify with your mom not wanting to go through the whole fasting/magnesium citrate thing.  I am petite, too, and it's so hard to gain back weight once it's lost.

    Hope things go better on Saturday.

     

  • DrienneB
    DrienneB Member Posts: 182
    edited October 2016 #31
    Sorry About the Delay

    Hi Rebecca,

    So sorry for your mom and for you too. That bowel preparation is awful. I had to take a migraine medication after that wretched up-all-night thing due to the deyhdration. It's a lot to go through, and I'm sorry she will have to go through it yet again. I lost about the same amount of weight after my hysterectomy, and it's hard if you are already thin and then you begin chemo.

    Praying for you and your mother.

    -j

  • Nellasing
    Nellasing Member Posts: 528 Member
    edited October 2016 #32
    Today hasn't been very bright ...

    So very sorry that they didn't do a better job of letting you know what had happened Frown

    Prayers for you and your mom as you gather your courage around you and take another run at the hill   (((HUGS)))

  • rcdeman
    rcdeman Member Posts: 263 Member
    edited October 2016 #33
    Thanks all, I understand it

    Thanks all, I understand it can't be helped sometimes, but I was mostly upset yesterday that they didn't proactively notify us. We were actually at the hospital waiting, only to be notified way too late. And you're exactly right, Jane. The bowel preparation is pretty awful. My mom hates it and always feels quite sick and dehydrated. It also makes it more painful when she gets to the hospital and they have to insert an IV. Without water and dehydrated, it's harder to find your veins, and she's had pain and discomfort (being stuck with a needle multiple times) every single time they insert the needle to find a good vein.

  • Lou Ann M
    Lou Ann M Member Posts: 996 Member
    edited October 2016 #34
    I understand why you both

    I understand why you both would be upset.  Unless the surgeon was walking out the back door as you,were walking in the front, they should have let you know before you got there and if possible before the bowel prep.  That is so miserable.  So sorry that your mom has to go through it another time.

    Hugs and prayers for both of you, Lou Ann

  • Kvdyson
    Kvdyson Member Posts: 789
    edited October 2016 #35

    Rebecca, how did the surgery go on Saturday? Is your Mom doing okay?

  • henhill
    henhill Member Posts: 123
    rcdeman said:

    So sorry to hear that it came

    So sorry to hear that it came back. Praying that the radiation and chemo will get rid of the cancer for good this time!

    Love,
    Rebecca

    Me2

    Hi Jerri

    My cancer has returned in the same way.  I was NED for about a year when suddenly my CA 125 was elevated to 107.  Just today it was 506 after discovering 3 lymph nodes were affected.  I have a scan on Thursday and expect to go back on chemo right afterwards.  I am done with radiation.  I pray for all of us here, including this mother and daughter.  My daughter is beside herself.  God bless her surgery.

     

  • Nellasing
    Nellasing Member Posts: 528 Member
    edited October 2016 #37
    giggs100 said:

    Lymphadema

    Rebecca, about the only thing I did was kept hydrated and kept using my exercise bike. Right after my chemo treatments I had a CT scan and everything was good no radiation at this time.  Until Labor Day this year when I started having pains in my right lower back and right front groin area.  Had another CT scan and that is when 3 lymph nodes showed up swollen in size.  Then I had 16 external radiation treatments.  Am having another CT scan scheduled on Nov. 9th to see what is happening with the lymph nodes and starting another round of chemo on Nov. 11th.

    Jerri

    Sorry to hear that Jerri

    Sure hope the CT on the 9th goes well and that you get through chemo with ease.  Prayers and (((HUGS)))

  • Nellasing
    Nellasing Member Posts: 528 Member
    henhill said:

    Me2

    Hi Jerri

    My cancer has returned in the same way.  I was NED for about a year when suddenly my CA 125 was elevated to 107.  Just today it was 506 after discovering 3 lymph nodes were affected.  I have a scan on Thursday and expect to go back on chemo right afterwards.  I am done with radiation.  I pray for all of us here, including this mother and daughter.  My daughter is beside herself.  God bless her surgery.

     

    Oh dear SO SORRY

    henhill so glad you posted to help Jerri with her news... but so very sorry to hear that you are having problems Cry 

    Prayers for you and your daughter as well as your care team as you go in on Thursday for your scan... (((HUGS)))

  • rcdeman
    rcdeman Member Posts: 263 Member
    Update after Second Surgery (10/17/16)

    Thanks for inquiring Kim. It's been quite hectic this past weekend, so I didn't really have the energy to update.

    My mom's surgery was on Saturday (10/15/16) and ended up starting later than scheduled. Due to it being the weekend, the staffing seemed to be short and we had to check in through ER. We ended having to stand about 45 minutes in the ER before being issued a room. There were a bunch of mix-ups and miscommunication among the limited staff, which really didn't bode well for the rest of the day.

    Surgery took about 2 hours. Although the surgeon told us that the surgery went well (which I am grateful for), he had to reopen all the laparoscopic incisions from the first surgery and actually had to enlarge one of the incisions to remove her lesser omentum. I mentioned previously that her PET/CT scans showed that there was hypermetabolic fluid in my mom's pelvic area. The surgeron apparently found abdominal adhesions and scar tissue that formed from the first surgery which trapped this fluid in a pocket. He had to remove the scar tissue to get around and remove the fluid. I did ask about sentinel lymph node mapping before the surgery before surgery, but he said that only MSK only performed this for endometrial/uterine cancers and it's investigational. He ended up clearing the whole para-aortic area of lymph nodes... how many he removed, we have yet to know until pathology reports come out.

    So what went wrong? Usually the nurses are supposed to put you on pain meds via IV after surgery , but apparently they were too slow and the general anaethesia wore off. My mom ended up screaming in utmost pain begging for pain medication before they even did anything. Pain medication is supposed to be applied beforehand to counter the pain more effectively. My mom later told me (after she was a bit more lucid) that it felt like someone had stabbed her multiple times in the gut while being ran over by a car. Her pain was a full 12 out of 10. The nurses ended up having to give her triple the dose of medication due to their mistake. Even after the triple dose, she was still experiencing intense pain. She was dizzy for a long period afterwards as well.

    Can I just mention that one of the worst things in the world is having to watch a loved one experiencing intense pain while being helpless to help her? It's pretty horrible, and I was pretty upset with the nurses' incompetence. I advicse to never schedule a surgical procedure during the weekend when nurses are short-staffed and lax. There also seems to be minimal communication and a lot of confusion between the departments, something we didn't experience the last time we were here (on a Thursday in the weekday).

    I have to mention that before surgery my mom was pretty calm because she thought this time around would be quicker and even less painful. She didn't experience any intense pain during the first surgery so she went into this second surgery thinking it would be similar. Little did we know... :(

    Although Saturday and Sunday was really bad, fortunately things seem to be improving slightly today. My mom's doing a bit better in terms of pain although she still has to take hydrocodone every 4 hours. She doesn't have much of an appetite because of stomach pains and bloatedness. Unfortunately, both of her legs have started swelling up, something that didn't happen last time. We're afraid that this may be the start of lymphadema.

    Her pathology reports have not been released yet and should be available sometime this week. The surgeon did a second peritoneal wash, removed her lesser omentum, as well as the general para-aortic area. We will see what the results are. With all the pain she had to go through this time and the swelling, it would be a double-blow if the results are bleak. I am praying 24/7 right now for good results, and as you know the wait is quite excruciating.

    Please continue to pray for my mom! Thank you so much!

    Love,
    Rebecca

  • Nellasing
    Nellasing Member Posts: 528 Member
    rcdeman said:

    Update after Second Surgery (10/17/16)

    Thanks for inquiring Kim. It's been quite hectic this past weekend, so I didn't really have the energy to update.

    My mom's surgery was on Saturday (10/15/16) and ended up starting later than scheduled. Due to it being the weekend, the staffing seemed to be short and we had to check in through ER. We ended having to stand about 45 minutes in the ER before being issued a room. There were a bunch of mix-ups and miscommunication among the limited staff, which really didn't bode well for the rest of the day.

    Surgery took about 2 hours. Although the surgeon told us that the surgery went well (which I am grateful for), he had to reopen all the laparoscopic incisions from the first surgery and actually had to enlarge one of the incisions to remove her lesser omentum. I mentioned previously that her PET/CT scans showed that there was hypermetabolic fluid in my mom's pelvic area. The surgeron apparently found abdominal adhesions and scar tissue that formed from the first surgery which trapped this fluid in a pocket. He had to remove the scar tissue to get around and remove the fluid. I did ask about sentinel lymph node mapping before the surgery before surgery, but he said that only MSK only performed this for endometrial/uterine cancers and it's investigational. He ended up clearing the whole para-aortic area of lymph nodes... how many he removed, we have yet to know until pathology reports come out.

    So what went wrong? Usually the nurses are supposed to put you on pain meds via IV after surgery , but apparently they were too slow and the general anaethesia wore off. My mom ended up screaming in utmost pain begging for pain medication before they even did anything. Pain medication is supposed to be applied beforehand to counter the pain more effectively. My mom later told me (after she was a bit more lucid) that it felt like someone had stabbed her multiple times in the gut while being ran over by a car. Her pain was a full 12 out of 10. The nurses ended up having to give her triple the dose of medication due to their mistake. Even after the triple dose, she was still experiencing intense pain. She was dizzy for a long period afterwards as well.

    Can I just mention that one of the worst things in the world is having to watch a loved one experiencing intense pain while being helpless to help her? It's pretty horrible, and I was pretty upset with the nurses' incompetence. I advicse to never schedule a surgical procedure during the weekend when nurses are short-staffed and lax. There also seems to be minimal communication and a lot of confusion between the departments, something we didn't experience the last time we were here (on a Thursday in the weekday).

    I have to mention that before surgery my mom was pretty calm because she thought this time around would be quicker and even less painful. She didn't experience any intense pain during the first surgery so she went into this second surgery thinking it would be similar. Little did we know... :(

    Although Saturday and Sunday was really bad, fortunately things seem to be improving slightly today. My mom's doing a bit better in terms of pain although she still has to take hydrocodone every 4 hours. She doesn't have much of an appetite because of stomach pains and bloatedness. Unfortunately, both of her legs have started swelling up, something that didn't happen last time. We're afraid that this may be the start of lymphadema.

    Her pathology reports have not been released yet and should be available sometime this week. The surgeon did a second peritoneal wash, removed her lesser omentum, as well as the general para-aortic area. We will see what the results are. With all the pain she had to go through this time and the swelling, it would be a double-blow if the results are bleak. I am praying 24/7 right now for good results, and as you know the wait is quite excruciating.

    Please continue to pray for my mom! Thank you so much!

    Love,
    Rebecca

    Oh Rebecca

    That is just awful- really really awful and I am so very sorry!!!!  You need to file a complaint with the hospital but I know you have your hands full right now- that should have NEVER happened - your poor mama and poor you my heart is breaking Cry

    Sending prayers for pain relief- quick recovery- rest and healing for your mom and for you too! 

    I hope you are taking care of yourself- it is in times of extreme stress when things get turned on in the body that aren't supposed to and you need to guard against getting run down or overly stuck in the sympathetic nervous system.  Make sure you are getting as much rest, water, good food, exercise as you can.

    Also sending prayers for good results- you are not alone and I hope you can feel the love and prayers- do you have other family/friends supporting you both?

    (((HUGS)))

  • MAbound
    MAbound Member Posts: 1,168 Member
    edited October 2016 #41
    !

    And I thought I had it bad post-op when lack of care led me to develop ileus after my abdominal hysterectomy. I wouldn't call the nurses incompetent, though. Staffing is usually the issue and that's the hospital's shortcoming. And to have this happen after the cancellation, wow, just wow!