surgerycountdown

ramona41

today is sunday ..surgery is scheduled for wed at 830am. tumor is in middle of rectum. still dont know the stage i am in or what i will wake up to. If i will have a bag or temp one or not at all. went and got marked friday for a bag *just in case* Am scared and just want this over with. am afraid of the catheter too. anyone know if they put this in you after you are out?? havent been in hospital except to have babies. so am very nervous. am happy to have found this site though..

tmd

My wife had colon cancer stage 3 2 and 1/2 years .Since than had a liver resection in mar 2004 Doing very well. Always believe and keep your faith. We will pray for you. You are not alone and God will be there for you.

tmd

jsabol

Hi Ramona,
I also found the waiting for surgery to be a hard time, the not knowing about all the outcomes it tough to sit with.
To answer your question, yes, they put the urinary catheter in after you are asleep. The pre-op meds were like happy juice for me; as soon as they went in the IV tube, I was just sooooo relaxed, joking with hubby, talking a mile a minute...worries about surgery just flew out of my mind.
After surgery, be sure to be honest if you are experiencing pain. The better the pain control, the faster the healing.
Good luck to you, you are in my prayers and I'll send special thoughts out on Wednesday. Judy

KrisS

Ramona- It is normal to be anxious before surgery. As Judy said the urinary catheter goes in while you are anesthetized. (Although having had one put in at another time while I was awake, it was not that aweful.

I found the post op pain medications worked pretty well for me on one occasion. During another surgery, I was not having good control so they gave me something else which worked wonderfully. No I did not feel like leaping tall buildings in a single bound, but was up and able to cruise the halls within a day or two.

I have an ileostomy which I never had reversed after it was placed 2 yrs ago. They are not so bad to deal with and temporary ostomies are not a bad thing. If they worry at all that the surgery site may be a bit slow at healing, a temporary ostomy can reduce the risk of complications.

Best wishes for a smooth and sucessful surgery. My thoughts and prayers are with you.

Kris

jana11

Ok.... here is some surgery advice (having had great advice from a therapist who went through complicated breast cancer).

I HAD rectal cancer(still on chemo with a recurrance) but I had my first surgery Feb 2003. Ask the anesthesiologist for some relaxing meds to help you sleep the night before surgery and possibly morning of. I don't take meds unless I need to - and I am sooo glad my doctor gave me relaxing meds.

Surgery planning: Get several sleeping outfits that button down the front so you can take them off easily. Get underwear, few sizes too big, but that stay on. Cheap ones you don't mind cutting off if need be. Bring a small radio, CD box for tunes you enjoy. Buy a foam wedge to help support you when you come home... to help lay on to sleep, your abd may be VERY sore. Buy a shower head that comes off the wall to help shower easily. Get a neck supporter - your neck may be very sore after the surgery because of the posture when you are intubated. Bring lots of pictures/cards to put on the wall in your room to make it feel warm and cozy. Make sure to bring a bathrobe and slippers to walk around in.

Bring bathroom stuff from home (toothbrush, shampoo, lotion, etc... to make you feel more comfortable when you are up to caring.)

That is all I can think of right now. I was so glad someone gave the info to me... hope it helps you too.

jana

jana11

jana11 said:

Ok.... here is some surgery advice (having had great advice from a therapist who went through complicated breast cancer).

I HAD rectal cancer(still on chemo with a recurrance) but I had my first surgery Feb 2003. Ask the anesthesiologist for some relaxing meds to help you sleep the night before surgery and possibly morning of. I don't take meds unless I need to - and I am sooo glad my doctor gave me relaxing meds.

Surgery planning: Get several sleeping outfits that button down the front so you can take them off easily. Get underwear, few sizes too big, but that stay on. Cheap ones you don't mind cutting off if need be. Bring a small radio, CD box for tunes you enjoy. Buy a foam wedge to help support you when you come home... to help lay on to sleep, your abd may be VERY sore. Buy a shower head that comes off the wall to help shower easily. Get a neck supporter - your neck may be very sore after the surgery because of the posture when you are intubated. Bring lots of pictures/cards to put on the wall in your room to make it feel warm and cozy. Make sure to bring a bathrobe and slippers to walk around in.

Bring bathroom stuff from home (toothbrush, shampoo, lotion, etc... to make you feel more comfortable when you are up to caring.)

That is all I can think of right now. I was so glad someone gave the info to me... hope it helps you too.

jana

Sorry - and try not to worry, though I know how hard pre-op days are. If you trust your surgeon, know that they will take care of you. The Foley (urinary cath) isn't bad at all, and is placed once you are asleep. Removal of the cath doesn't hurt at all!!!!

The ostomy isn't great, takes some getting used to. I have had one since my surgery - and it doesn't slow me down at all AND my friends (who are doctors) told me they can't even tell - one asked me if it had been reversed!!!

Best of luck to you... we will be thinking of you.

kangatoo

jana11 said:

Sorry - and try not to worry, though I know how hard pre-op days are. If you trust your surgeon, know that they will take care of you. The Foley (urinary cath) isn't bad at all, and is placed once you are asleep. Removal of the cath doesn't hurt at all!!!!

The ostomy isn't great, takes some getting used to. I have had one since my surgery - and it doesn't slow me down at all AND my friends (who are doctors) told me they can't even tell - one asked me if it had been reversed!!!

Best of luck to you... we will be thinking of you.

Hi Ramona--you will probably get a pre.med. for a general anaesthetic, unless you have opted for an epidural anaesthetic(here in OZ I was given an option).Usually with epidurals there is no "heavy pre-med." because the anaesthetist needs you awake to place the IV in the spine.(this procedure is no big deal-painless)
When you wake up in the ICU you will be pretty much in "la la land" although you will be aware of many things going on around you.All should go well for pain control but as the others have said --don't put up with any pain other than some minor discomfort.Pain management these days is very good so you MUST tell the nurses if you have any at all--you should be made very comfortable.
Please don't worry about the surgery--hard to do I know--but it really is not as bad as you may imagine!
Yep--the catheter is nothing to worry about--and for a male I was pretty worried about that also.You really won't notice it being there although the line can be a cause of a joke or two(it was with my visiting mates!)Seriously, Ramona, it will only be a little annoying if you try to do pushups in bed!(trying to brighten your day sweetie!)They will leave the catheter in until your fluid intake/output is satisfactory so make sure that when they get you to drink fluids--drink heaps!Taking the catheter out was another of my worries too---and--I was worried about nothing.It only takes a second and "tickles" a bit, absolutely nothing to be frightened about.
Ramona--you will be fine---why?--'cos kanga says so!!
There is absolutely no-one that would say they were not scared before surgery--I sure was--but as Judy said--once you get the pre-med. you will not care what they do to you--trust me!!
Our very best Ramona---our luv from OZ--kanga n Jen

Unknown

Hi Romona, my husband diagnosed last July 2003 stage III and is currently " no evidence of disease." He went through surgery fine and so will you. Keep the faith and concentrate only on recovery and on beating this demon. God will be with you; to protect and watch over you, and all our prayers will be with you too for a speedy recovery.

Monika & Bert

johnom

Dear Ramona,
All the advice is excellent. If they offer an epidural consider doing it, it really worked for me. I had problems eventually with the NG tube, but just tell yourself it will come out. Everything else, including the catheter, the drain, the rest of it, were all quite bearable.

You will do fine, it is something you can get through and move on to your new life. I found out I was stage II afterwards. You may or may not feel instantly better whatever they say, but like everyone else writing here, you will come out fine. And then you will be over the hump toward beating this!