Sonny Surgery Plus 2

WHW

Good morning all,

It's a lovely Saturday morning, I am in my apartment at Henry Ford and this is the beginning of the second day from surgery.

The surgery went well. The dr. said that from appearances he believes that the cancer was confined to the walnut. We'll know for sure in another 4 days. He said that he was able to save all of the major nerves and quite a bit of the minor. On a scale of 100 he said I was a 94. I'll take that.

Woke up a bit surprised to find no Foley only the Supra Pubic Catheter. He said that the surgery went so well that they didn't see the need for the Foley. Really like the way this Dr. thinks.

There is discomfort for sure. I had one Tylenol #3 the night of the surgery, but have not taken anything else for pain since. Not being a tough guy. But there really isn't what I would call pain yet. Oh wait, forgot about coughing. Now that is a sharpe pain. Why didn't any of your guys tell me about hugging the pillow tight to the belly when coughing. The nurse finally told me yesterday afternoon just before I left the hospital. That really helps a lot, except if you cough in the middle of the night.

So now it is just day to day in the apartment here on the hospital grounds. Little bit of a schedule change though. Don't have to spend as many days here as I thought. On Monday I remove the last of the two thin leads that connect the pain meds pump to my abdomen. Monday I also start the bladder cycling. It's where you turn off the valve from the cath to the bag and let it back up in the bladder for 2-3 hours. Then you go the normal way. Then you turn the valve back on and measure how much is left in the bladder. This lets you know if you are emptying the bladder completely. You do this all during the day for two days. Then on Wednesday they take the catheter OUT.

Since they take the cath out at 8:30am on Wednesday, I should be able to take the plane home at 6:30pm on Wednesday instead of the one I have on Friday. Kinda like that.

There have been a couple of little surprises also.

I was telling the discharge nurse that I had a headache and just plain cloudy feeling in my brain. She asked how much coffee I usually drank each day. I also told her that I thought this would be a good time to quit smoking, so I threw them away on my way to the hospital Thursday morning. She told me to drink one cup of coffee in the mornings and go by a pack of cigarettes. She said I could quit when I got home and had recovered. My body was dealing with enough right now and didn't need the added stress.

The patient liasion came to see me and told me that my four month check-up would be in January. In January Dr. Menon and his staff attend a big conference in Las Vegas. He has all of his patients fly out there for the check-ups. Says it's much better than going to Detroit in Jan. He throws a big gala dinner party for all of his patients. My wife says she is liking this Dr. better and better each day.

This guy is something else. I saw him in the hall a couple of hours before my surgery. I introduced myself to him (it's been 4-5 weeks since he met me)and told him I would see him in a few hours. His first response was to ask about my wife. He remembered tht she had been in the hospital when I came to see him the first time. After surgery when I finally was able to talk on the phone I called my wife. I asked her if anyone had called when the surgery was over and she said the Dr. himself called and talked for about 15 minutes. I haven't see or heard too often about Dr.s going that kind of extra mile. Makes me feel good about my decision.

So today I'll just do a little walking, drink a lot of water and work on that first really good "F*RT". I know it's in there. I gotta start letting the gas out sooner or later. Don't need to add to the body trama by backing up the plumbing any more than it is. Those of you that have been here before no what I mean.

Thank you all for your prayers, blessings and support. You have been a tremendous comfort to me and my wife throughout this process. We have felt secure in the fact that we have not made this trip alone.

Thank you all,

Sonny

lewvino

Glad to hear you on
Glad to hear you on recovering. Good luck flying home, and when you start on the stop smoking plan.
Larry (lewvino)

WHW

lewvino said:

Glad to hear you on
Glad to hear you on recovering. Good luck flying home, and when you start on the stop smoking plan.
Larry (lewvino)

Thanks Larry
Thank you for the kind words. Good to hear from you again. Everything seems to be going according to schedule.

I am going back over to the hospital today to ask a question though. The nurses on the Urology floor said to come back anytime. They would get a resident if I need one.

The question: The pinky finger on both hands and the ring finger to a lesser degree are kinda numb and tingling. You know like when an extremity goes to sleep for lack of blood or something. It's a bit worrisome. Woke me up last night with the burning kind of tingle and cramping. Want to know what's causing it.

Did you experience anything like this?

Sonny

novaguy

Congratulations, Sonny, and
Congratulations, Sonny, and welcome to the "other side." Doesn't it feel great to have the surgery done with, so you can just concentrate on healing? Your experience seems to be very similar to mine so far, except for that supra catherer.

Here's a couple of pointers. About the cough, yes it hurts, and the pillow helps, but it's best if you can keep from coughing hard. What I did was to clear my throat as much as possible instead of coughing, and getting phlegm out that way. To help with this, I used Mucinex, which kept the phlegm in my throat fluid enough that I could clear it without coughing. My doctor's nurse told me using Mucinex was fine. After a couple of weeks you will be able to cough without nearly as much pain.

About the plane trip. My doctor told me the most dangerous side effect from this kind of surgery is deep vein thrombosis (DVT), where a blood clot forms deep in a leg vein and can break off and get into the lungs. He said it's just a small risk that declines over the first few weeks, but if it happens it is very dangerous. So he told me to keep my legs up as much as possible, and walk a little bit once an hour. I used an easy chair, and since I couldn't sleep on my side I slept right on that easy chair for the first five days or so. During the day I would get up every hour and walk around the house, then around the block when I felt strong enough. He even prescribed some medicine to thin the blood. Back to the plane trip, you will be sitting with your legs dangling down, and the lower pressure in the cabin makes it even more important that you flex your leg muscles and, if possible, get up and walk around the cabin every now and then.

Your nurse is right about the coffee, I pretty much gave it up. Instead I'm drinking hot green tea in the morning and have gotten to like it. Plus, as you know, it's great for prostate health. I figure that even though I no longer have a prostate, anything I can do to keep this disease from coming back is good.

Congratulations again, and may God be with you through your recovery.

NM

novaguy said:

Congratulations, Sonny, and
Congratulations, Sonny, and welcome to the "other side." Doesn't it feel great to have the surgery done with, so you can just concentrate on healing? Your experience seems to be very similar to mine so far, except for that supra catherer.

Here's a couple of pointers. About the cough, yes it hurts, and the pillow helps, but it's best if you can keep from coughing hard. What I did was to clear my throat as much as possible instead of coughing, and getting phlegm out that way. To help with this, I used Mucinex, which kept the phlegm in my throat fluid enough that I could clear it without coughing. My doctor's nurse told me using Mucinex was fine. After a couple of weeks you will be able to cough without nearly as much pain.

About the plane trip. My doctor told me the most dangerous side effect from this kind of surgery is deep vein thrombosis (DVT), where a blood clot forms deep in a leg vein and can break off and get into the lungs. He said it's just a small risk that declines over the first few weeks, but if it happens it is very dangerous. So he told me to keep my legs up as much as possible, and walk a little bit once an hour. I used an easy chair, and since I couldn't sleep on my side I slept right on that easy chair for the first five days or so. During the day I would get up every hour and walk around the house, then around the block when I felt strong enough. He even prescribed some medicine to thin the blood. Back to the plane trip, you will be sitting with your legs dangling down, and the lower pressure in the cabin makes it even more important that you flex your leg muscles and, if possible, get up and walk around the cabin every now and then.

Your nurse is right about the coffee, I pretty much gave it up. Instead I'm drinking hot green tea in the morning and have gotten to like it. Plus, as you know, it's great for prostate health. I figure that even though I no longer have a prostate, anything I can do to keep this disease from coming back is good.

Congratulations again, and may God be with you through your recovery.

Sonny
Sounds good so far, my greatest hurdle was gas pain. Im so glad to hear all went well Sonny and if you dont mind im curious about the catheter you have.Please keep us posted about it as I had the good ol foley. I will keep you and yours in my prayers. One more thing I had no coughing problems so I didnt know about the pillow......Good luck in your recovery it sound like your off to an excellent start.....Nick

Olee

NM said:

Sonny
Sounds good so far, my greatest hurdle was gas pain. Im so glad to hear all went well Sonny and if you dont mind im curious about the catheter you have.Please keep us posted about it as I had the good ol foley. I will keep you and yours in my prayers. One more thing I had no coughing problems so I didnt know about the pillow......Good luck in your recovery it sound like your off to an excellent start.....Nick

So good to hear you are
So good to hear you are doing well Sonny. I wish you well on your recovery. Now it's time for you to heal and enjoy life.

lewvino

WHW said:

Thanks Larry
Thank you for the kind words. Good to hear from you again. Everything seems to be going according to schedule.

I am going back over to the hospital today to ask a question though. The nurses on the Urology floor said to come back anytime. They would get a resident if I need one.

The question: The pinky finger on both hands and the ring finger to a lesser degree are kinda numb and tingling. You know like when an extremity goes to sleep for lack of blood or something. It's a bit worrisome. Woke me up last night with the burning kind of tingle and cramping. Want to know what's causing it.

Did you experience anything like this?

Sonny

Sonny, No I haven't noticed
Sonny, No I haven't noticed anything like that post surgery. This past week I've had more pain then before but now today it seems to have settled down. No change in my activities so i guess just different areas healing up. Also this past week my testicles have had pain. Thought that would have been sooner rather then now.

Still having success with the levitra! I got my first shipment from alldaychemist with no problems.

Larry

saoco

Thanks God your surgery is
Thanks God your surgery is over and you doing fine.

luckyman2

Congratulations!
Sonny, Congratulations on going through the surgery. Everything just gets better from here on. Just be patient. As for giving up smoking, that will happen in due time and it will be one of the most important events in your life, right up there with what you just went through with prostate cancer. My surgery was on November 5, 2007. I gave up cigarettes long before that. In fact I had my last cigarette on June 2, 1989 at 5:00PM at a table by the window of my favourite restaurant. My wife commented that it's funny how I could remember it such detail, but that I couldn't remember the first time I made love. I replied, "I was very good at smoking!"

wxman

luckyman2 said:

Congratulations!
Sonny, Congratulations on going through the surgery. Everything just gets better from here on. Just be patient. As for giving up smoking, that will happen in due time and it will be one of the most important events in your life, right up there with what you just went through with prostate cancer. My surgery was on November 5, 2007. I gave up cigarettes long before that. In fact I had my last cigarette on June 2, 1989 at 5:00PM at a table by the window of my favourite restaurant. My wife commented that it's funny how I could remember it such detail, but that I couldn't remember the first time I made love. I replied, "I was very good at smoking!"

Hi Sonny,It sounds like
Hi Sonny,

It sounds like you're doing well! I'm about 2 1/2 weeks after and overall doing well too. You may have some days not as quite as good as the day before, but overall you should continue to improve. We'll continue to pray for you. Thanks for sharing your good news with us!

lja3

Questions on Catheter
Sonny,

I am new to this site,but like others, very glad to hear your surgery success. Could you please tell me more about the foley and Supra Pubic Catheter? I haven't had this technical of a discussion with my Dr. yet. I am 55, have a Gleason of 7 (4+3),and saw my psa go from 1.4 to 3.2 over 18 months. No tumor yet but am going to have radical prostamectemy on November 9th. It will be done with a da Vinci. My wife and I are pleased with our Dr. and his experience, honesty, and compassion.

Thanks for anything you can share about the experience regarding the catheter.

Larry

dopplerjockey

Good wishes
Hey Sonny,
Like all of us out here on this board, we are glad to hear that you are getting along OK. I understand the tobacco thing, as I was going to quit chewing Skoal after surgery, and the surgeon in Boise suggested that I rethink that, claiming that I would have enough to handle without going through nicotene withdrawl, so I bagged it for now.
And yes, that bloated, gas retention was difficult for me also. Even now, I don't like the feeling of pressure from bowel gas. Just need to fart now and then ! LOL Oh, and my wife just reminded me to tell all the guys our there to purchase an inflatable donut, as it really helps in the acute phase post-operatively. It takes away some of that pressure. I used it for about 4 weeks whenever seated at the dining table, and for the 4 hour ride home from Boise to our home 8 days after surgery.
Glad that your Doc is doing a good job communicating with you and your wife, I'm sure it makes all the diff. in the world.
Continue to get better and get home, we are all cheering for you.
Dallas

MWA1028

Sonny
So happy to hear that you came through this experience just fine. That is so great to hear. Prayers do help. My thoughts are with you for a speedy & well deserved recovery.