Question regarding post op

pam716

My father was released from the hospital 7 days after surgery. Seemed to be doing well in the hospital. Last two night have been horrible for him. He is experiencing lots of spasms and has more pain than he seemed to have in the hospital. The pain thing is really our fault. He said he did not need the liquid Oxycodine that the Dr prescribed so we did not get it filled. I tried to get it filled yesterday and could not find a pharamacy that could fill it. Finally found one 1 hour away from home and was able to get it filled early this morning so I am hoping that we can get the pain thing under control. Has anyone experienced these spasms? Is there anything that we can do? We are going to also have a nurse come today to change the dressings and I will ask her but I thought possibly someone would have any idea of what could help. The food thing is also not going that great. Yesterday he felt like nothing was going down and was kind of stuck in his throat and he is experiencing reflux for the first time in his life. Is there anyway we can make him more comfortable or help him? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

NGC1514

Suggestions
Number 1. Call the surgeon ASAP.
Number 2. Call the surgeon ASAP.
Number 3. See number 1 and 2.

This is not the sort of problem you want to discuss here, but could be a life-threatening situation if your father is developing a late leak at his anastomosis. A friend is in the hospital, and has been for the last 3 weeks, recovering from such a leak and he nearly died because of massive infection in his chest from the leak.

Once this problem is resolved, please tell your father that no medals are given out for the unnecessary tolerance of pain. Nothing good comes from suffering pain and it appears that pain slows the healing process.

From the Mayo website:
"If you're having surgery, it's natural to have concerns — or even fears — about the pain following the procedure. Some pain is common after surgery, but you shouldn't have to endure severe pain. Pain medications are a key part of your recovery. Well-controlled pain using pain medications can speed healing and lead to fewer complications. "

My best to your father and the family, but please... CALL THE SURGEON!

Eric in Atlanta

pam716

NGC1514 said:

Suggestions
Number 1. Call the surgeon ASAP.
Number 2. Call the surgeon ASAP.
Number 3. See number 1 and 2.

This is not the sort of problem you want to discuss here, but could be a life-threatening situation if your father is developing a late leak at his anastomosis. A friend is in the hospital, and has been for the last 3 weeks, recovering from such a leak and he nearly died because of massive infection in his chest from the leak.

Once this problem is resolved, please tell your father that no medals are given out for the unnecessary tolerance of pain. Nothing good comes from suffering pain and it appears that pain slows the healing process.

From the Mayo website:
"If you're having surgery, it's natural to have concerns — or even fears — about the pain following the procedure. Some pain is common after surgery, but you shouldn't have to endure severe pain. Pain medications are a key part of your recovery. Well-controlled pain using pain medications can speed healing and lead to fewer complications. "

My best to your father and the family, but please... CALL THE SURGEON!

Eric in Atlanta

Thank you Eric
I placed a call to the surgeon and will receive a call back within 20 minutes. We are really unsure of who to call sometimes. My Dad said it was normal in the hospital but he experienced it almost all night last night

Heeran

I will pray for a speedy
I will pray for a speedy answer from your surgeon, diagnosis of the problem, and solution. What a frightening experience you and your dad must be going through. Please keep us informed of progress.

pam716

Heeran said:

I will pray for a speedy
I will pray for a speedy answer from your surgeon, diagnosis of the problem, and solution. What a frightening experience you and your dad must be going through. Please keep us informed of progress.

Thank You Heeran for your prayers
The surgeon did call back and thinks that the spasms are related to the speed of infusion on the night feeding and possibly to the amount of food my father was attempting to ingest by mouth. My father hates the tube feedings and pushed it too much in an attempt to be able to begin to cut down the amount of time on the night feed. We also had a visit from the home health care nurse which is a godsend. She reinforced to my dad the need for pain management. She is also going to check with the surgeon again to see if there is anything in addition that can be done for the spasms since he had some when she was there.

NGC1514

pam716 said:

Thank You Heeran for your prayers
The surgeon did call back and thinks that the spasms are related to the speed of infusion on the night feeding and possibly to the amount of food my father was attempting to ingest by mouth. My father hates the tube feedings and pushed it too much in an attempt to be able to begin to cut down the amount of time on the night feed. We also had a visit from the home health care nurse which is a godsend. She reinforced to my dad the need for pain management. She is also going to check with the surgeon again to see if there is anything in addition that can be done for the spasms since he had some when she was there.

Overeating is a bane to our existence...
It took me years to learn not to overeat and my post-cancer life became more bearable once I did. I was a BIG eater before diagnosis and was packing on the pounds until I weighed close to 220 pounds at the time I was diagnosed.

After surgery, eating was the toughest thing I had to re-learn, but was eating pretty well 6 months later. So well that I'd tend to eat too much for my new, re-engineered digestive system. One bite too many lead to gagging, retching, choking and general misery for a couple hours.

It's good your father feels like he can eat. I had no choice because my J tube fell out at the hospital and was never replaced. I HAD to eat, but lost an additional 16 pounds in the two weeks between leaving the hospital and my first appointment with the surgeon post-op. So, it's good about your father, but not so much at one sitting!

It's a long healing process and he's doing everything possible to extend it even further. If he really wants to help his healing, make sure he starts walking every day. My wife (a physician) would take me out for a daily "drag around the block" - actually, the first day we walked 100 feet to the neighbor's driveway and back and slowly extended the distance until - several months later - I could make it around the block (a mile or so and every foot of it was UPHILL!) I hated the walking and fought it tooth and nail, but I think (and don't you EVER tell her this!) that it was a critical part of my healing process.

Suggest to your father that he slows down on the eating - at least for the first few weeks. He may not like it, but he's not doing himself any favors by making himself sick by eating too much.

Eric in Atlanta

sandy1943

Make sure your dad is
Make sure your dad is sleeping elevated. This is something that most of us have to do to control reflux. I sleep with a 7 in.wedge and a pillow. As long as I stay on the wedge my reflux is controlled.

Eric gave good advice on exercising. Make sure he walks a little each day. Not only does it help regain strength, it also helps control depression.

The whole eating process is learning a new way of eating. Praying each day will get better,
Sandra

NGC1514

sandy1943 said:

Make sure your dad is
Make sure your dad is sleeping elevated. This is something that most of us have to do to control reflux. I sleep with a 7 in.wedge and a pillow. As long as I stay on the wedge my reflux is controlled.

Eric gave good advice on exercising. Make sure he walks a little each day. Not only does it help regain strength, it also helps control depression.

The whole eating process is learning a new way of eating. Praying each day will get better,
Sandra

Bump
A bump to bring the double post back up to the top.

Eric in Atlanta

JimboC

My hope is that your father
My hope is that your father is doing better since this post is a few days old. I too was released 7 days after surgery with an RX for Roxicet. I learned while I was in the hospital that pain was a brutal thing. I skipped my pain meds once because I was feeling good only to have it come back with a vengance shortly there after. Worst part is that once pain returns it is tough to get back under control so from that I learned to stay ahead of it. My advice for everyone is for a while, no matter how good you are feeling, keep on the pain meds to keep ahead of the pain. We never know what is going to trigger a pain outbreak with a procedure as tough as the esophagectomy even if it is the MIE. Once I was a few weeks out, I moved the time between doses apart more and more until ultimately just using it for outbreaks.

As others have mentioned, the eating is a whole new learning experience. One of the keys I found was chewing completely and eating slowly. Portion size is very important. Everyone is different but I never try to eat more than 1/3 of what I would have pre-op. Drinking with meals is now a big no no. For me it's just too much. As for the reflux, I would recommend checking with his doctor. I am on Pepcid and Dexilant both for acid control. Never, no matter how much he is tempted, lay down any sooner than 2-3 hours after eating and always sleep inclined. Sleeping inclined was toughest for me since I was a lifelong side sleeper.