Husbands surgery in a week

mef123

My husband is having his surgery next Tuesday. We've talked to the surgeon obviously. But I thought I would ask all of you what to expect. I'm very anxious and so his my husband, he's 39 and fit so I'm hoping that will help.

Michele

neons356

Hard to say


Hi Michelle,
Not much info, but if they're going in they'll be at the very least going to look at his intestines, going through a lot of tissue and muscle on the way. So it's going to hurt to say the least, but with pain killers, morphine on demand, etc the pain should be manageable. What else they may or may not do depends on what they find once they get in there and look around. He may come out of surgery with a colostomy which could be permanent or temporary. They may just take out a section and sew the ends together. Probably no way to know at this point. He'll probably be in the hospital until they get bowel sounds, which is indication that the intestines are beginning to function, and there's peristalsis. It took my guts a long time to get to working, so I had to be in for quite a long while. See what others think, but I'd plan on his not coming home for a week to 10 days.
Once home, he'll be told to take it easy, not lift anything, careful bending down, etc to give the incision time to heal. What he can or can't eat is impossible to say. I'd recommend starting off easy and see what happens. If it's hard to eat, stock up on Ensure. It's pretty much a meal in a can, has lots of good nutrition. I pretty much had nothing much else for quite a while as it was the only thing that would stay down.
Hope this helps, you'll probably have others here giving their thoughts. Sorry you have to be on this journey but just try to keep remembering that it will all be in the past and your lives will get back to 'normal' before you know it. Good luck,
Carl

tommycat

Hi Michelle,
Is he having
Hi Michelle,
Is he having surgery for rectal or colon cancer? Did he do radiation and chemo beforehand? Could you share a little bit more about his diagnosis? There are many many people on this board who have had multiple incarnations of treatment depending on the cancer (type, location, etc).
Welcome to the Board...it's open 24/7.
Your Friend in California~

mef123

husbands surgery
He has colon cancer and he's had chemo and radiation. So now it's time for the surgery, then chemo again. The surgeon was really happy at the size of the tumor now. It has shrunk a lot, I guess. I'm really nervous about the surgery and don't know what to expect, I mean I know he'll be in a lot of pain but what else.

Michele

RobinKaye

mef123 said:

husbands surgery
He has colon cancer and he's had chemo and radiation. So now it's time for the surgery, then chemo again. The surgeon was really happy at the size of the tumor now. It has shrunk a lot, I guess. I'm really nervous about the surgery and don't know what to expect, I mean I know he'll be in a lot of pain but what else.

Michele

Husbands surgery
My husband had surgery on 2/17 for rectal cancer, 3 cm from the anal verge. The tumor had shrunk enough with the chemorad that the surgeon could save the sphincter muscle and reconnect his colon. He has a tempoary ileostomy.

As for what happens, it was tough. Jim had an epidural for pain, I don't think he would go there again, the itching was unbearable. He knew that could be a side affect but no way expected it to be that bad. Since he's been home he has had quite a bit of pain, more in his back than the incision though that hurts as well. He's been weak and it's hard to get him to eat or drink enough. Tomorrow he is getting hydration at home. If you are offered home health care take it. I wasn't interested but so glad I did. The ileostomy causes him to lose a lot of fluids. It's important to try and eat which helps solidify the output.

Jim also had two doses of FOLFOX right before surgery which really knocked him out, he was barely getting his strength back when it was time for surgery. I'm sure this played a part in how he is feeling now. Your husband is younger so he might sail right through this with little problem.

Good Luck, just think when this is over you're two thirds of the way home.

RobinKaye

mef123 said:

husbands surgery
He has colon cancer and he's had chemo and radiation. So now it's time for the surgery, then chemo again. The surgeon was really happy at the size of the tumor now. It has shrunk a lot, I guess. I'm really nervous about the surgery and don't know what to expect, I mean I know he'll be in a lot of pain but what else.

Michele

Husbands surgery
Double post

mef123

RobinKaye said:

Husbands surgery
My husband had surgery on 2/17 for rectal cancer, 3 cm from the anal verge. The tumor had shrunk enough with the chemorad that the surgeon could save the sphincter muscle and reconnect his colon. He has a tempoary ileostomy.

As for what happens, it was tough. Jim had an epidural for pain, I don't think he would go there again, the itching was unbearable. He knew that could be a side affect but no way expected it to be that bad. Since he's been home he has had quite a bit of pain, more in his back than the incision though that hurts as well. He's been weak and it's hard to get him to eat or drink enough. Tomorrow he is getting hydration at home. If you are offered home health care take it. I wasn't interested but so glad I did. The ileostomy causes him to lose a lot of fluids. It's important to try and eat which helps solidify the output.

Jim also had two doses of FOLFOX right before surgery which really knocked him out, he was barely getting his strength back when it was time for surgery. I'm sure this played a part in how he is feeling now. Your husband is younger so he might sail right through this with little problem.

Good Luck, just think when this is over you're two thirds of the way home.

husbands surgery
oh, I can't wait til we are all the way home

He also will have an epidural. I never knew itching was a side effect. I even had one when I had our son. Mine didn't work right, it would work on one side and then they would tell me to turn to the other side and then that side would start working and not the first side. Anyhoo, thank you for your response it is very informative, we seem to be doing everything close together.

Good luck

Michele

mef123

husbands surgery
One more question, will he have a tube in his nose down to his belly? Someone told him that he will for the gas. I don't know it that's true so I figured I would ask.

Michele

herdizziness

Michele
When it comes to the surgery, you can expect to be anxious, especially the night before, and you will be anxious the whole time he is in surgery, because surgery is always scary, even the little surgeries.
But please calm your thoughts with knowing that this is a WONDERFUL surgery, because they are cutting out the cancer and that all will be WELL and go SMOOTHLY, these surgeons are very practiced in their area of specialty and are EXCELLENT at what they do.
I had liver/colon/ureter surgery at the same time and didn't have a tube down my nose, so I can't answer you on that, and if he did, they would do it while he's sleeping. They come in the morning of surgery and fit him for his IV (look for the best possible vein since it will be there a while taking in many IV's) and give a pill to make him happy and groggy and then he don't remember a thing until waking up in the ICU. They did have a tube go through the neck though, a LARGE tube, they cut the neck on the right side front and inserted the tube there, I think that's what will happen, but cannot be sure. You don't feel the thing and they take it out after the surgery,and since I was nicely doped up, I can't remember exactly when they took it out, and I did not feel it leaving, I just remember it was there.
Getting up and walking around when they first ask him to, will be a good thing to do, as soon as he starts walking, eventually the quicker he will be out of there and feeling so much better. I remember at first I could just get up and sit in a chair, then walk to the bathroom and then go for the hallway, I didn't want to, but I knew I had to in order to get the heck out of there and HOME!!
My thoughts will be with you both in the days leading up to and for the surgery.
Winter Marie

mef123

herdizziness said:

Michele
When it comes to the surgery, you can expect to be anxious, especially the night before, and you will be anxious the whole time he is in surgery, because surgery is always scary, even the little surgeries.
But please calm your thoughts with knowing that this is a WONDERFUL surgery, because they are cutting out the cancer and that all will be WELL and go SMOOTHLY, these surgeons are very practiced in their area of specialty and are EXCELLENT at what they do.
I had liver/colon/ureter surgery at the same time and didn't have a tube down my nose, so I can't answer you on that, and if he did, they would do it while he's sleeping. They come in the morning of surgery and fit him for his IV (look for the best possible vein since it will be there a while taking in many IV's) and give a pill to make him happy and groggy and then he don't remember a thing until waking up in the ICU. They did have a tube go through the neck though, a LARGE tube, they cut the neck on the right side front and inserted the tube there, I think that's what will happen, but cannot be sure. You don't feel the thing and they take it out after the surgery,and since I was nicely doped up, I can't remember exactly when they took it out, and I did not feel it leaving, I just remember it was there.
Getting up and walking around when they first ask him to, will be a good thing to do, as soon as he starts walking, eventually the quicker he will be out of there and feeling so much better. I remember at first I could just get up and sit in a chair, then walk to the bathroom and then go for the hallway, I didn't want to, but I knew I had to in order to get the heck out of there and HOME!!
My thoughts will be with you both in the days leading up to and for the surgery.
Winter Marie

husbands surgery
How long were you in the hospital. We were told 5-7 days.

Michele

herdizziness

mef123 said:

husbands surgery
How long were you in the hospital. We were told 5-7 days.

Michele

Seven
I was in seven days, they wanted to kick me out at six days, but I hung in for seven, since I knew when I got home I'd have to be making breakfast, lunch and dinner for the hubby and just wasn't up for it quite then.
Recovery was pretty quick, two weeks I was sweeping, mopping floors, cleaning toilets, etc., the first week, I used a walker to walk around the neighborhood block to get out of the house and to get my walking in, other then cooking dinners that's all I did that week. I think that helped a lot. When I got tired of walking I just sat on the walker for a minute or two then started up again. The next week I used a cane to walk around the block and then was doing great after that week. I think the walking was very conducive to my healing.
Winter Marie

RobinKaye

mef123 said:

husbands surgery
oh, I can't wait til we are all the way home

He also will have an epidural. I never knew itching was a side effect. I even had one when I had our son. Mine didn't work right, it would work on one side and then they would tell me to turn to the other side and then that side would start working and not the first side. Anyhoo, thank you for your response it is very informative, we seem to be doing everything close together.

Good luck

Michele

Husbands surgery
When you had an epidural for childbirth it was removed so soon that you probably had no problems (other than it didn't work). One of the nurses told me she had an epidural left in for three days after a C-section and the itching was awful.

Your husbands epidural will be in until his bowels wake up and he is on solid food and is able to take pain killers in pill form. Some things are a fog now but when they were prepping Jim they said he could get IV painkiller or the epidural - the epidural was recommended for reasons I don't remember. They did tell us that it could cause itching but we never imagined how much. I'm sure everybody reacts differently but Jim was miserable, I spent four days scratching him - he felt like bugs were crawling around inside his body.

Robin

cowman

Sending Good Vibes
I see your husband's surgery is coming up on Tuesday. Just want to let you know we're thinking of you and sending calm and positive thoughts. Sometimes I think the apprehension before the big day is as stressful as anything. We got halfway to the place we were staying the night before my husband's surgery and had forgotten his meds that we were supposed to bring. We were not happy! We got through it and you will too!
I think every patient is different but my normally calm and easy-going husband was NOT calm and easy-going after surgery. The combination of all the meds, the big surgery (stoma involved) and all the tubes he had coming out of him were good reasons to be grouchy! I, myself, wasn't prepared for that and I wished someone would have prepared me for what he might be like!! Now, when I tell him what he did or said - he can't believe it. He even tried to show people his new stoma - but I talked him out of that. Now he says - Oh Thanks for doing that!!! Keep your sense of humor through it all and hope you have a great weekend.
Diane