surgery Monday

Upcoming surgery
Cindy, good luck to you both on Monday. (I'm due in (again) on Friday of next week.)

I'm probably not alone in my answer to your question: "Anything you wish you had when you woke up from surgery?"

My answer: 'No pain!'

Mine was 9cm on r kidney and went from a started lap to open surgery, so very similar to your Hubby's possible ordeal. My op took around 6 hours but was complicated by adhesions and difficulty with bleeding control etc. having been expected to be 2 or 3 hours at most. (It was a very worrying wait for my Wife and Daughter who weren't told what was happening.)

My recovery has been fine, with nothing to complain about but post op I was barely able to move in my hospital bed for the next 2 days because of the pain and completely incapable of getting out of bed for days. I was on max. doses of acetaminophen plus high levels of morphine and had to ask for an increase in the morphine, which I tapered off over the next month at home. I'm actually pretty tough with high pain thresholds but the pain was my only major problem (ignoring being unable to eat and drink for most of a week, being constipated (actually probably just empty!) and getting almost no sleep in hospital for 6 nights). So, for me, pain control was the crucial factor. Once that was sorted, everything else was OK.

I'm in the UK so maybe different from your situation. My path work was done rapidly but I didn't see the results for many weeks but there may be various reasons for that, possibly including the fact that the margins were totally compromised.

All cases are different so you'll doubtless get some replies very different from mine. My wishes were for less pain and to see my Wife and Daughter as soon as was practicable.

cindygodfrey2 said:

upcoming surgery
Thank you so very much for your insight. Hubby has very low pain tolerance so perhaps i will bring earplugs! Just kidding. Thanks again and best of luck to you with your next Friday ordeal. Peace!

surgery
I had it better than most I suppose. I had full neprectomy on the left but they were able to do it lap. The first two days were tough but the difference between the second and third was night and day. I went home on the fourth day. The worst part for me was not being able to sleep in the hospital. I was exhausted by the time I got home. I got the path results in a week when I saw the urologist for post-op appointment. I was back to work in 3 weeks. I hope all goes well, you and hubby will be in my thoughts and prayers.

TW,
What is up? What is happening on Friday? I will be saying a prayer for you my friend.

Blessings to all,
Wayne

Texas_wedge said:

Friday
In a word, Wayne, metastasis.

My primary tumour ceased being contained by the time of my op in early December and had turned from being chromophobe to being mostly sarcomatoid and very aggressive. Margins weren't clear - tumour had burst through the renal capsule and through Gerota's Fascia resulting in a new tumour not visible in the first CT scan. Since my path report was stage 4 and grade 4 this is not surprising, but certainly disappointing.

So, I'm having the fun of a repeat but this time I know it will be open, with no attempt at lap first. I'll get to be in the same small ward with the same nursing staff but different companions. There were six of us last time, of whom at least two have died since then. Along with the reminders here of how painful it was and the recitations of all the possible nasty after-effects, it's not my first choice of how to greet the Spring.

I've just arranged a first round match in a knockout comp at Carnoustie on Wednesday and hope that won't be my last round of golf. My intention is to assist Fox in changing the stats in this other game - of cancer survival.

Surgery
Tex,
I think you're a pretty amazing guy and I'm really sorry you have to go through this. I pray that all will turn out well.
Regards,
Mike

Texas_wedge said:

Surgery
Many thanks Mike.

post op desires
Cindy, Good luck to your husband. Make him promise to lose weight when he gets through this. At this time looking back, all I wanted was to go home after surgery. I had a noisy roommate with too many friends using our room as party central.

T-W, I am not a survivor yet. I am surviving. I like your plan to go and cherry pick the little buggers that are setting up housekeeping. Sort of like unwelcome house guests. Digging them out will encourage your immune system to evict the other freeloaders.

Some suggestions
(TW, wishing you well with lots of holes-in-one on Weds. You're an inspiration to me and others on this board and sure appreciate your informative posts)

Cindy, you've sure done the right thing to come to this board for advice. I had surgery 3 wks ago and feel the advice I received here was invaluable. In the hospital room tell your hubby to use the little button to push morphine into his IV as much as he needs for pain control. When he's on oral pain meds when he comes home, if he can take them regularly at first to stay ahead of the pain that will help. Have lots of pillows on the bed to make it easier for him to lay back and get up without using his abdomin much. Have stool softeners and laxatives on hand as the pain pills will constipate.

I didn't feel like eating for the first couple wks--so stock up on jello, soup, graham crackers, oatmeal, etc and have him drink lots of water. He should eat something when he's taking a pain pill (like a cracker or 2) as otherwise, it could make him nauseated. If he experiences nausea when he gets home, ask for a prescription for Zofran.

Keep us updated on how he's doing!

Texas_wedge said:

Good suggestions
Excellent advice from DogRescuer. Maybe it's worth adding a move that many here have recommended - getting a recliner in case, to start with, he finds a flat bed too tough to cope with. Also make sure to time it right with the painkillers taking effect before the journey home and try to make that as smooth as possible.

DR, I'm not sure one appreciates your wishing a lot of holes in one - I had 4 last time and one hopes they'll make do with only one hole in one this time ;-)

Here is a golf ethics question for you:

What if you were playing in the club championship tournament finals and the match was halved at the end of 17 holes. You had the honor and hit your ball a modest two hundred fifty yards to the middle of the fairway, leaving a simple six iron to the pin. Your opponent then hits his ball, lofting it deep into the woods to the right of the fairway. Being the golfing gentleman that you are, you help your opponent look for his ball. Just before the permitted five minute search period ends, your opponent says: "Go ahead and hit your second shot and if I don't find it in time, I'll concede the match."
You hit your ball, landing it on the green, stopping about ten feet from the pin. About the time your ball comes to rest, you hear your opponent exclaim from deep in the woods: "I found it!" The second sound you hear is a click, the sound of a club striking a ball and the ball comes sailing out of the woods and lands on the green, stopping no more than six inches from the hole.
Now here is the ethical dilemma:

Do you pull the cheating ****’s ball out of your pocket and confront him with it or do you keep your mouth shut?

cindygodfrey2 said:

THANK YOU ALL
Thanks for all your well wishes and advice. I wish the BEST to all of you!

surgery monday
Will be thinking of you on Monday. Hope everything goes well.

One Lucky Girl said:

Love letter
Dear Cindy,

I can't add to the excellent advice re: caring for your husband after surgery you've been given here but I decided to share with you what my husband did for me after my surgery in February. He wrote me a beautiful love letter reminiscent of those we used to write 25 years ago when we were in universities 1500 miles apart. He gave it to me at the end of visiting hours the day after my surgery.

The medical staff were in charge of my physical pain but that letter went a long way to healing my soul. I'll never forget it. I think if your husband knows that you're there for him and how much you love him, it help more than any medicine. I wish you both all the best for Monday.

And Tex, know that you're in my heart :-).

Love letter
What a delightful story - thanks for sharing it with the rest of us. It seems as though you really are as lucky as he is - a truly good match.

Cindy, all the very best to both of you for Monday.

alice124 said:

Upcoming sugery
Hey there! I'm with the multitudes of others on this board who will be praying for nothing but painless success on Friday. Tex - your postings, your knowledge, your empathy and your humor RADIATE hope and good karma. You give a lot and will be surrounded by the prayers and thoughts of the many people you've helped during your next hospital visit. Stay tough because you are!

Upcoming sugery
Thanks for the charming posting Alice, especially with the risk you are running turning the surgery sugery directly beneath the picture of iceman too! He'd not sugar-coated it - he'd just extended his warning about the first two days to a whole rough week, reminded us about not being up to eating for a week or so while suffering the horrors of constipation, akin to the pains of childbirth.

So, in case I was forgetting the rigours of lap + open surgery in December, I've had a timely reminder of what to expect! However, you can depend on it that I'll hang tough, even if I'm not up to taking Katy's celebrated advice to "stay on top of the nurses"!

Forgive the levity - one has to laugh - and thanks once more for your good wishes.

DogRescuer said:

Some suggestions
(TW, wishing you well with lots of holes-in-one on Weds. You're an inspiration to me and others on this board and sure appreciate your informative posts)

Cindy, you've sure done the right thing to come to this board for advice. I had surgery 3 wks ago and feel the advice I received here was invaluable. In the hospital room tell your hubby to use the little button to push morphine into his IV as much as he needs for pain control. When he's on oral pain meds when he comes home, if he can take them regularly at first to stay ahead of the pain that will help. Have lots of pillows on the bed to make it easier for him to lay back and get up without using his abdomin much. Have stool softeners and laxatives on hand as the pain pills will constipate.

I didn't feel like eating for the first couple wks--so stock up on jello, soup, graham crackers, oatmeal, etc and have him drink lots of water. He should eat something when he's taking a pain pill (like a cracker or 2) as otherwise, it could make him nauseated. If he experiences nausea when he gets home, ask for a prescription for Zofran.

Keep us updated on how he's doing!

thanks....
My surgery is in about a week. Was wondering what I would need to stock up on. Found this site to be helpful in many ways. But was wondering if regular food or semi liquid type diet would be appropriate. thanks.