Tomorrow is surgery day! Happy St. Patrick's Day!

24

Comments

  • Editgrl
    Editgrl Member Posts: 903 Member
    First step done!

    As everyone has said, allow your body to heal.  Being still is sometimes the hardest thing to do, but let your body recover from this trauma.  We're with you.

    Chris

  • molimoli
    molimoli Member Posts: 514

    I'm still kicking

    Well, got through the surgery. Wasn't as simple as anticipated. Surgeon ended up doing incision similar to c-section. Oh well. Longer recovery. No Florida for me. Have to stay in hospital extra day with catheter. Guess they roughed my bladder up pretty good due to previous section. But I'm not in a lot of pain, been up walking and eating. Doc says path report should be back in a week. Let the games begin.....

    Cheese thanks for not keeping us wondering

    Happy to hear the news that you have come through stage 1 of this journey I am hoping you will miss all the other stages and NEd will find you.  I have a feeling you will ride this pony one day at a time taking only that day's necessary stride so you don't waste precious time and energy worrying about next month or next year, no good can come of that.

    Yes Florida for you , just not now.It will be there still though and because after this scare you will see things and places in a different way from before therefore the enjoyment and appreciation will be enhanced. Take it easy as you mend , breathe, we are here for you.

    Moli  sending  healing hugs.

     

  • Soup52
    Soup52 Member Posts: 908 Member
    I'm sorry that you didn't get

    I'm sorry that you didn't get the robotic surgery you had hoped for. Take your time to heal now! My prayers are with you. Here's to a speedy recovery

  • BabyCoach
    BabyCoach Member Posts: 95
    Soup52 said:

    I'm sorry that you didn't get

    I'm sorry that you didn't get the robotic surgery you had hoped for. Take your time to heal now! My prayers are with you. Here's to a speedy recovery

    YEA!  YEA!  THIS is behind

    YEA!  YEA!  THIS is behind you. Glad for you.  I have my surgery scheduled April 4 and will be happy to report out that IT"S OVER!!

    Take care of yourself and let others do that too.

     

  • Red Corvette
    Red Corvette Member Posts: 114 Member
    Hang in there Cheese A Reno,

    Hang in there Cheese A Reno, you made it through major surgery and have come out the other side. You'll be fine!

    Red Corvette

  • Red Corvette
    Red Corvette Member Posts: 114 Member
    Hang in there Cheese A Reno,

    Hang in there Cheese A Reno, you made it through major surgery and have come out the other side. You'll be fine!

    Red Corvette

  • CheeseQueen57
    CheeseQueen57 Member Posts: 933 Member

    Hang in there Cheese A Reno,

    Hang in there Cheese A Reno, you made it through major surgery and have come out the other side. You'll be fine!

    Red Corvette

    Made it up the stairs

    wow!  That was a challenge. By the time I got upstairs my teeth were chattering. But I think I'll stay up here for a while. Hubby is getting used to the caretaker role. He'll get there, bless his heart. He spilled his whole glass of wine and had to change his bed sheets and clean all that up too. Looking forward to my friend's lasagna tomorrow. Hope I'm ready to tolerate it. Thanks for all your kind words and support. I should have verdict on next steps in 7-10 days. 

  • EZLiving66
    EZLiving66 Member Posts: 1,483 Member

    Made it up the stairs

    wow!  That was a challenge. By the time I got upstairs my teeth were chattering. But I think I'll stay up here for a while. Hubby is getting used to the caretaker role. He'll get there, bless his heart. He spilled his whole glass of wine and had to change his bed sheets and clean all that up too. Looking forward to my friend's lasagna tomorrow. Hope I'm ready to tolerate it. Thanks for all your kind words and support. I should have verdict on next steps in 7-10 days. 

    I'm so glad to hear you're

    I'm so glad to hear you're able to move around a little.  Isn't it wonderful when friends (angels) bring over meals?  I had a couple of good friends including our son's fiancee's mother, who brought over complete meals including the dinner rolls.  I wasn't eating much but my husband and our son LOVED them and took a load off my mind on what to serve (frozen pizza anyone??).

    My husband was a godsend too.  I don't know how I would have gotten through the surgery, the chemo and the side effects without that man.  Yeah, he changed the sheets and put the pillowcases back on inside out but they were clean and he was trying!!  LOL

    Love,

    Eldri

  • Double Whammy
    Double Whammy Member Posts: 2,832 Member

    I'm so glad to hear you're

    I'm so glad to hear you're able to move around a little.  Isn't it wonderful when friends (angels) bring over meals?  I had a couple of good friends including our son's fiancee's mother, who brought over complete meals including the dinner rolls.  I wasn't eating much but my husband and our son LOVED them and took a load off my mind on what to serve (frozen pizza anyone??).

    My husband was a godsend too.  I don't know how I would have gotten through the surgery, the chemo and the side effects without that man.  Yeah, he changed the sheets and put the pillowcases back on inside out but they were clean and he was trying!!  LOL

    Love,

    Eldri

    Surgery behind you now

    Check that off your list.  Sorry the surgeon had to revert to open procedure, but I'm sure he did it for a good reason, either for better access or visibility.  And that's what we all want.  I had early stage, low grade cancer but I was scared to death of having an open procedure.  The surgeon (gyn oncologist) assured me he does open procedures all the time, but I was so frightened primarily of the surgery itself.  Heck, I was scared of the robotic surgery, too!  But we do get through this part and can look back on it being not as bad as we thought it would be.  I hope your pathology report does not have any surprises and you can put the surgery behind you and move on to the next step and then put that behind you.   And lasagne can be frozen and eaten later if you don't feel like it now, but know you're going to want some later!  We learn to adapt. . .

    Best,

    Suzanne

  • CheeseQueen57
    CheeseQueen57 Member Posts: 933 Member
    CheeseQueen checking in

    Hi Sisters

    I'm hanging in there. Now just taking extra strength Tylenol cause I was afraid of GI bleed with levonox. I have to say, I'm really having trouble with the injections. Although they didn't hurt when I gave it to myself in the hospital, they hurt now. Maybe I'll try injecting in my belly tomorrow. Only 14 more days, right

  • ncg007
    ncg007 Member Posts: 138 Member

    CheeseQueen checking in

    Hi Sisters

    I'm hanging in there. Now just taking extra strength Tylenol cause I was afraid of GI bleed with levonox. I have to say, I'm really having trouble with the injections. Although they didn't hurt when I gave it to myself in the hospital, they hurt now. Maybe I'll try injecting in my belly tomorrow. Only 14 more days, right

    CQ, Keep hanging in there

    CQ, Keep hanging in there and the 14 days will fly by!  What injections are you having to do?  Hope they get easier for you.  Wishing you a speedy recovery.

    Nancy

  • CheeseQueen57
    CheeseQueen57 Member Posts: 933 Member
    ncg007 said:

    CQ, Keep hanging in there

    CQ, Keep hanging in there and the 14 days will fly by!  What injections are you having to do?  Hope they get easier for you.  Wishing you a speedy recovery.

    Nancy

    Injections

    The Levonex is an  njection of low dose heparin. They prescribe it to help prevent blood clots after you've had abdominal surgery these days. 

  • EZLiving66
    EZLiving66 Member Posts: 1,483 Member

    Injections

    The Levonex is an  njection of low dose heparin. They prescribe it to help prevent blood clots after you've had abdominal surgery these days. 

    They tried to start me on

    They tried to start me on that when I was in the hospital.  When I asked the nurse to doublecheck because I've had problems in the past with my blood NOT clotting, she never came back.  Next time I went into the doctor, they had it on my list of medications.  I AGAIN told them that I have never taken it and if they'd check, they'd see in my chart that I bleed very easily and shouldn't be given any kind of blood thinner.  Just another instance of looking out for yourself and questioning everything.

    Hope the pain from the injections stops soon (((CQ))).

    Love,

    Eldri

  • CheeseQueen57
    CheeseQueen57 Member Posts: 933 Member

    They tried to start me on

    They tried to start me on that when I was in the hospital.  When I asked the nurse to doublecheck because I've had problems in the past with my blood NOT clotting, she never came back.  Next time I went into the doctor, they had it on my list of medications.  I AGAIN told them that I have never taken it and if they'd check, they'd see in my chart that I bleed very easily and shouldn't be given any kind of blood thinner.  Just another instance of looking out for yourself and questioning everything.

    Hope the pain from the injections stops soon (((CQ))).

    Love,

    Eldri

    Home Care

    Thanks Eldri,

    Boy, you've really been through the ringer, bless your heart 

    I finally broke down and asked for a home care nurse to visit. Why not?  He/she can look at my incision, help me with my injection, and generally make sure things are going as they should. I'll let you all know how it goes. 

  • EZLiving66
    EZLiving66 Member Posts: 1,483 Member

    Home Care

    Thanks Eldri,

    Boy, you've really been through the ringer, bless your heart 

    I finally broke down and asked for a home care nurse to visit. Why not?  He/she can look at my incision, help me with my injection, and generally make sure things are going as they should. I'll let you all know how it goes. 

    Home health care sounds like

    Home health care sounds like a great idea!  When my port site wound wouldn't heal I had to pack the "hole" twice a day by myself.  It wouldn't have been so bad except my fingers were numb and my right hand shook.  I would work so hard to stuff it with this gauze that looked like a shoestring dipped in some kind of solution using a little stick.  I would go to cut off the excess "shoestring" and pull the whole dang thing out and have to start all over again - LOL!!!  When I told my wound care doctor how hard it was to take care of myself, she said I only had to do it once a day - no home health care was ever offered.  She did ask me if I had a friend who was a nurse that could do it - so much for our health care system!!  Tongue Out

    I hope everything goes smoothly from now on!

    Love,

    Eldri

  • Soup52
    Soup52 Member Posts: 908 Member

    Injections

    The Levonex is an  njection of low dose heparin. They prescribe it to help prevent blood clots after you've had abdominal surgery these days. 

    I had the injections also

    I had the injections also after I went home, too. My husband gave them. I have had a blood clot 8 years ago and never what one again. Most of the time the shots didn't bother me, but towards the end I had some bruising.

  • Kvdyson
    Kvdyson Member Posts: 790 Member

    CheeseQueen checking in

    Hi Sisters

    I'm hanging in there. Now just taking extra strength Tylenol cause I was afraid of GI bleed with levonox. I have to say, I'm really having trouble with the injections. Although they didn't hurt when I gave it to myself in the hospital, they hurt now. Maybe I'll try injecting in my belly tomorrow. Only 14 more days, right

    Levonox

    Hi Cheese, I found that the injections are less painful if you inject them very slowly. I guess it's because the medicine is thick? Doing it quickly (which is natural since you want to get it over with) made it hurt like heck! Good luck on your continued recuperation.

  • CheeseQueen57
    CheeseQueen57 Member Posts: 933 Member
    Today's Advice-arrange for home are if you can

    Hi Sisters,

    Thanks again for all your suggestions. 

    The home care nurse came promptly this morning and what a doll. Firm yet very caring. I'm very fortunate because my PCP is also my dear friend. I also work as a consulting dietitian in their office. Those people will do anything for me and it's such a relief to have that kind of support. My doc/friend sent her daughter across the street with their own personal bottle of extra strength Tylenol. Last night after leaving the office after 9:00 pm and stopping to check on her elderly father, she sent over a pillow bolster for me to use to be more comfortable. She and her husband are angels on earth. Choose your PCP wisely. I asked them who had the best home care agency because Fox Chase is about 40 minutes away and they don't know the local areas as well.

    Although the care manager in the hospital met with me and discussed home care, she didn't push it. And I, trying to be the stoic one, didn't either. In hind site, I think most insurances would pay for this and we should all take advantage of it, especially at certain critical times. She checked my incision, injected the Lovenex (but is not letting me off the hook learning to do it myself) and reinforced the discharge instructions. Now frankly, we were given so much info at discharge that this is probably of most value. I would encourage you all to request a home care visit get scheduled before you leave the hospital. It will give you and your caregiver great peace of mind and keep you on the right track. Just make sure you use a good home care agency. If you are in an HMO, you may need to use whoever they are contracted with in the area (which also may be good). 

    Back on Percocet for pain. Stoic didn't cut it yesterday. Thanks again for all your love, support and suggestions. I value each and every response as I know what an effort it takes to read and respond when you are not well. God bless each and every one of you special ladies. 

  • EZLiving66
    EZLiving66 Member Posts: 1,483 Member

    Today's Advice-arrange for home are if you can

    Hi Sisters,

    Thanks again for all your suggestions. 

    The home care nurse came promptly this morning and what a doll. Firm yet very caring. I'm very fortunate because my PCP is also my dear friend. I also work as a consulting dietitian in their office. Those people will do anything for me and it's such a relief to have that kind of support. My doc/friend sent her daughter across the street with their own personal bottle of extra strength Tylenol. Last night after leaving the office after 9:00 pm and stopping to check on her elderly father, she sent over a pillow bolster for me to use to be more comfortable. She and her husband are angels on earth. Choose your PCP wisely. I asked them who had the best home care agency because Fox Chase is about 40 minutes away and they don't know the local areas as well.

    Although the care manager in the hospital met with me and discussed home care, she didn't push it. And I, trying to be the stoic one, didn't either. In hind site, I think most insurances would pay for this and we should all take advantage of it, especially at certain critical times. She checked my incision, injected the Lovenex (but is not letting me off the hook learning to do it myself) and reinforced the discharge instructions. Now frankly, we were given so much info at discharge that this is probably of most value. I would encourage you all to request a home care visit get scheduled before you leave the hospital. It will give you and your caregiver great peace of mind and keep you on the right track. Just make sure you use a good home care agency. If you are in an HMO, you may need to use whoever they are contracted with in the area (which also may be good). 

    Back on Percocet for pain. Stoic didn't cut it yesterday. Thanks again for all your love, support and suggestions. I value each and every response as I know what an effort it takes to read and respond when you are not well. God bless each and every one of you special ladies. 

    That sounds soooo nice -

    That sounds soooo nice - being so well taken care of.  I am so glad you have all that available to you.  If my cancer comes back, I am going to be so ready!!  I didn't know any of this stuff was available.  I didn't even know about "wound care" until somebody on here told me about it.  I probably would still have that big old port site hole if I hadn't gone there.  This forum is a god-send!!

    Love,

    Eldri

  • CheeseQueen57
    CheeseQueen57 Member Posts: 933 Member
    Checking in

    Hi Sisters!

    Every day is better thank goodness. I successfully injected the Lovenox under the supervision of my home care nurse this AM so I'm more confident about that. Now if I could just get those old bowels moving.  I'll be seeing my doctor 1 week from today to learn what will be the next leg of my journey. Trying to remain positive no matter what. Thanks for all ypur support.