New here/surgery Coming up March 28th

medic1971 said:

No offense taken

Hello Todd,

What is up with that at the hospitals?- Because we don't always listen to what are patients are telling us. 

For the vast majority of patients those antiemetics work well, but there are those out there, like yourself and my mother, who are extremely sensitive to narcotic pain meds.  There was really nothing that could get my mom nauses under control after she had brain surgery, but she was hurting also...  So it's a balancing act between effective pain control and not causing N/V in a patient who is sensitive to those types of meds.  I asked my mom to be sure and get the name of the antiemetic, that finally worked so, if she ever had to have surgery again, we could start out with that medication, not end with it.  

 When I was fulltime at the bedside I saw about three or four kidney stones a week and bet you were absolutely miserable.  Do you tolerate Toradol?  OFIRMEV works well too, so if you ever have to have surgery again it's something you might talked to your doctor about.  OFIRMEV is just an injectable form of Acetaminophen, but it works quite well without the nausea.  

Jason

Hi Jason,

I think the injectable acetaminophen was what I had at my last surgery after I got sick on dalatat (not sure how to spell that one). Dalatat was the one the anesthesiologist wanted to try on me. My reaction was not as bad as morphine, but still not good. Since toradol is an NSAID, they probably won't give it to me. My kidney function isn't so great. My first surgery the docs thought tramadol was ok, but my second surgery was at a  national cancer center and they didn't want to give me tramadol either because of my reduced kidney function.

Hope I don't have to find the combination that works. Here's to having no more surgeries! And hope your mom doesn't need another one either.

Todd

ricksgirl said:

So much gratitude

to all of you! I really feel quite isolated even though I have a grat family and friends. Just finding comfort in this group and with my dog (he is 165 pounds so I wont be walking him for a while! Doc says 6 weeks in case he pulls...). I guess I'm just in that waiting space. I realize we can't know progression possibilities until staging/grading is done, but I am pretty scared about that. This whole thing was a case of "it's nothing" "it's nothing" "it's probably nothing" "oh, it might be something" "It's renal cell." So I don't put much stock into the surgeon (great rep but still...) saying "it probably won't come back...but we'll folow you for 5-10 years in case it does, either in the kidney or lung, etc."). I know he's just trying to prep me for the various outcomes, but I write novels for a living and can't turn my brain off to stop thinking... So thanks again. 

If you're going to write yourself a story, write a good one with a happy outcome.

It is hard. For a long time I had this feeling of doom and really thought I'd be dead in a couple of years. I kept seeing myself dying a long, slow, painful death. That was 3 years ago. I'm much more aware of the fact that I do not know the future. Not at all. All I have is today. Live. Enjoy it. Treat yourself and others with kindness. (That's another thing. I'm so much more patient with others now. I'm very aware I don't know what other people are living with, now that I've experienced this thing.)

Who would've thought this might be a gift? Is that going too far? Lol.

Todd

My experience:  My doctor gave me dilaudid in both an epidural and oral instead of morphine.  It worked well for me.  I was off of it within a week at home.  Walked a lot in the hospital.  I ended up staying 4 days because of my sodium level.  Gained 20 pounds in fluid from the surgery.  Once home, I started talking a little bit of Metamucil twice a day to help with constipation.  It worked well, gently.   Colace give me wicked cramps.  I slept on the couch for about 1 1/2 weeks, propped up with pillows because my recliner is not comfortable, and it hurt to get up from a lying down position.  Bending over was painful for a while so my relatives would come over and clean the kitty litter box for me.  Also I had a bit of trouble holding onto my pills, dropping a few on the floor.  I ended up opening the bottle over a bowl just in case I dropped them.  

You might bring a small pillow with you to the hospital to hold against your abdomen in case you cough or sneeze and for walking, and tell people not to make you laugh.   I used the pillow or a folded towel between me and the seatbelt in the car.  Sometimes the hospital will have a special pillow to give you.  I used to work for the heart surgeons at the hospital where I had my surgery.   They gave me one of their heart-shaped pillows so I don't know if the hospital would have given me a different one had I not been given the heart one.

ricksgirl said:

counting down...

24 hours from now the surgery will be in process. Kids are starting to buckkle a little (having claimed to be "fine" before) which is difficult. Lucky my parents are around, though this is hard for them, too. In terms of follow-up...

-How often are you seen?

-Chest films?

-MRI/Ultrasound??

-Anything you look for (pain, fatigue, fever)?

-Did you stay with your surgeon or find other oncology care?

 

Thanks - talk to you all on the other side!!

Its natural for this "reality" to stare one and our loved ones in the face!

I was fine, just wanted to make sure i had those small, laproscopic incisions.

Had them before and healed up, speeding up my recovery time.

Your path report will tell the surgeon/urologist the protocol to follow 3 months vs 6 months and what tests etc.I learned that the blood tests used as part of this protocol tell the doctor if cancer cells evident.

You usually do not need to see an oncologist unless it is a higher grade of tumor.

Many of us become more aware of any ache and pain, or change, so these wonderful docs know how to answer any questions.

ICE it, using one of those hot/cold wraps you can buy in drug store and place it over your incisions. Helps reduce the swelling. But i also worse a lumbar wrap to support those healing tissues and even wore it to bed first week.

I'll especially be thinking of you tomorrow. You and your family are in my thoughts and prayers.

Hugs, Jan

icemantoo said:

Easter Monday

Ricksgirl,

May you have a routine and uneventful surgery. I would say painless, but I would be laughed off this board.

 

Icemantoo

and your family too.  It's tough for the kids and other loved ones.  Everyone feels helpless. 

I'll be praying for all of you and your surgeons, that their hands will be blessed with an accuracy and a quickness to get in, do what they need to, and get the heck out and let the recovery begin.

Make sure you drink plenty of water (helps keep the fevers at bay), do your breathing exercises, take plenty of short walks and rest, rest, rest.

Soon this will be in your past and you'll be here cheering others on with your own recovery experience.

Donna~