Who's on Deck?

Glad to hear you got through it okay. Get lots of rest. I really enjoyed your blog.....you are an interesting blogger. Keep the faith Darcher.

Yup,   a big mac. That was around 6:30  last night.  The  surgeon is a real miracle worker in my opinion .  His whole team was great for as long as I got to speak to them before I was under.  .   If I recalll right. I was wheeled in to surgery around 8:30    I was taken to my room around 12:30.   I remember something about recovery but nothing specific and was wheeled from there to the room I'm in now.   I texted my son around that time .  I told my wife to bring the Biig mac.  It loooked good but...body said nope, ain't gonna let it sit and tossed it.  I did manage to hold down a nice thick slice of chocolate cake a few hours later.   Now we're on to the second day and sitting around waitiing for something.  Not sure for what but in the mean tiime I  do need to get my blood pressure up a  tad.  I need to drink a lot more water for a while today.,   It's 5 am now so might as well get my early morning coffee run in.    I knowm coffeee doesn't count but they've got one of those single cup brewers that's awsome.  I still don't feel any pain. 

 Last night I even went so far as to ask the nurse to double check what was actually done. I started getting suspicious that maybe there was nothing truly done because nothng hurt.  Thing is, I told the surgeon weeks back that if i need a perm bag to just sew me back up and that's it..   She checked and yup, a resection is what I got so some of me was removed.  Now that I think about it I bet the no restriction on the diet was meant to be "within reason" and not a free for all like I was trying to do.   So today it's oatmeal or things of that nature.  Nice and slow and no need for feeding frenzies.

,If anyone is interested in what the epidural consisted  of.  Reading the label it says,  Hydromorphone hydrochloride 1000 mcg,  bupivacaine hydrochloirde 200 mg, and sodium cholride.200ml.   I'ts in an IV and still going.  Being that it is I bet it's not completely used when it's on a pregnant women.   It has an expiration date (today ) and a couple places for fluid to come out.   That is probably for  multiple women at the same time.  This hospital computer set up is tough to use.   I have to get up and get closer to the TV screen to see what I've typed.   What's kind of cool is I have my own room.  I didn't  ask for it and my insurance is not a 'gold' plan or anything even close.   Luck of the draw I guess,   On with the adventure. 

darcher said:

i suspect they were trying

i suspect they were trying out a new type of anethesia process.   Im using their in room compuror to type this and can't reallly see the words to well.  Screen is up on the wall.  Im trying to  slow myself down a little bit.   I didn't see one other person on this floor ias mobile as I was today so maybe Im  over doing it,.    I did throw up eating a big mac but what was really odd is I ididn;'t get the usual cramping  and so forth sensations just prior.  From one moment to the next it just came up.  When I get the Hemprin shots I dont feel anything at all.  I suspect it's  the meds masking the pain a bit too much.  I should have been doubled over but I wasnb't so that kind of scarred me.  However, there was no dietary restrictions.   After the recovery room they had me on Ox and had those leg compression things on.  I had the oxygen removed and they were ok with my reaction along with the leg constrates. taken off . Next item was the BP,  oxygen saturator ,and heart rate monitor.

This is where it gets strange. At first nothing was going on with it and that was just prior to me "really" waking up.  I went and got coffee and was just cruising aroung the floor and some of the looks I got were shocked as if I wasn;'t supposed to be doing that. .  Fact is.,  I didn't feel a thing.  It wasn't all peaches though.  There must have been some left over material in the colon because at one point it all came out while I was sitting on the bed.  I thought it was just gas but the bad thing was I had zero control over it.  Like when I thre up a little later, this just came out.  This I believe is attributable to the epidral Anyhow, after making a few trips for coffee etc the machine started going off with an alarm.  Low pressure and or heart low rate. 

 Nurses had to come in a couple times and piior to that they had a "risk of fall" tag on me.  One of three tags I got in preop,  That was because my BP fell beloww 100 and heart rate under 60.  I guess they figure you're much more likely to collapse.  The nurses disconnected the machine knowing that I wasn't a risk after seeing me make the trips down the hall. The nurses were a little concerned that I was able to get around with such a low BP and I did fib a little bit saying it wasn't uncommon for that to happen. I had a  strong suscpion  as to what it was.  

 On the one hand having an anathesia that strong seems like a blessing but I got a feeling I'm going to pay for it once the chemical bag goes empty.  Then again, my big fear (the colostomy bag) was avoided.  That was about the only stress I had and with it gone, I would expect the vitals  to relax  a bit.  I came through this with no black marks.  It almost seems unfair.  In all honesty, it probably is and why I was blessed with a clean escape I don't know.  I expect to find out soon enough.  Nothing is free and this has a steep price I'm sure.

You've provided a fair amount of entertainment for my family this morning but it sounds like you are alright.

I was fluids only the day of surgery and went on unrestricted diet the second day but my body did not feel like eating much. I had, at most, 400 calories - might have been 200 as I don't have my notes handy right now. Then I've eaten a little more each day but I've been under 1,100 calories per day since surgery and that's likely to be the case today. I feel ravenous at times during the day but I don't necessarily feel like eating - difference between mind and body. So I might lose a few pounds or more over the next week but that's okay.

I am the last person to suggest taking it easy but I do think that you should listen to the staff. They might have put you on an unrestricted diet assuming that you wouldn't feel like eating much anyways but the new approach to anesthesia and painkillers might mean that the tamped down desire for the body to eat after surgery is suppressed. They recommended that I start off with easily digestible foods (simple carbs) and then move on to other things. I have the feeling that I can eat more or less anything right now but I'm going to take it step by step.

What happened with me is the routine anesthesia and I figure that it took two days to wear off. So there is a declining level of painkillers over two days. If I wanted more, I could use the painkiller pump to add more. Then it was removed on the third day and they offered Oxy in pill form on-demand. That's quite a different approach from what they did with you. I'm wondering if the drugs in your IV drop off quickly when they are removed (no lag effect). If so, it could be a bigger adjustment.

I understand the guilt as I see a lot of Stage 4 posts that seem in more distress and sometimes it's hard to find some words to write. But there will be people that are better off than us and worse off than us and we have responsibilities to be around for our family, friends and loved ones. Make sure that you get the stoma training down as you might have a relatively short stay.

I'm not so agressive with the food today. I found a fridge outside the room with stashes of pudding, jello, and similar items.   The stuff we're supposed to eat.   Not like the breakfast burrito I did have this morning.  I'm of the same mindset beaumontdave.  burger to burrito.  It wasn't that good and was kinda little.   It stayed down so that was a plus  I just made it a point to chew a lot and get it into as small pieces as possible before swallowing.   I had some visitors who brought a starbucks.  Normally I avoid SB only because of the silliness (to me)  of paying that much for coffee.

Met the surgeon today and I told him about my big mac incident and he said I need to slow it down.  Jello and stuff like that for a day or so until I can go.  Thta's what I'll stick to.  I noticed my left side is a tad swelled up.   Thats probably where most of the cutting and so forth went on.   Makes sense since the sigmoid comoes down from the left. 

When you had your epidoral beaumontdave how many days did they keep you on it?  Day 2 here and now were down to just that.   Everything else is disconnected.

darcher said:

I'm not so agressive with the

I'm not so agressive with the food today. I found a fridge outside the room with stashes of pudding, jello, and similar items.   The stuff we're supposed to eat.   Not like the breakfast burrito I did have this morning.  I'm of the same mindset beaumontdave.  burger to burrito.  It wasn't that good and was kinda little.   It stayed down so that was a plus  I just made it a point to chew a lot and get it into as small pieces as possible before swallowing.   I had some visitors who brought a starbucks.  Normally I avoid SB only because of the silliness (to me)  of paying that much for coffee.

Met the surgeon today and I told him about my big mac incident and he said I need to slow it down.  Jello and stuff like that for a day or so until I can go.  Thta's what I'll stick to.  I noticed my left side is a tad swelled up.   Thats probably where most of the cutting and so forth went on.   Makes sense since the sigmoid comoes down from the left. 

When you had your epidoral beaumontdave how many days did they keep you on it?  Day 2 here and now were down to just that.   Everything else is disconnected.

I absolutely love your encouraging blog...I'm new so just joining in on all the for most positive outcome...I just hope when I get the results I can stay positive like you....

Hope it only gets easier for you.  I also enjoyed your blog; and I think we're all loving the Big Mac story.  Although sorry you threw up.  Not fun.  Am guessing you might just have a small incision for laparascopic.  I had a big incision plus the ostomy.  I am glad you woke up to no bag, BUT know that it's not the end of the world.  Mine has actually changed my life for the better. Never ever thought I'd believe that, but it's true.  

Please keep sharing. Love hearing positive stories as it helps those of us w Stage 4 to know this can be conquered.

darcher said:

I'm not so agressive with the

I'm not so agressive with the food today. I found a fridge outside the room with stashes of pudding, jello, and similar items.   The stuff we're supposed to eat.   Not like the breakfast burrito I did have this morning.  I'm of the same mindset beaumontdave.  burger to burrito.  It wasn't that good and was kinda little.   It stayed down so that was a plus  I just made it a point to chew a lot and get it into as small pieces as possible before swallowing.   I had some visitors who brought a starbucks.  Normally I avoid SB only because of the silliness (to me)  of paying that much for coffee.

Met the surgeon today and I told him about my big mac incident and he said I need to slow it down.  Jello and stuff like that for a day or so until I can go.  Thta's what I'll stick to.  I noticed my left side is a tad swelled up.   Thats probably where most of the cutting and so forth went on.   Makes sense since the sigmoid comoes down from the left. 

When you had your epidoral beaumontdave how many days did they keep you on it?  Day 2 here and now were down to just that.   Everything else is disconnected.

They took me off the second day, going to Norco which wasn't nearly enough, so day 2 was the toughest, day 3 was when I started walking alot, and I was out by the morning of day 5, having proudly made some kind of black streak on the disposable pad, so I never even got to the solid food diet. I got In and Out[dbl. burger] on the way home........................................Dave

darcher said:

I don't know that McDonalds

I don't know that McDonalds could use that for a commercial but looking back on it now, it's kinda funny.   The diet said "no restrictions"  so there it is.  Maybe I should have ordered a take out ribeye.  That would have been worthwhile tasting it as it cqme back up, lol. Then again,  maybe not.    I appreciate the suport here which is one of the few places I get any.   Life is weird and sometimes you get curve balls and have to wonder why they are what they are.  I just don't understand some people.  I nearly didn't do this due to other circumstances but I figured what the hell so here I am.  

 I think two things are responsible for getting me through.  One was doing exactly what the doctors said without question and the other, as silly as it sounds, is not really accepting that I had anything at all.  I was able to pull off that illusion because I never really looked like I had anything and would play it off as such most times.. Holding on to that seemed to help avoid dropping into the pitty hole of cancer.  Hell, I even fooled a couple nurses who said I looked perfectly fine after chemo and radiation. Truth is, this is one ugly disease and by god's will I avoided most of what could have been a huge calamity. 

 I've noticed some nurses are kinda nervous while others aren't  I don't know if it's because of all the mayhem they're exposed to or what. In this area of teh hospital they've been quite good even though I had the colon issue and big mac attack.  The one told me I reminded her of a character named Thomes Shelby in the movie Wanted man.  I haven't seen the movie so I have no idea what he looks like or what his character does.  One other thing is I've pretty much lost all my modesty.  When you have a nurse hold your penis while trying to empty it through a cathader it doesn't leave  much else to hide.  Had a cathader and then it was removed but I was still having a hard time so she did a 5 minute in and out job to get the bladder emptied out. 

Right now all I have left is the epidural connected to me.  My swelling is starting to go down and based on where it is, it makes perfect sense.  On the left tracing the sigmoid colon.  Now, all I have to do is a number 2 and I'm outta here, 

 

 

  

 

Maybe a twitter post to MacDonalds with your account could get you a coupon for another.

Mikenh said:

Maybe a twitter post to

Maybe a twitter post to MacDonalds with your account could get you a coupon for another.

Thank God for humor.  Hilarious!!  Heard Chumbawumba on the radio yesterday...(I get knocked down, but I get up again, you're never gonna get me down), started singing to myself and addressing it to my cancer.  Started tearing up.  And then realized how insane!  The absurdity made me laugh.  I need much more laughter.  So important.  

This whole Big Mac thing was awful for darcher, but a little healing for me.  Hahaha. Thank you.

darcher said:

going home

Doc came in and said YOU MAY LEAVE about 15 minutes ago.  Im packing and wll be gone before they can say boo!

Congrats, that was a fast one.

Hope you're not stopping off at Mickey D's on the way home.

You have to take the wheelchair too. No you can't push it.