Update on my husband

JADot said:

Hi LLLady:

It's good that you have a target surgery date. If at all you can push the surgeon, try to move it up. You want that sucker out of your husband's body as soon as possible, really.

The surgery was not big deal for me. Just remember to go easy on the morphine afterwards and walk walk walk. The more morphine you use and the less you walk, the slower your colon will wake up after the surgery, and more attachment problems you'll have. So get out of bed the morning after surgery and walk. The sooner you walk, the sooner you'll poop. Once they see that food can go in and poop can come out, completing the cycle, they'll let you go home. So it all comes down to walking.

I was in the hospital for 6 days and discharged on the 7th day.

Best of luck to you!

Cheers,
Ying

Hi Lady -

I agree with Ying - mostly. Walking is important, but your husband may well have an epidural placed and that helps greatly with pain control without spacing you out. And if so, it may be very difficult to get up and walk until the epidural (and also the catheter) is removed. In my case (my surgery was laparoscopic - but that still means a near 3 inch incision where they remove the colon), the surgery was on a Tuesday early AM, the epidural and catheter were removed Thursday AM and then I began walking. (Late Wednesday evening a nurse tried to get me up and walking, but I literally could not stand without coming close to passing out - we gave up, but next day after epidural was removed, it was much better.) A physician's assistant from Anesthesia told me that "surgeons always want you walking the next day, but it is so difficult and becomes relatively easy the following day when we remove the epidural." Makes sense to me. (And I recommend you ask the surgeon about an epidural - it doesn't solve all problems but having a patient assisted pump where to some extent you can control additional jolts of the drug really helps - I had fentanyl in the pump - others have morphine - but you really want to make sure they give your husband sufficient pain control for the first couple of days.

Went home Saturday after lunch (4 nights in the hospital - surgeon wanted to have me eat breakfast and lunch - my first non-liquid meals - before sending me home.)

Good luck to your husband. If his surgery is not laparoscopic it all may take a few days longer, but don't be frustrated. Instead help him over the initial pain hump, and then as Ying says, WALK, WALK, WALK. (And, don't be surprised if walking exhausts him initially - I was shocked by how much effort a little bit of walking took - that resolved over the first few weeks, but it was still a shock.)

Good luck,
Betsy

Hi Lady!!
Hang in there!!! We are here for you on this web site. I was in the hospital for 8 days(I had a small complecation). I started to feel fairly decent in about 3 weeks. I was up and walking in the hospital within 2 days. When I got bored in the hospital, I walked. I really believe this helped with my recovery. My prayers are with you and your husband. Terri

Hi LLLady,
I was in for 10 days probably because my wife had to work and I was on my own at home. I stared chemo at 3 weeks and back to work at two mos and fishing every chance I got,cheers Ron.

The surgery is not as bad as the anxiety before it. I was in the hospital for 6 days. Could hardly wait to get out as the food was awful. Walked the day after surgery and as often as possible. Bought an Ipod to put my favorite CDs. The music made me want to move more. Had an IV patient controlled pain pump but only had to use it about 2 days. The thing I hated the most was a urinary catheter and that had to stay in for 5 days. It isn't really painful but is unpleasant. Stayed home, walked extensively, for about 5 wks. Worked fulltime after that. If he can do some walking in this waiting period that can help. We will all pray for a successful and uncomplicated surgery.

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Patrusha said:

Good news on the CT scan, LLLady. Time of stay and how fast recovery goes depends on the type of surgery. I started out laparoscopic, but when they got "in" there, they had to do an open surgery (6-inch cut down the middle, right through the old belly button).... if he can go laparoscopically that is ideal and the hospital stay is less. In my case, they told me 7 to 10 days and I pushed them until they let me go home on day 7 (I had only had one bowel movement, but that was good enough for me!).

I made a trip to the bookstore ahead of time and picked up some books and crossword puzzles. Hospital TV isn't always the best....

I can't do an epidural in my spine. They have tried several times in the past but I apparently have a very bony spine and they can't get the epidural line in. So I go with the "pump." It is attached to an IV in my arm and when I need more pain medicine, I just push the button. Worked for me. So if they have trouble placing the epidural, your husband can always ask about the pump. I am allergic to morphine and start itching after a day or so, so they just stock my pump with another great pain med. Because I had the pump I was able to get up and out on the second day, even with the six-inch incision.

It has been six weeks since my surgery and I plan to go back to work on Monday. The first three weeks were rough (my incision became infected), but the last couple of weeks have been pretty good. It also takes a good while to get all of the general anesthesia out of your system and your nights and days can get mixed up. Trying to get back into a regular sleeping pattern has been difficult for me.

Keep us posted on how it goes!

Good point.I forgot to mention that sleeping pattern disruption. I never had a problem before. My surgery was in April and I am only now getting back to falling asleep normally.
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