John has had surgery finally!

RevLee
RevLee Member Posts: 50
edited March 2014 in Esophageal Cancer #1
Hi everyone. Sorry I have not been back for a while again. Time just seems to slip by so fast anymore.

First, I am so sorry to hear about Kitten. What a lovely person, but a very special angel. An example we should all learn from.

Second, John had his surgery yesterday. John’s surgery was yesterday, and the actual surgery was 11 ½ hours long. The great news is that they were able to use his stomach. Unfortunately, since so many years have gone by since his stomach stapling, a lot of adhesions had built up. They caused a ‘webbing’ around the stomach and had attached the stomach and areas of the colon together. They had to cut away all those adhesions. In doing that, they put a small nick in the upper colon, underneath the stomach. The surgeon did not want to just repair it, so he had a GI surgeon come in and remove the small portion of the colon that had the nick and resection it. The ‘pull up’ of his stomach went fine. Then, they knew he had a hiatal hernia. When they checked out his diaphragm to repair this, they discovered, as the surgeon said to me, that his diaphragm looked like Swiss cheese with all the smaller hernias. They repaired all of this with mesh. All the side stuff is what caused the surgery to go into overtime.

I finally saw him when he was placed in ICU at 10 PM last night. He was talking and his color was good. He complained that his neck really hurt. The nurse said it was from the position he was in for so many hours. I thought, geez, wait until you feel the pain from the incisions!! But he has an epidural for pain and also a pump to give him a boost of pain medication.

I just heard from the ICU nurse. This is amazing. 12 hours after that long surgery and he not only was sitting in a chair, but he took a short walk. Oh, the power of prayer!!

Lee

Comments

  • mumphy
    mumphy Member Posts: 440
    #2
    Hi Lee,
    Glad to hear the John's surgery went well. Now is the time for you to rest if you can believe
    me. He will be well taken care of by the nurses. Get alot of rest while you can as long
    as he is stable trust me Iknow you want to be by his side every minute, but he will need you well rested when you get home.

    God has gotten you this far and I know you have to be tired so take advantage of the skilled
    workers that are taking care of him. Trust me use some of this time for yourself.

    Keep us informed of his progress.

    God Bless.
    Kath
  • Betty in Vegas
    Betty in Vegas Member Posts: 290 Member
    #3
    Wow isn't it amazing what the human body can do?
    What an extensive surgery! But it sounds like they found a lot and fixed a lot, which is GOOD! He is getting more than he bargained for! Bonus surgery! :)

    How are you holding up? prayers coming your way.

    Betty
  • RevLee
    RevLee Member Posts: 50
    #4
    mumphy said:

    Hi Lee,
    Glad to hear the John's surgery went well. Now is the time for you to rest if you can believe
    me. He will be well taken care of by the nurses. Get alot of rest while you can as long
    as he is stable trust me Iknow you want to be by his side every minute, but he will need you well rested when you get home.

    God has gotten you this far and I know you have to be tired so take advantage of the skilled
    workers that are taking care of him. Trust me use some of this time for yourself.

    Keep us informed of his progress.

    God Bless.
    Kath

    Tired
    I am tired, but a good tired. I decided to come to work and save the day for when John comes home. I will take your advice!! Thanks Kath!
  • RevLee
    RevLee Member Posts: 50
    #5
    Betty in Vegas said:

    Wow isn't it amazing what the human body can do?
    What an extensive surgery! But it sounds like they found a lot and fixed a lot, which is GOOD! He is getting more than he bargained for! Bonus surgery! :)

    How are you holding up? prayers coming your way.

    Betty

    Bit tired
    Thanks for the good words! Prayer is so powerful! I am tired but I wanted to save the day for when John comes home so I came to work. I work with very understanding people, so it is not a problem. I figure I will just go home after seeing John and hit the sack early. Our daughter said that since they fixed him up inside, he should feel a lot better after he is healed.

    Thanks for the prayers!!

    Lee
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    #6
    This comment has been removed by the Moderator
  • Tina Blondek
    Tina Blondek Member Posts: 1,500 Member
    #7
    unknown said:

    This comment has been removed by the Moderator

    Dear Lee,
    I am new to this
    Dear Lee,
    I am new to this site, but I am so thrilled to hear your news about your husband, John. Praise the Lord. Now is the time for all of us to give God our prayers of thanksgiving. Best of luck to you, John, and your family. This is the best Christmas present to have!! keep us posted.
    Tina
  • K_ann1015
    K_ann1015 Member Posts: 500
    #8
    what a wonderful bit of news!
    Lee,
    I am so glad to hear of the good news! I will keep John in my prayers (and you too!). This is such a journey for all of us... We are all able to survive so much more than we believe possible...

    We're all here for you both!
    Kim
  • Hope_Faith
    Hope_Faith Member Posts: 150
    #9
    Yippee! So glad to hear he
    Yippee! So glad to hear he had surgery and his surgery went well. That's a good idea to save your time off for when he comes home from the hospital. It'd be great if you could keep us updated on how he's doing now and then as he recovers. So happy for you!
    God Bless,
    Shelly
  • RevLee
    RevLee Member Posts: 50
    #10
    Tina Blondek said:

    Dear Lee,
    I am new to this
    Dear Lee,
    I am new to this site, but I am so thrilled to hear your news about your husband, John. Praise the Lord. Now is the time for all of us to give God our prayers of thanksgiving. Best of luck to you, John, and your family. This is the best Christmas present to have!! keep us posted.
    Tina

    Power
    The power of prayer can never be underestimated. Many times it goes far beyond medical miracles.

    Thanks for your prayers.

    Lee
  • RevLee
    RevLee Member Posts: 50
    #11
    K_ann1015 said:

    what a wonderful bit of news!
    Lee,
    I am so glad to hear of the good news! I will keep John in my prayers (and you too!). This is such a journey for all of us... We are all able to survive so much more than we believe possible...

    We're all here for you both!
    Kim

    news
    Thanks! John had a good day today in ICU. Since his surgery went beyond the normal esophagectomy, I expect a longer recovery. But his spirits are good and that is half the battle!

    I just have to learn to pace myself. I work a full time job and I need some time for me, but I want to be there for him. ICU is not a comfortable place to sit in. They allow you there from 11am to 8pm without restrictions other than only 2 visitors at a time. But it is cramped, noisy, etc. I will be glad when he is in a regular room. But, hey, he is still here!

    Lee
  • RevLee
    RevLee Member Posts: 50
    #12
    Hope_Faith said:

    Yippee! So glad to hear he
    Yippee! So glad to hear he had surgery and his surgery went well. That's a good idea to save your time off for when he comes home from the hospital. It'd be great if you could keep us updated on how he's doing now and then as he recovers. So happy for you!
    God Bless,
    Shelly

    Burp
    Thanks for the encouragement Shelly! Tonight he burped. You never have seen someone so happy that they burped. The nurse was happy to. Every little step counts. He has a long road to go but he is a fighter. He was more alert and peppy today. I hope they move him to a step-down unit soon.

    Lee
  • RevLee
    RevLee Member Posts: 50
    #13
    unknown said:

    This comment has been removed by the Moderator

    Surgeons
    Hi William,

    Yes thank God they have a great team of surgeons. It turns out that the surgeon they pulled in to repair the colon was the same surgeon who did a breast biopsy on our daughter 21 years ago. My daughter recognized the name. She is now reknown for colon and liver surgery. John had a good day today and seemed more alert and peppy. But I know to take it one day at a time. Like the nurse said to John, do not get distressed if you have 3 good days and one bad. It is how the body acts when healing.

    Lee
  • JaneE2366
    JaneE2366 Member Posts: 289 Member
    #14
    RevLee said:

    Burp
    Thanks for the encouragement Shelly! Tonight he burped. You never have seen someone so happy that they burped. The nurse was happy to. Every little step counts. He has a long road to go but he is a fighter. He was more alert and peppy today. I hope they move him to a step-down unit soon.

    Lee

    power of prayer
    Lee,
    Totally agree....never under estimate the power of prayer.....and if burping is a good sign.....great! Baby steps....that is something a good friend of our constantly posted to my husband on our CaringBridge site.
    I pray John continues to progress.
    Stay Strong,
    Jane
  • RevLee
    RevLee Member Posts: 50
    #15
    JaneE2366 said:

    power of prayer
    Lee,
    Totally agree....never under estimate the power of prayer.....and if burping is a good sign.....great! Baby steps....that is something a good friend of our constantly posted to my husband on our CaringBridge site.
    I pray John continues to progress.
    Stay Strong,
    Jane

    doing okay
    Baby steps are good. That is how John is approaching eating. I measure his food and put in on a smaller plate. So far, so good. His spirits are good, and that is 1/2 the battle. He is on a feeding tube 16 hours a day. I think once that is done, things will improve even more.

    Thanks for you prayers and I am sending some your way also!

    Lee
  • K_ann1015
    K_ann1015 Member Posts: 500
    #16
    RevLee said:

    doing okay
    Baby steps are good. That is how John is approaching eating. I measure his food and put in on a smaller plate. So far, so good. His spirits are good, and that is 1/2 the battle. He is on a feeding tube 16 hours a day. I think once that is done, things will improve even more.

    Thanks for you prayers and I am sending some your way also!

    Lee

    sounds like John is doing well!
    sounds like you guys have a wonderful holiday to celebrate too! Posting on how he is doing will help others know what to expect ad what works/doesn't work. So thanks! We all will continue to keep you in our prayers...
    Kim

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