I had my surgery.

Hey guys, I had my surgery on Tuesday morning as I said. It was supposed to be single incision, but they told me right before they'd be doing it with the traditional 4 incisions - they said it would be really risky with one for one incision for me because of all of the problems I had been having, they didn't think it would be too good of an idea.

I got there around 6 am, and I was in the OR before 8. I woke up around 11 AM in the OR. I didn't get an epidural, I asked for a pain pump instead since I was afraid of getting one. Apparently the epidurals are better for pain control, but oh well. When I woke up, I remember being SO tired and I was in so much pain that even talking hurt. Within 15 mins, I was able to drink a bit of water which was nice. I also haven't thrown up since my surgery! I felt fine to go up to my room around 12:30, but they kept me there until 1 since they had to prepare my room. I got very lucky, my insurance covers semi-private rooms (I'm in Canada), but they didn't have any left so I was upgraded to a private room. The hospital is on the top of a mountain so it has gorgeous views and great air, which was awesome. I was able to get in and out of bed within 15 minutes of getting there, without any help, which was awesome. I also didn't need a catheter nasogastric tube reinserted, but it was HARD to pee for a while. Things only started going back to normal on Friday.

By the next day, I was eating toast and had some chicken noodle soup. My pain started getting worse again by early afternoon, and stayed quite bad until Friday morning (I was discharged Friday afternoon around 4:30). I had my first BM on Wednesday, but I didn't pass any gas until Friday, which was kind of weird, except that I was able to burp a couple of hours after my surgery. My bowels also did start moving very quickly after returning to my room, which I guess was a good sign, since them and I could hear them. I was taken off the pain pump on Thursday and switched to oral meds, I'm on 4 things now, a stool softener, antibiotics, 10 mg Oxycodone every 3 hours and 10 mg Oxycontin every 12. Wednesday and Thursday I was feeling a lot worse though, it felt like I wasn't going to get better or something, but Friday night, I just started dramatically feeling better and I feel almost back to normal already, which is great. I'm going to try to go to a movie tonight, it'll be my first try driving. I'm going to bring a pillow to put over my tummy in the car like I did when I came home from the hospital. I'm in pain, but it's manageable. Just more tired than anything. I've been taking lots of naps and reading.

Those stupid socks they make you wear are so annoying!! They were driving me nuts, I was so glad to have them taken off on Friday. When I did, my feet were huge too. I couldn't fit into my flats, I had to wear slippers home (and use a wheelchair since my room was on the 18th floor lol). They're finally shrinking a bit, not normal yet but not as huge as they were. I hate those stupid respirometers too, I actually had quite a bit of trouble with it, even though my breathing and oxygen levels and all that are fine. Being a smoker probably doesn't help with that though.

They ended up taking out 20 CM from my ileum - ascending colon, which isn't too bad. Here's a couple of pics, I still have tape on them so I wonder what it looks like underneath. The second is a closeup of the big one over my bellybutton, which is somewhere under there, I guess. haha.

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c377/valerie295/scars.jpg?t=1269221772
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c377/valerie295/bellybutton.jpg?t=1269221857


I'll keep you guys updated on my recovery. Do you guys have any advice about what type of stuff I should be eating? I didn't get a chance to ask a lot before I left unfortunately, because I thought I'd be seeing my doctor again before I left, but I left sooner than expected. How long should I wait before eating stuff that's spicy, pizza, burgers, subs, stuff like that? I know some of you are probably going to say I never should, but I've never had to restrict my diet, and my doctor has actually advised me not to. For the time being, I'm sticking to stuff like chicken salad sandwiches, mac and cheese, scrambled eggs, toast, popsicles, jello and soup, but I want to know when I can eat other stuff that I enjoy, especially since I have a birthday party for a close friend that I wanted to attend next weekend.

Also, how soon after is it safe to drink alcohol?

Thanks guys, when the tape falls off I'll post more pics. I've got to go and shower and get ready for going out, I'll let you know how that pans out. I can't believe it's already been 5 days since my surgery. Time flies!

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just activated links

Post Edited (Valerie3) : 3/21/2010 7:37:46 PM (GMT-6)

Thanks for keeping us in the loop
great you are doing so well after only 5 days
i am thinking alcohol might not be a good idea but thats jmho....
let us know how you are continuing to make out
lyn

Those pics dont seem to work. But Im happy for you!

I also tried to get the links to work and cannot.

Sounds like you're doing quite well. I stayed away from booze for at least a couple weeks, and had no problems.

I edited the links, they should work now. Weird that they didn't. Sorry about that!

Thanks for your support guys, I was hoping I'd do well. I did great at the movies, driving was fine as well. It was a bit weird doing tight turns, but I was fine. I left a really soft pillow in my car so I place it between my tummy and seatbelt to avoid pressure. It's really comfy actually. Tomorrow I may go in to work to visit people, and I think I'll be able to work from home for a few hours a week. I could probably start again in a week or so if I wanted to, but I think I need some time to rest up instead of overexerting myself. I don't even need pain meds really now though, it's crazy!

ugh, OK, copy and paste them now, they work. too many meds make me confused apparently. haha sorry!

I'm so glad to hear you're doing well. It's good, and much quicker since you weren't completely opened up. After my surgeries I just ate light and gradually added foods. Just see how things go and adjust what you're eating based on how your body reacts.

Are your feet still swollen? Walking around should help that quite a bit. Just try to walk about 5 minutes each hour, and you'll see an improvement! (mine got really swollen and gross when I was in the hospital this last time...I hated it, so I walked as much as I could)

Hope you continue to improve!

Hey there, from one Canadian to another, great to hear your doing well! Reading your post took me back when I had surgery and my god it wasn't so easy, I was pretty sick. I ended up with a temp. ostomy and it was a very hard thing to deal with.
Just a bit of advice - take it easy!!! These types of diseases I sure we can all say they tend to spring up out of nowhere and suprise the heck out of us for the good AND for the bad too!
So just be careful! Feeling good or better and not so sick is a GREAT feeling! But don't go too crazie if you know what I mean.
If you want to drink beer or wine, coolers or whatever you wish I would ease into it very slowly, sip it and use in moderation.

Have FUN and best wishes!

Wow, you were eating toast & soup that soon? It was at least 5 days before I could have anything that wasn't clear. Then once home I gradually added back soft foods. It was at least 3 weeks or so before I was brave enough to try anything with any texture or spice. But now I'm ok, surgery was Jan 15. The hospital dietary gave me a list of foods prior to discharge that guided my on when I could try to add what foods. I think it's alot to do with not wanting to aggrevate the anastamosis and let it heal.

good luck, keep feeling well.

Update! I went to see my doctor on Wednesday, and it was lucky I did because my pain started to get pretty bad on Tuesday morning, then Wednesday before my appointment I kept almost passing out. I ended up having to be readmitted, I needed 2 blood transfusions because my hgb was at 72, and I had post-op peritonitis. I was let out again today after being on IV antibiotics, and I've got a 10 day course of Cipro and Flagyl. My doctor wants to see me on a weekly basis to make sure nothing else happens, and I've got his nurse's home number in case anything goes wrong over the weekend. I must say, I'm lucky I've got such a good GI and nurse, it was amazing how they got me through the ER so quickly. They got my fast tracked so I didn't have to wait in the ER (I'm in Canada) and I got another private room. Definitely sick of the hospital though, I really hope I don't have to go back again!

Hey Valerie, please don't rush your healing along. Just allow yourself to rest and recuperate. If you rush you could end up setting yourself back some. Give yourself the time off of work allotted to you. You may think you are stronger, but end up going back to work too soon sometimes will surprise you how much it wears you out. Just take it slow and easy. Remember you just had major surgery, so take it slow and easy. Good luck to you!

wow, that is amazing - they discharged you before you had a bowel movement (assuming i read it correctly). in the US they wont let you go until you have a BM. typically you are kept about 4 days. in my case it was 13 cos my system would shut down and then i'd get pneumonia (yeah).

dont be quick to drive. i did it a week after surgery and it set me back 2-4 weeks. very bad idea. driving is actually very taxing cos of the sitting position requiring your abs to hold your core up like that - dont count on the seat doing all the work. and driving is worse than sitting in the car cos with driving you have a lot of movements and everything is ab related. so ease into it is my advice.

take everything super easy and slow. dont be in a hurry to go running or lift weights. i had to literally start from scratch going back to the gym. i went from bench pressing like 200 lbs to 10 lbs when i started going again cos it is hard at first to do any movements where you engage the abdominal muscles to a large degree. even if you are not working the abs directly, any physical activity is demanding on the core.