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Posted 10/16/2009 5:51 AM (GMT 0)
My husband had surgery to remove his colon today.  It took a little longer than expected and he had to spend two hours in recovery.

But, he is doing extremely WELL!  YAY!

He had an epidural put in before surgery.  By the time I saw him in his room, he had no pain at all.  He wasn't even feeling the need to give an added dose of the epidural pain medication.

He had a very sore, dry throat.  But, he was allowed to have clear liquids, so water was helping with that.  The nurse said that later they were going to have him up and sitting in a chair.

When I first got to his room, he was just being wheeled in on his bed.  He looked quite pale.  But by the time I left, he had some good color in his cheeks.

Now, I'm just hoping he continues to do this well!

Posted 10/16/2009 6:25 AM (GMT 0)
Best of luck...I will be praying for a speedy, unevenful, recovery!!!!! Send him our prayers! Hang in there!

Lizzie

Posted 10/16/2009 7:57 AM (GMT 0)
That's GREAT news!! :-) I'm so happy and am also praying for a speedy, uneventful recovery.

The more he can get up and walk the better. Walking helps to wake up the small intestines, and once he starts getting output into the pouch, he will feel so much better and will be able to start eating again!

Thank you so much for keeping us posted!

Cecilia
Posted 10/16/2009 12:51 PM (GMT 0)
That's great news. We're praying he has a quick recovery and all goes well.
Jen
Posted 10/16/2009 1:29 PM (GMT 0)
Hurray....that colon is gone!! Now it is on toward health! The next few weeks are not the easiest, but your husband will feel such relief to no longer have UC. I will give you the same advice that I gave Nutz. It is so important to WALK,WALK,WALK and CHEW,CHEW,CHEW. Nothing is better that walking to get the bowels moving again. Even though it is really hard at the beginning your husband needs to get up and move. The first day was a very short walk and at least 3 times, but very quickly we were told to walk for at least 10 minutes 6 times a day....at the time it seems almost impossible but it can be done. As soon as food is allowed take it REALLY slowly even though your husband will be very hungry. Chewing is so important.

I am hoping that the next few days go well and that you are both feeling better.

Cathy
Posted 10/16/2009 1:56 PM (GMT 0)
Glad to hear the good news. Ditto to all the good advice above. hang in.
Posted 10/16/2009 1:59 PM (GMT 0)
Fantastic! It will get better from here but do expect recovery to be 2 steps forward and one step backwards.........

Sue
Posted 10/16/2009 7:23 PM (GMT 0)
YAY so glad to hear it went well!
Posted 10/16/2009 11:35 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Glenda! I am so happy that things went well today! I was thinking about you guys all day:) Prayer is a very powerful thing! Now to make sure that he continues to do well... I know you said that he does not have pain which is great but he needs to make sure to stay on top of it when it does come- and it will! They will take the epidural out in a couple days so I will reiterate what Cathy said about making sure to walk as soon as possible. It is much easier to walk with the epidural than without:) The sore thoat is normal because of the breathing tube during surgery. Make sure he uses his little breathing device- the incentive spirometer. It helps open up the lungs and relieves gas pains as wells. Take care Glenda and send him my best!
Posted 10/17/2009 1:56 AM (GMT 0)
My husband continues to do well in recovering from his colon removal surgery. The epidural is doing a great job in taking care of the pain. The only time he felt uncomfortable is when he had to get back into bed after sitting in a chair and walking.

He sat in a chair for about an hour and ate his "lunch" - clear liquids. Then he took a short walk to the door and out in the hallway. For dinner, he did the same thing.

However, he has developed a COMPLICATION - He has numbness in his left arm. His surgeon came and talked with us for a while. No one is sure WHY this has happened, but the surgeon's thought was that they have to turn a patient several times during this surgery. And, a nerve under the arm could have been stretched.

He has no feeling in the arm and has very poor motor control of the arm. A neurologist came and examined my husband. He had a CT scan done, which was clear. They can't do an MRI until the epidural is removed.

A TERRIFIC nurse came and talked to us about how to take care of the bag. My husband told her about his arm problem and how he could not empty the bag and re-close it with just one hand. She found a bag that has a little round plastic spout with a plug in it. With practice, he should be able to do that with just his right hand.

So, it's great that the colon area is healing well. But, it's disappointing to have this arm problem. However, the doctors are optimistic that with time, his arm will heal and be back to normal.
Posted 10/17/2009 2:04 AM (GMT 0)
Good to hear his surgery went well, but sorry he is having probs with his arm. Hopefully that will be a minor setback and it will get better soon, thinking of you and hope for a speedy recovery, take care
Posted 10/17/2009 7:27 PM (GMT 0)
hmmm, could the numbness be from the medication in the epidural?? I felt a little bit of numbness in my legs and thought maybe it was the "bupivicaine" (spelling) anesthetic in the epidural. do u know if there is an anesthetic in his epidural? mine was dilaudid and bupivicaine which caused severe itching. maybe when they take it out it will ease up? or if his pain control is good, they can lower the rate and see if that helps. good luck glenda! glad to hear his colon is healing well though...
Posted 10/19/2009 7:18 AM (GMT 0)
The feeling is coming back into his arm. In fact, it's just his hand now that has the numb feeling. Hopefully, that will quickly fade too.

He has had his catheter removed. Also, the epidural was removed and he is now taking pain pills.

So, step by step, he is getting ready to come home!
Posted 10/19/2009 6:33 PM (GMT 0)
Hi, Sooooooo glad everything went well with hubby's op hope you soon have him home wishing him a speedy recovery Bev x

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