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Still in the hospital...

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Posted 12/24/2012 10:55 PM (GMT 0)
Well, here it is Christmas eve, and I can't believe I'm still in the hospital. Takedown was supposed to be the quick and easy one! Nothing against my j-pouch; it hasn't even really had a chance to show it's stuff yet - this is just all surgical complications. Today is day thirteen post-op, and as of right now, I am still on a "nothing by mouth" diet... so IV nutrition.

As I said before, they got the NG tube out (with difficulty) the night before last, and I believe any ileus/blockage situation has been cleared up. Normally they would have started me on clear fluids today, but yesterday I spiked a fever (though it's back down now), this morning showed an elevated white blood cell count, and my last CT scan showed a collection of fluids on my left side... So doctors want to get to the bottom of that before progressing with diet. They're doing full culture workups: central line, peripheral blood draw, urine, stool. They are also sending me down today to get a drain put in my side to get the fluid out. They'll get a sample at that time to find out what it is. So right now I'm just waiting for (but not looking forward to) that procedure.

I've been going through phases/cycles of going to the bathroom like crazy vs. hardly at all... It is still that toxic black-green stuff coming out of me. Been walking as much as I can based on how I feel. On good days I put in miles worth of laps. On bad days I'm lucky to get in four or five laps.

Very tired of being here and just ready for things to move forward all-right-all-ready so I can finish my recovery at home. Trying to stay patient. Can't wait until this is all behind me.
Posted 12/24/2012 11:00 PM (GMT 0)
Last time you said it was a stricture? what happened to that, have they cleared that stricture?

Be better man! You're my inspiration! I hope everything gets fixed.
Posted 12/24/2012 11:37 PM (GMT 0)
No, don't think it was a stricture. I think originally it was a paralytic ileus (blockage due to intestines still being asleep from surgery) maybe combined with some swelling that made me severely sick when I originally tried to progress to food... it just dragged on for a while and required the NG tube. Now that the tube is out and blockage is gone, just trying to figure out if there is some other infection before moving on to food. Not sure from what, or why the fluid build-up is (still) there... whether it's been there since surgery or developed more recently. No way to tell really.
Posted 12/25/2012 7:11 AM (GMT 0)
I am very sorry to hear you are still in the hospital. I am glad you are rid of the ng tube. Did you have a drain right after the surgery? It sounds like your doctors are doing everything possible. You are in my thoughts and prayers. I hope you are better very, very soon.
Posted 12/25/2012 12:04 PM (GMT 0)
Sorry you are stuck there on Christmas. I had all kinds of complications after my first step of surgery so I can sympathize with you. When you are there in the hospital, it feels like it never is going to end. But it will....hang in there, soon this will all be a distant memory. We are rooting for you! :)
Posted 12/25/2012 12:08 PM (GMT 0)
So sorry you're still in the hospital. Hoping you get better soon.

The only good thing I see about being in the hospital during a holiday is when you have that holiday later on and you're not in the hospital. I was in the hospital a few years ago for Chanukah, and I had a bunch of nights where I pretended to light the candles, because you can't light candles in a hospital..... now when I light them at home for real, it's just that much more meaningful.... hang in. Merry Christmas.
Posted 12/25/2012 3:30 PM (GMT 0)
Merry Christmas! Hope things are better today.

Thinking of you,

K
Posted 12/26/2012 9:48 PM (GMT 0)
So sorry you're still going through this and still there at Christmas. I hope by now they've addressed the collection of fluid and you're starting to feel a bit better. Blueglass is spot on.. I know it must be soooo tough, but just hang in there. Sarah x
Posted 12/27/2012 7:00 AM (GMT 0)
Hope things are better when you read this note.

And blame it on 2012. I don't know about you but this year has been H-E-L-L for my family, me, my best friend and her family. I'm thinking maybe 13 will be an improvement. 13 is a good luck number for some.
Posted 12/27/2012 12:11 PM (GMT 0)

mystique2 said...
Hope things are better when you read this note.

And blame it on 2012. I don't know about you but this year has been H-E-L-L for my family, me, my best friend and her family. I'm thinking maybe 13 will be an improvement. 13 is a good luck number for some.

AMEN to that.

Hope you are feeling better boot!!
Posted 12/27/2012 3:30 PM (GMT 0)
     Well, it is two days after Christmas.  I am just catching up on some posts.  Sorry to hear you are having a rough time.  I hope you are much improved today. 

     You say the ng tube was difficult to remove?  Mine, somehow, weasled its way out..lol.  My doctor thought I pulled it out.  It had to be placed back down three days post op because, thanks to a resident who told me I could eat rolleyes , I ate and everything but the kitchen sink came back up.  It brought up two HUGE vials of bile and I suppose it felt like it did its job and decided to come out..lol.

     Wishing you a speedy recovery and a healthy 2013!

Posted 12/28/2012 7:05 AM (GMT 0)
Yes, I'm still in the hospital, but hopefully for not much longer. Here's my update for the last few days:

I had a drain put in on each side to get rid of the fluid build-up, which was another traumatic experience. Normally they sedate you so you're pretty out of it when it happens and are feeling no pain, but because they were understaffed on Xmas eve (had to bring in an on-call team) and there was no one to watch me in recovery afterward before wheeling me back to my room, no sedation. So, very painful; I felt all of it. They took out 100 mL of fluid from my right and 200 mL on my left and left the drains in. The drain on my right is standard yellowish-clear, but the stuff coming out of the drain in my left is stinky, milky, puss-like stuff, obviously coming from the source of some infection... so it's good they're getting it out. They also started me on antibiotics that day.

Since then I have been getting steadily better, and the last two days I have felt pretty great aside from some soreness around the drain sites. Yesterday I was on clear fluids, and I digested and absorbed those just fine (urine output skyrockets when I get to the clear fluids), and today I've been on full liquids and have felt even better. This evening was the first time ever I started passing BM's that look more like a BM (refried beans) than like something an alien would spit out (neon green-black fluid). So things are finally progressing well, and it looks like we're headed out of the woods.

Dr. Varma wants to do another CT scan where they actually pump a little contrast fluid back in through the drain tube to see where it goes. Either it could lead somewhere showing where the infection/fluid build-up was coming from (recent stoma reconnect location or unhealed j-pouch?)... OR it could show that the abscess area where the fluid was collecting is shrinking/contracting on its own and taking care of itself. Both would be useful bits of information, but of course we'd be hoping for the latter so I can get out of here sooner!

Hopefully if it's all clearing up on its own, I'll be out of here this weekend. I can't wait to get home where all I have to worry about is when and how I poop. ;-)
Posted 12/28/2012 7:51 AM (GMT 0)
I'm glad you're starting to feel better.  Here's hoping you'll be home and on the way to recovery soon!
Posted 12/28/2012 10:46 AM (GMT 0)
That's great news! I had one of those drains too after my surgery, had it strapped around my leg for three weeks....

Keep us posted! Soooo happy you are making progress and are on the mend!
Posted 12/28/2012 12:24 PM (GMT 0)
Glad to hear you are on the upswing. I had a drain tube after my step one thru my butt cheek draining fluid from my pelvic area. I had it in for six weeks....fun times! I can look back now and think yes, it was all worth it. Hope you get to go home very soon....Happy New Year! :)
Posted 12/28/2012 12:46 PM (GMT 0)
Yay, glad to hear things are improving! That really stinks about the Christmas drainage tubes -- I had to have an emergency scope on Thanksgiving and couldn't get sedation either... one of the nurses ended up being solely in charge of stroking my hair and telling me it would be over in "a few more seconds".

Hang in there!
Posted 12/28/2012 3:02 PM (GMT 0)
oh thank goodness things are improving. what a rough time you've had. you'll have to have your very own 'christmas' in a few weeks with the full turkey dinner and celebrations when you're feeling better! fingers crossed for escape soon. x
Posted 12/28/2012 4:19 PM (GMT 0)
Happy to hear things are finally on the upswing for you.  Hope the reason for the infection is pinpointed and IS clearing up and nothing to further worry about.  Hope you are released soon and can handle your own aftercare simply.  There is nothing like your own home for sure.
Posted 12/28/2012 7:29 PM (GMT 0)
Ugh, that sucks. Hopefully you will be out soon. Think of the celebrations!

And I can't believe the two stories regarding lack of anesthesia (the drainage insertion and the full? scope)...ouch!
Posted 12/30/2012 1:15 AM (GMT 0)
So sorry to hear about your complications...hope your home soon..I was in your shoes last Dec:( keep moving if you can..staying in a bed that long is soooooo hard on your body! Wishing you the best for New Years:))
Posted 12/31/2012 12:23 AM (GMT 0)
Yes, still in the hospital. I'm comfortable and feeling good, eating and digesting solid food just fine, walking tons of laps. Right now they're just waiting for the infected abscess in my side to be totally cleared up before they send me home. So, we're waiting for my white blood count to get back down to normal and stable (it's been decreasing) and for the drain in my side to start running clear instead of milky puss. Who knows how long that will take. The doctor made it sound like I'm not going home any time soon. They said maybe they'd take the drain on my other side (the one not producing anything) out maybe Wednesday when the IR people get back from the holiday.

On another note - just starting to experience some of the butt burn, or maybe it's a hemmie? I'm using the ointment they provided, and my outside skin is fine, but I feel an intense burning right inside my anal canal when I have a bowel movement - it's become quite painful - so not quite sure what to do about that.

I think I'm bearing down more than I probably should to get things out, but I feel it there, and I have to go, and the only way to get it to come out is to push...
Posted 12/31/2012 2:50 AM (GMT 0)
I just read your blog post updates. The description of the drain insertions sounds as bad as I imagined. You've certainly had a rough time and hope you get some relief soon!
Posted 12/31/2012 2:57 AM (GMT 0)
1~ soo sorry to hear of all this trouble you have been having! What a horrible way to spend your holidays :(
2~ Womdering if the butt burning is because you are just starting real foods and are passing too much bile? I know I have that issue a lot when I can't eat. And it does burn! Not much you can do about that, but "pat", don't "wipe".
Good luck! Really hope things turn out better for you soon! :)
Posted 12/31/2012 8:15 AM (GMT 0)
Glad to hear you are starting to get on the mend... being in the hospital that long is probably not the most fun.  Did they ever figure out what caused the abscess?  Do you have a leak in there?  That was my hubby's problem when he had that battle with septic shock.  I hope you get to go home soon. :)
Posted 12/31/2012 9:30 AM (GMT 0)
Bootstrap, rinse well with cool water after each poo. then dry gently, then ointment.
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