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Posted 10/18/2011 5:38 PM (GMT 0)
Hi all, my surgery is in less than 3 weeks and I'm having those spooky anxiety feelings which I know are normal. I was talking to my mom the other day and she asked me about some things that I hadn't thought of, so I wanted to check in with you all to see if anyone has some knowledge to share:

First, about 10 days after my surgery my parents have a trip planned for the weekend to go visit my brother. Normally in a situation like this my grandparents would come stay with me, but they are going on the trip as well. So we have planned for my other grandparents to come stay with me, but my mom is uneasy about this because my other grandparents are a little older and don't live in the area. She is worried if something happened they wouldn't know what to do, etc. So I think the plan is that we will take it day by day and if 10 days after surgery I'm not well enough, my mom just won't go on the trip. If I'm doing ok my grandparents will come. It's only for the weekend.

---Do you think 10 days after surgery I am out of the "complications" zone, or could something still happen?


Second - I have read quite a bit about adhesions, and adhesion barriers. Some of the things I've read about them are bad, and some things are good...it's all very confusing. Did anyone here have any kind of adhesion barrier used in their surgery? Do surgeons still use them?
Posted 10/18/2011 5:44 PM (GMT 0)
I had my proctocolectomy with a jpouch, went home from the hospital and took care of myself thereafter. If your surgery is without complications I believe that you will be fine after 10 days to manage on your own.

Sue
Posted 10/18/2011 5:52 PM (GMT 0)
remind me what you're having done? is it laparascopic?

dont' know much about adhesions though.. sorry can't help you there.
Sarah
Posted 10/18/2011 5:55 PM (GMT 0)
whoops should've posted that too...I'll be having a laparascopic total colectomy with ileorectal anastomosis
Posted 10/18/2011 6:40 PM (GMT 0)
as it's laparascopic, I should imagine you'll be ok.. I was home caring for my kids 10 days after surgery and hubby went back to work. I don't think the level of care (from me!) was up to much... but they got fed something vaguely edible and we all just lay on the sofa watching cartoons! I didn't have the same surgery though and everyone is different. You wont' be feeling fantastic and won't be able to do much.. but you can probably get by ok if you have some company (good idea for grandparents to come!) and it's only for a weekend.. so I'm sure you'll be ok.

complications at that stage are more likely to be minor such as infection in the wound etc (easily treated with antibiotics etc) rather than anything major..

that all said.. I refused to let my hubby go on a work trip to Hong Kong 2 weeks after my surgery! wasn't ready to be left alone. I felt quite vunerable and very tired.. so needed lots of comfort and support.

Sounds like your plan is a good one - see how you feel and you mom could stay behind if you're really not up to it. Make the decision at 8 days post op perhaps??

This is the worst bit now - hang in there and ask all the questions you want! stay strong. You're doing the right thing and will be soon on the road to a much better quality of life S x
Posted 10/18/2011 9:10 PM (GMT 0)
The complication I had was that I spiked a high fever and had to go to the ER for an abscess -- then I was back in the hospital for a few days. I was on a lot of prednisone, so that made this complication more serious for me than for most people.... oh, I also had a butt wound that you won't have, and that's where the abscess was.....

I think it might be good to make sure that there's someone who can take you to the hospital if you need to go (if your grandparents can't do that). Probably would also reassure your parents to have an emergency plan like that -- maybe list of folks willing to be on call at various times in the unlikely event that something comes up.

But I agree, you are likely to be fine.
Posted 10/18/2011 9:43 PM (GMT 0)
I agree with Blueglass. Take it one day at a time. Do you have a friend or family friend that you could call on locally should anything untoward happen that would put your parents' mind at rest, then there would be someone who knows area and could help if necessary.
Posted 10/18/2011 11:52 PM (GMT 0)
If it is laproscopic you will likely not form adhesions that will affect you. 10 days out you could still have complications (or not?), so I would err on the side of having a plan B. BUT you could also be OK. That is my vote from my experience (not done lapro but open and HUGE complications from adhesions that required further surgery and Seprafilm adhesion barrier which so far has done the trick but we will see on the long term. That is the basis, my story too long to go into but these are the relevant parts for you.

I do not know if there is a spray type adhesion barrier that they can put in if the surgery is done lapro to just further safe gard against them. I know just about everywhere else in the world they use Spray Gel except it is not yet FDA approved here in the States.

Good luck, Rosemary
Posted 10/19/2011 12:08 AM (GMT 0)
There is no way to predict what might happen. We thought we would be home within 5 days, but my daughter's hospital stay ended up being 12 days. She had lots of complications...nothing major but things like her epidural didn't work, her veins kept blowing....but we tend to be "those people" where is something can go wrong, it will :) Hopefully you will be doing great at 10 days out!
Posted 10/19/2011 3:59 AM (GMT 0)
I was in the hospital 6 days after the surgery. 10 days out would make it 4 days at home if your experience is similar, which seems pretty soon. My wound opened up and I needed to go back in to see the dr. 15 days after surgery.
Posted 10/19/2011 4:42 AM (GMT 0)
I agree that it is impossible to predict. At day 10, I was doing great but then had complications on day 12 when my incision opened up unexpectedly. Had another complication at one month and another at two months. Not trying to scare you... most of these were related to that same incision problem and weren't super serious but still required trips back to the hospital, surgery to fix issues and multiple night stays. A plan B sounds good... or at least someone around who you could call and take you to the doctor or hospital if needed. I wasn't allowed to lift over 5 pounds in that time period either, so it was good to have people around the house help me.

I did not have laparoscopic surgery... I had the regular midline incision. My surgeon did use Seprafilm to prevent adhesions. I don't know much about it, as I didn't ask him a lot of questions regarding it. I never had the Seprafilm cause any issues and have not had any adhesion problems.
Posted 10/19/2011 10:00 AM (GMT 0)
if you're having it lapro, there's no need for adhesion barrier. i was in the hospital for 18 days b/c of an ileus, hematoma and infection of the surgical cut. but those weren't major complications. in my case, the infection showed 12 days after surgery. i was released 12 days after surgery in the morning. at evening same day lots of green stuff (like more than a litter) started to pour out through the surgical cut. all i needed to do was to call an ambulance (the national medical care covers it) to get me back to the hospital. and i did it just by my self, cuz my mom had to stay at home with my doggie who was very sick (18 yro, blind, deaf, can't walk etc).

i think that either way having your grandparents is good enough - if you're aren't ready to be released by 10 days (which hopefully won't happen), then your grandparents can be in the hospital with you. and if you're released by 10 days, it means you're good to manage with just a little help of someone to be with you. and it's only for the weekend. if something goes wrong while that weekend, then they just need to make sure to get you to the hospital. the drs there will surely know what to do.
Posted 10/19/2011 5:31 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks everyone SO much. My grandparents should be fine - they are younger and can drive etc...I think my mom would be worried no matter who was staying with me. We also have great neighbors and my aunt and uncle live in town as well. My mom worries that they will be far away and it would take them some time and a plane ride to get back here if there was any emergency. But it sounds like if I'm already out of the hospital by then, the "emergency" complications would be unlikely (not impossible, but unlikely). But I am aware that I could very well still be in the hospital 10 days later, you never know. So we will take it day by day and see what the situation is when that day comes.

Thanks again, the information I get on this forum is stuff I could never get anywhere else, and there is no one else for me to talk to about this stuff except for everyone here!
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