OCTOBER SURGERIES

Oh Ger's wife, I am so sorry that Ger has gone through so much.  My thoughts and prayers are with him!  Welcome to the other side - this is the beginning of healing!  Wonderful news about the cancer being removed completely.  We wish him the best!

Best of luck, Mike!  Yes, post whenever you can!  Your recovery should work out perfectly so things will be good as the holidays approach.  Glad you made it to the October club!

Ron has joined the ZERO memebership!

Aimzee

Last time I posted was the day prior to my surgery which was Oct 6th. I am finally able to check out and go home 12 days later. I knew going in that being on blood thinners for my artificial heart valve could present some issues but no one anticipated two surgeries and 12 days in the hospital. I developed some blood clotting issues that required them go back in using the same incisions Wed evening on the 13th (a week after my original surgery). While the surgeon was doing the first surgery he found two hernias and repaired them as well.

So my recovery has been a bit different but as we speak, all tubes are out, things are flowing as expected at this point and I hope to leave my hospital “cell” in the next few hours.

My surgeon has done over 960 Da Vinci surgeries and is considered one to top in the country. I was surprised though at how few surgeries seem to be done on guys with blood thinners. He has done only 4 and I am the first one he had to go back into.

I have my pathology report but need to review it. Still very short on sleep…imagine trying to sleep in a hospital. Every 2 hours getting poked with needles, replace IV bags and such. I think the real healing takes place once you are able to get some uninterrupted sleep.

Seems we all have challenges and that shows why nothing is "normal" in treating this disease.

I didn't get any real sleep until I got out of the hospital. Sleeping in a recliner now since the second surgery left me in worse shape than the first one in terms of recovery. My catheter has been out 7 days now but still getting up every couple of hours for the bathroom. Not sure if that is part of the recovery and gets better over time.

Keep getting rest but also get out and walk. Been doing stairs and walking several blocks a couple of times per day. And hot shower....what a gift.

It will get better :)

I was changing pads only when "full" at the start, and earned myself three urinary tract infections over a two month period.

Once I changed philosophy, and swapped them out when uncomfortable rather than soggy, things got better.

Learned early to watch the sales and coupons - the price swings can be 50% at Walgreens.

Last night was the first night to get 6 hrs sleep in a row. Still using full depends but only cause there are a few spurts now and then and I have a package of them. But for the most part, can go a couple of days w/o too much wetness. I would change often just to stay fresh and avoid any issues - not worth the cost of trying to get more "mileage" out of the pads.

Got a long drive ahead of us tomorrow as we leave Seattle for our home. 10 hrs but will stop often to get out and stretch. Will have seat reclined back since I still have a lump in my mid section which feels like a foreign body in me.

Staying on stool softeners yet of 2 per day but may cut to one per day today since my wife is pushing the fruit in me. She's a great cook and makes it easy

Highwayman - congrats on getting out of the hospital. Those gas pains are no fun. I think I had the opposite of your nurse. She said to manage the pain and take the meds if needed. Was on Tylenol as the first line of defense and then oxycodone (sp?) if needed which will cause some constipation. She said just keep pushing the water. I tried to stay of it though as much as possible. Keep the catheter head clean around the penis and you will feel much better. Since I was in the hospital the whole time the catheter was in, it was not as big of a deal as the rest of the issues were.

Post Edited (Ger42) : 10/26/2010 2:18:38 PM (GMT-6)

Getting any ED meds paid for by insurance is a big challenge. I've had Uro and GP write letters of medical need, and they have been refused outright and on appeal.

Call the insurance company with the policy numbers and find out what they will pay for. It will likely be a certain number of pills based on the strength per month. Get one prescription written for that amount, and push it through insurance. Then get another prescription for the difference the doctor wants taken, and deal with that personally. Most pharmacies can split bill, but you won't be making friends when you ask them to. Better the dual prescriptions.

You may be able to get a higher strength pill that can be cut into halves or quarters that covers the daily dose. I am doing that.

I won't go into the All Day Chemist discussion, since I am not big on breaking the law although many have no issues with foreign pharmacies, but it is an alternative.

I was "back at work" within a week, but it was via computer remote connection. It was two months before I went back into the office, primarily because everyone was sick with seasonal colds and flu, which I did not want to share in. It was two months before my weight "lift" limit was raised from 5 pounds to 10, so could not have carried the briefcase anyway. My Surgeon had advised pre-surgery that I plan for 5-7 weeks before returning to full time work.