Newbie, now what?

For me it seemed very contructive and good for future talks that for friends and "far family" (not close family whom I informed more directly) I wrote a common info-mail, quite short about the facts, something like: "Hi there - I kind of got bad news, but don't fear ..." With information about the diagnosis, the date of operation, a short "standard-prognosis" for that kind of operation and a sentence or two telling that I would write back shortly after being home post-op.

And three days after the operation I could write: "I'm back, it went well, I sit here with my catheter which will be there for the next 10 days, I'm confident that things are going to turn out fine."

In that way all later talks and writings "had a startpoint", and mailing out like that made people feel natural about contacting me about this cancer-situation. A subject SOME of my friends might not have "dared" to take up.

This worked fine for me. All the best of luck with operation and the months to come!

Barfy, Good luck to you. My husband's surgery is on May 10th as well. We will be thinking about you. We felt better after we did our research, spoke to numerous drs and made the decision. I have to say that the Uro we went to referred us to a radiation oncologist to get his opinion. He didn't automatically chose surgery. The radiation oncologist recommended surgery as so that was comforting. We have had a little fear of radiation because of some things that have happened to people in our family. Just last night I met a distant cousin who radiation for his PC when he was 70 and his colon was fried and he has major issues because of it. I know that is a word case scenario but it still happened just 10 years ago.
We went to the pre-op on tues and we were looking forward to getting the surgery over with. The anesthesiologist was concerned about the EKG. Mind you, my husband has hiked Half Dome in Yosemite, San Grigornio and Mt Baldy twice in the last 3 years and works out regularly. But they wanted him to get a stress test and an echo. He did that on Friday. A cardiologist was doing the tests but wouldn't tell him much except he has trace regurgitation. She will turn in a report tomorrow. DH said he felt like she was trying to find something wrong and didn't believe he didn't take any meds or had such a great health history. We are hoping it is just the way his heart works. I am not sure what if any changes they may make. We will be keeping our fingers crossed that Wed is a go. Barfy, do check when you are up to it. You and the DH will be going through it at the same time. Good luck to you and God bless you and the surgeon.

There's no special diet, but what you mention sounds like a good plan to me. I would also avoid caffeine while recovering and just stick to lots of water. While you're on pain meds, you might want to take a stool softener. Constipation is common on the pain meds.

Andrew

This video gives, I think, a good overall insight into the Davinci technique:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhDQqRDOA4k
It's about prostate-surgery in Sweden - I'm in Denmark - but I believe the procedure is just about same all over the world.

With Davinci your wounds will be smaller, heal faster, the precision should be better and thus your overall chances of coming better through this better.
(My wounds are fine now, though there was some trouble with the biggest of them. During a month I had to get the bandage changed every 3 days. Bladder control: Almost without problems now. ED: Not solved yet ... ¬)

Best of luck!

Barfy, its the dog from The Family Circus comic strip. I have a chocolate lab at home, Brody. He and I are going to be spending a lot of time together in the next weeks. He is great therapy for the soul.

Barfy, Good luck tomorrow. I will say a prayer for you and the surgeon who is taking care of you. My husband is doing his prep right now. He is pretty upbeat considering. We had dinner with his gym buddies tonight.( Will it be a full 6 weeks until he is back to working out) I have been pretty calm and collected but I am pretty anxious tonight and can't quit worrying about his recovery. We will talk to you all on the other side. We leave for the hospital at 5 am. ugh!

Barfy, See you on the other side. You'll do fine. We don't expect you to check back in from PACU. ;)

Welcome to the other side.

You're body's been through a lot. Rest and heal.

Before you know it, this will all be a bad memory,
Andrew

up4thefight said...
.... The anesthesiologist was concerned about the EKG. Mind you, my husband has hiked Half Dome in Yosemite, San Grigornio and Mt Baldy twice in the last 3 years and works out regularly. But they wanted him to get a stress test and an echo.....

My anesthesiologist wanted to know if I could climb a flight of stairs, When I said yes he wanted to know if I could climb two flights. I said I had climbed Mt Kilimanjaro at 19,340 feet, hiked the Grand Canyon rim to rim, and finished a half marathon. That seemed to satisfy him.

Day 3 after the surgery. Feel pretty good and they say I look better, better than what? Today was good, small steps. I was a lot more active. I tried to walk about 8-10 min of every hour. Pain is very manageable.
Did anyone with the Devinci surgery bruise? One side did and everything else is ok. I can see how this will take 2-3 weeks. Thank you everyone for the support.

Barfy, that is great to hear. You and I have similar surgical pathology, and I'm 2+ years out and a confirmed member of the trifecta club. See you in this special place soon!

Trifecta?

Glad you got a good post op path report. Now heal quickly and get your feet back under you.