Mama always said...

Sounds like he had the RRP, where (I think) they go in through the "crotch" area. If you're having da vinci, I'm pretty sure you'll be on your back. As to food, I was on clear liquids for the first day or so, and then told to eat lightly -- small portions and no rich , greasy or gassy foods. I also took a stool softener and should probably have added prune juice. Unfortunately, I had a real tough time with BMs the first 4-5 days. All in all, the recovery was pretty quick and painless ('cept for those BMs). Walk as much as possible, starting in the hospital if you can. And keep working those Kegels! Good luck -- We'll see you "on the other side!"

puget

GT,

The position is called a trendelenberg position (head below the level of the heart). It's a very common position for a combination of reasons. In the case of a robotic assisted prostatectomy, the machine is actually between the legs which are in a gently bent position on table that seperates the legs a little.

Ask the Doc about how he will help prevent a sinus issue. My guess is...there is a plan for everything! During surgery you aren't breathing from your nose but, if you are concerned about after, ask...I'm sure he'll have an aswer. Good Luck. Thoughts and prayers...

Swim

I'm beginning to get the picture.  It won't be the most fun that I've ever had laying down, but I think that I can handle it.  I appreciate the information and as soon as my head clears I'll check in and let you know how it goes.

Yeah, everybody keeps saying it will all be behind me.  I thought that it wouldn't be anymore!

Two more days!  I appreciate all of the kind words.  I've been absent for a couple of reasons.  Internet service has been constantly coming and going for a week now.  I understand that this has been a problem for people in many areas.  I read a while back that one of the communication satelites was going bad and I wonder if this could be the problem?  Also, I was eating breakfast Saturday morning and getting ready to tackle some of the things that needed to be done before surgery when I received a call that my Mother, who lives 100 miles from me, had fallen and broken both arms.  She will be 82 on 10/15.  On Saturday night, while my Mother was in surgery her sister had a major heart attack.  I had to be back home by Sunday night (got back after midnight) so that I could do pre-op Monday morning.  Fortunately my brother was able to help yesterday as Mother was going into rehab and my Father, who cannot take care of himself, now has to go to an ALF.  I begin not eating, on doctor's orders, this morning for surgery on Thursday.  I've noted that some of you have had cookouts and so forth the day before surgery.  I suppose that some doctor's do it differently, but I will probably be very tired of jello and ready to eat my shoe by Thursday.  The DAY is fast approaching and, as my wife says, we really need another week to get ready, but, ready or not, it looks like it will happen finally on Thursday.  I'll be checking in unless the net stops altogether.  

gtm,

Whoa, enough already!! I pray that these issues with your family will quickly resolve themselves. It must be tough going into surgery to have all of that going on. As to your appetite after surgery it may surprise you. I thought that I would be ready to chow down on a large steak but it took me almost a week to get back to my normal eating habits. The day after surgery I was told to eat something like chicken noodle soup. My wife and I were staying that night at a motel near the hospital and the first thing that I had to eat was chicken and vegetable soup in a bread bowl. When I got home friends made a very good chicken stew with noodles. I had that steak about a week after surgery.

Swimom explained the positioning. I was told one of the key reasons for the angling was so the surgical field would be clear as your intestines and other organs will be sagging toward you head. You are tubed and hooked up to a breathing machine. I was concerned that I would wake up with a sore throat and raspy airway but I could not even tell that I had been tubed.

Tamu

Tamu

gtmriviera,

It's good to be distracted prior to surgery, but wow!

Our prayers are with you. But you will find the surgery is a piece of cake. If you need any suggestions to speed your recovery, let us know. We've been there, done that.

     Hi ~  gtmriviera & Loved Ones,   Thinking of you and sending special thoughts your way as you move toward surgery day…   As you feel up to it ~ touch base!!   We hope   “Our Journey” helped to guide you over at least one stepping-stone on your path.   Keeping you close… in thoughts and prayers.     “Our hands will be on your shoulders” special words borrowed from hamala   In Friendship,   ~~ * ~~ * ~~ * ~~~ )*&^%   Group Hug %^&*( ~~~ * ~~ * ~~ * ~~   From the 3 of us... Lee, Buddy, & Murphy  

Our prayers are with you. You have it right: The world will get along fine. This is your time now, and everything and everyone else will wait. You will be amazed how quickly and easy things go from here. The waiting is the hard part.

Thoughts and prayers for you tomorrow and beyond.

God Bless, Swim

GTM,

Todays the day. A start to a new life. All this will be behind you and you will move on to get a world famous Idaho Goose Egg.

Praying for you today.

We will wait to hear from you from the other side.

Love ya brother........................WAR EAGLE

Walt

I came home saturday afternoon, but the internet service hasn't been working.  It apparently is a problem with the way that the house was wired and the serviceman had to come out today.  We're finally back in action.  As for the surgery let me say that everyone at Baptist Hospital was fantastic.  I've never seen service like that at any hospital.  As for the procedure they took me in the operating room and one guy says "I'll be giving you something that will relax you a little."  That was about 7:30.  The next thing that I know is waking up in recovery at 10:30.  I'm thinking that that was much quicker than I expected.  It turns out that my internal organs are not where they are supposed to be.  The doctor was trying his best to poke around and do the surgery with the robot, poked a hole in my bladder and, after sewing that up, he decided to just open me up.  I now am stapled up from above the belly button down to there.  He says that there should be zero nerve damage.  I talked to him today and he said that the pathology report will take another day or two.  While in the hospital I was slow to recover an appetite and didn't eat much.  I still am not eating as normal, but it is coming back slowly.  I had two brief episodes of nausea in the hospital and threw up once.  Both times that I became nauseous it happened suddenly with no warning so if you have surgery coming up be sure to have something nearby just in case.  Fortunately there was a nurse in the room at the time.  I have not had a lot of pain, just the bladder spasms that everyone talks about and they can give you medication for that.  I've been walking around the house and taking a lot of naps.  I'm still carrying the large bag as the small one would be filling up much too quickly.  I have hot and cold flashes when I will be sweating a lot and freezing later on.  I talked to the doctor today and he said that he isn't sure what is causing that.  At this point it's just kinda boring and we are going to rent some movies.  Oh yes, I understand that the recovery period may be a little longer since they opened me up, but no one has given an estimate.  Anyone have any experience with this?