Husband Having Robotic Surgery Tomorrow

Diamonds3,

Most of us were on the sleeping side of the wait (a few of the ladies may chime in on life in the waiting room).

I had family waiting, and I guess the only thing that was disconcerting to them was the surgeon reporting out great news, and then getting my less than great pathology.

Remember that he will tell you about how the surgery process went, that he will have only a minimal idea of what was in the tissue, and that the pathology of the PCa will only be known a week or so later. He won't be able to tell you anything definitive about the pathology, so don't be surprised.

I hope all goes well, and we are here if you have any questions. Let us know how he does.

Hello, Diamond

I'm sorry to hear you and your husband are having to go through this.

My wife also was alone at the hospital while I was in surgery.  Our son was to have been with her, but he and his wife won a free trip to Las Vegas at a baseball game the night before, and it was the sort of prize where they had to be willing and able to leave immediately.  He was really conflicted, but I assured him I wanted him and his wife to take advantage of the prize, so Beth ended up alone.

She said four hours can be an incredibly long time waiting, so be sure to take reading material or a Kindle or something.  The surgery can be a couple of hours, or it can be much longer (mine ended up being 4 and a half hours because of some extra work the surgeon did). 

Beth was allowed in the pre-op area and tells me I was joking and flirting with the nurses as they wheeled me toward the operating room.  I don't remember any of that, but I guess it's true.   She then had to go off to a waiting area.

It will be approaching supper time by the time you're reunited with your husband, so you might want to take a snack or drop by the hospital cafeteria at some point.

If the surgeon has prior surgeries that day, be prepared for your procedure to be moved forward or slid later, depending on how his other procedures have gone.

If you're the prayerful type, an appropriate prayerbook might be also good to have with you.

My wife surprised me with a vase of flowers in the room....a very nice touch.

Good luck to both of you.  And welcome to the "club."  I wish you didn't have to join, but please let us know how things go.

 

Remember that lots of people here will be thinking about you both. Please let us know how he does!

Juliet

I was very frightened when my husband had surgery, as he had never been in the operating room before. Never had an IV, etc. So I was concerned about how he would react to anesthesia, etc. Everything went fine.

I had 3 different people with me, one at a time for an hour each. It kept my mind off things very well. The OR called every once in a while to tell me how things were going there.

I saw my husband being wheeled out of recovery and up to his room. He looked absolutely fine and was wide awake and alert. He was discharged to home the end of the next day.

Our surgery and recovery event was very uneventful. I pray the same for you and your husband. Let us know how it goes.

my wife, mother and dad were waiting in my room. hey were relaxed as they knew I was in good hands. I wasn't relaxed, but I was serene by that point. My surgeon personally went upstairs to the room to tell them how the surgery had gone. I was glad to have a lot of people there for me.

I was cold out before they rolled me down the hall, so never saw the robot or the surgeon. Vaguely remember the recovery, but went out again. The surgeon came by that night, but have no memory of what he said. I think they brought me a liquid dinner, but don't remember anything until the next day.

Sheldon, 70 minute surgery?

mine was 3 hours.

Oh Diamond...your post takes me back 3 years when my husband was getting ready for his surgery...except, at that time, I had not discovered this wonderful forum and my knowledge of what could be wasn't what it is today.

My husband was taken into the surgical staging area around 4:00 pm, and I didn't see him again til 9:30 that night (the surgical nurse told me that the doctor booked the OR for 6 hours!). Anyway, I had my sister in law with me and a close friend to keep me company. The OR nurse took my cell phone number and promised to keep me posted (she called me about half way through the surgery to tell me that everything was going fine, and that John was doing very well under the anesthesia). The surgeon told me to go out and have a nice dinner (which we did) since it would be a few hours before I heard anything.

When the surgeon came out of the OR about 9:15 at night, my sister in law had gone home but my friend was still with me. The surgeon briefed me on the results of the surgery but the official pathology report wasn't ready til my husband had the catheter removed about 10 days later. I was allowed to go in an "see" my John in the post op area...he looked terrible so prepare yourself (if you read this message in time). John had the robotic procedure, and they blow CO2 into the abdomen to give the surgeon a clearer view. Also, you are on the OR table in an inverted position (the head is lower than the feet) to help move the other organs out of the way. The result of all this was that my John looked like a big, fat pumpkin head when I saw him. Fortunately, the nurse prepared me for this but I was still shocked to see him so swollen. Then, there's the incredible amount of blood in the catheter bag. But, I got to see John and tell him I love him (and, believe it or not, he was able to talk to me though he wasn't make much sense). After 10 minutes, the nurse threw me out and I went home about 10:00 that night (we had gotten to the hospital around noon!).

I hope you come back and let us know how things went. We all send you and your husband lots of good thoughts as you begin this journey.

Good Luck. I imagine that you'll both do fine! For my procedure a funny think happened in the waiting room. There's a big screen with patients identified by a special code (known only to the family) and there are updates posted there on the patient status. In operation room since ...; in post-op since ...; awake from anesthetic; transferred to room ###; and so on. I was making progress up until the transfer to my room (which my family didn't notice because the surgeon had come out to talk to them). He told them among other things the surgery had gone very well, I was awake, and would be transferred to my room shortly where they could see me. Unfortunately, there was an error in the last e-entry code and my code and tracking disappeared from the chart. It also seems that my actual name had been spelled wrong in the patient information table at admissions so I sort of just disappeared without a trace. My family didn't panic and got the information that they needed, but my other visitors were concerned when the came to visit and were told that I wasn't there.

Hey there--- I just had my open rp on tuesday and am at home for the first day today. Cherish every moment of this experience because you will remember it for the rest of your life. I met so many impressive people at the hospital- my nurses were awesome. My doctor came back several times to tell me not to worry- there can be "little" issues that seem more significant when you are laying on your back. Give your husband a backrub- 24 hours on your back without changing position is very hard. Embrace the experience. I won't know the results on the path for a week but that is another day.