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Husband is having "emergency" surgery tomorrow - Wish us luck!

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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 3/28/2008 2:12 AM (GMT 0)
Hey There UC Wife and Eric my thoughts and prayers are with you both. Please keep us informed.
Posted 3/28/2008 1:50 PM (GMT 0)

Thank you all for all your prayers and support.  It really means alot to me and to Eric.  I told him before he went back that I had gotten such a response on this UC board.

I am happy to report that the surgery went really well and he's doing great.  The Surgery took about 3 and a half hours.  The Surgeon came out to talk to us around 5:30pm last night and said everything went well and that he was going to take a picture of the colon but no one had a camera.  The walls of the colon had really thickened and he had alot of disease.  He told us that Eric's life will be just so different now with the surgery and so much better.

When I finally was able to see him back in the room around 7:30pm he was in good spirits.  The nurses who were pushing his bed back in said "oh you have people waiting for you.  Why don't you open your eyes and see if they are in the right room"  They were joking of course.  His first words were "Who are you?...I'm just kidding"

He wasn't in too much pain.  He had a button to give him morphine and was a little loopy.  I stayed with him until around 11pm.

He's so happy.  And he was saying that he was glad that he had it done this way.  There was no anxiety because he felt so awful and he didn't have to wait weeks or months for a date.  He told me he's free from the bathroom and will finally be able to go on a walk with me.  It also just blows his mind that he will be able to have milk again.  The UC had made him so sensitive to even the slightess trace of Whey or anything derived from milk would make him cramp like no tomorrow.

terps19, yup we live in MD (Montgomery Co.) and Eric actually went to to UMDCP from 97-2002.  He was a Computer Science major.  He was Diagnosed with UC during his second year there in 99-00.


Post Edited (UC Wife in MD) : 3/28/2008 7:55:32 AM (GMT-6)

Posted 3/28/2008 3:42 PM (GMT 0)
Glad to hear that it all went well! Here's to a speedy recovery :)
Posted 3/28/2008 5:51 PM (GMT 0)
I'm glad too that his surgery went well. I get sort of envious to all that have had the surgery. Ahhh to be free of Uc! What a novel idea! :) We are all wishing him the best and a speedy recovery.
Posted 3/28/2008 5:57 PM (GMT 0)
Great to hear his surgery went well! I may have to head down that same path sooner than later... I have had brain surgery and I am more scared of my UC related surgery.
Posted 3/28/2008 10:12 PM (GMT 0)
Wonderful news......so happy to hear things went so well. Hopefully he will be pain free with the meds and start to mend and get stronger every day and be functional real soon. Thanks for letting us know as so many were concerned and praying for him and you.
Posted 3/28/2008 10:49 PM (GMT 0)
I'm so glad he is well on the way to recovery! May this be the start of a newer, fun-filled life together.

Posted 3/28/2008 10:52 PM (GMT 0)
Awesome news!
Posted 3/29/2008 12:01 AM (GMT 0)
Great news! I'm glad to hear he is doing so well. And yes, you have to love those PCA pain drips.
Posted 3/29/2008 1:06 AM (GMT 0)

UC WIFE,

Glad to hear all went well...did they do a J-Pouch?


Post Edited (bbc) : 3/28/2008 7:13:46 PM (GMT-6)

Posted 3/29/2008 11:55 AM (GMT 0)
We love to hear stories about UCers surgeries - the good, the bad, and the ugly. It's something many of us may face and the more we understand about it, the less scary it seems.

I'll have to admit, like Red, I'm a bit jealous... To be free of these worries and drugs! Ah....

I hope that Eric is doing ever better today :) How are you holding up?
Posted 3/30/2008 4:05 AM (GMT 0)
This is such great news I have been praying so hard for both of you good luck with the rest of your life. God Bless You.
Posted 3/31/2008 1:57 PM (GMT 0)
Oh please keep us informed re Eric and the progress
My husband was diagnosed Nov 2 and was very severe and I am thinking we will go the same route as you..

He is on 200 mg imuran and with nausea and malaise. keep getting blood work done but now today a return of diarrhea ( perhaps something he ate?) but is so despondent.
As he put back on weight after hospitalization in December and cyclosporin, i do not want him to lose weight again. I mean if he is to have the surgery then best he be as healthy as possible going into it. Gordon is 63. How old is Eric: I think younger?
Thanks a lot for posting and letting us know.....
Chloe
Posted 3/31/2008 2:55 PM (GMT 0)
Good luck to you and Eric. We are all thinking of you and praying for you!
Posted 3/31/2008 3:26 PM (GMT 0)

Eric is 28 years old and was diagnosed with Colitis when he was 20.  Over the last year he had lost at one point 60 pounds.  He was 5'9" and weighed 115lbs.  At the time of surgery he had been doing at home TPN which helped him put on about 25lbs.  He was still skinny when he went in for surgery but wasn't as bad as before.  Unfortunately since it was emergency surgery they didn't do the J-pouch then.  The surgeon was just a general surgeon but he left part of the rectum intact and said the J-pouch should be pretty successful because there wasn't much disease at all in it.

He's continuing to do good.  The only problem so far is they found a blood clot in his arm that had his PICC Line (catheter to the heart).  They took the line out (been there for 8 weeks now) and he'll have to take blood thinners for 3 months and come back then to get another sonagram of his arm.

Friday - Day after the surgery, the surgeon had him get up and sit in a chair for about 45 minutes.  Not much pain.

Saturday - He didn't need his oxygen tube anymore and he started getting ice chips to suck on.  His bowels were still waking up.  He got up and sat in a chair.  He also got up and walked to the end of the hallway and back.

Sunday - Did 5 laps around his room.  They have him on C-diff isolation even though he doesn't even have a colon to have the bacteria in...The surgeon's trying to get that changed so Eric can walk in the halls.  His bowels have woken up enough for them to take the tube that was in his nose and went to his stomach to suck out bile out.  He was also taken off the continuous Morphine and is now by button request.  He also started a clear liquid diet Sunday night. 

Monday - He starts a non-clear liquid diet today and hopes to be on soft foods by tonight.  He wants Nesquick chocolate milk.  He hasn't had milk products in 8 years.  He also wants a bag of Reese's peanut butter cups...lol

Posted 3/31/2008 3:58 PM (GMT 0)
I'm glad the surgery went well! Congrats!

Haha, if I had surgery, I would go after the food I haven't been able to eat as well! yeah

Posted 3/31/2008 4:15 PM (GMT 0)
Awesome that the surgery went so well! Hope he enjoys that Nequick and Reese's peanut butter cups! :-)

Posted 3/31/2008 8:21 PM (GMT 0)
Great - thanks for the update. What a relief for you too.
Posted 4/2/2008 12:31 PM (GMT 0)

Next update.  As of Tuesday he began eating solid foods and sitting up on his own without much pain.  He sent me a picture message of the lunch he ordered, Pizza, Mac & Cheese, hot chocolate, and cake (every single thing he hasn't eaten in 8 years).  Unfortunately his eyes were bigger than his stomach and he couldn't even finish his pizza.  He didn't get to touch anything else.  I'm sure the many packs of reese's peanut butter cups he downed didn't help his lunch appetite.  Needless to say he's doing good and we're crossing our fingers that everything keeps going smoothly.

Can anyone who has an ostomy or had one suggest brands of bags?  We got a huge catalog that has literally hundreds of different bags for his ileostomy.  We don't even know where to start!


Post Edited (UC Wife in MD) : 4/2/2008 6:34:39 AM (GMT-6)

Posted 4/2/2008 1:27 PM (GMT 0)
Sounds like a divine meal!

I would suggest checking on the ostomy board for bag suggestions.

Sounds like recovery is going well. May it continue that way :)
Posted 4/2/2008 1:36 PM (GMT 0)
Most hospitals have an "ostomy" nurse who could be a really good resource for your ostomy supplies, at least to get started.  Glad to hear everything is going so good.

-------------------------------------------------------

yuckygut

diagnosed 1998

now off prednisone and colozal

drink one Haldi daily tongue

 

Posted 4/2/2008 2:00 PM (GMT 0)
Prayers from me too! Please post and let us know how he's doing!!
Posted 4/2/2008 5:26 PM (GMT 0)
Glad to hear he's doing so well...I thought there was no need for a bag if a J pouch was used?

UC Wife in MD said...

Next update.  As of Tuesday he began eating solid foods and sitting up on his own without much pain.  He sent me a picture message of the lunch he ordered, Pizza, Mac & Cheese, hot chocolate, and cake (every single thing he hasn't eaten in 8 years).  Unfortunately his eyes were bigger than his stomach and he couldn't even finish his pizza.  He didn't get to touch anything else.  I'm sure the many packs of reese's peanut butter cups he downed didn't help his lunch appetite.  Needless to say he's doing good and we're crossing our fingers that everything keeps going smoothly.

Can anyone who has an ostomy or had one suggest brands of bags?  We got a huge catalog that has literally hundreds of different bags for his ileostomy.  We don't even know where to start!



Post Edited (bbc) : 4/2/2008 11:39:20 AM (GMT-6)

Posted 4/3/2008 1:08 PM (GMT 0)

BBC, He hasn't had the full j-pouch surgery yet.  He just had his colon removed and an ileostomy which is the normal step for the j pouch 2 or 3 step surgery.  Since this was an emergency we didn't have a colorectal surgeon, just a general surgeon, do it so the j pouch that is usually created in the first surgery wasn't done.  We are hoping to have him healthy enough when he goes back for a second surgery that they can create the pouch and do the take down surgery all at once.

Most recent update is we are only waiting for the small intestine to realize there's no colon and start absorbing water.  He's gotten a little dehydrated but the surgeon said it's normal and the only reason he's still in the hospital is waiting for the small intestine to pick up the slack.  He's been enjoying pizza for lunch, grilled cheese sandwiches and brownies.

Posted 4/3/2008 1:16 PM (GMT 0)

barbl said...
Visualizing a speedy recovery and perfect colon-free life [img]/community/emoticons/yeah.gif[/img]

I'm with barb.. Good luck to you !
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