Surgery + Recovery 2021

 

Surgery + Recovery (2021 Edition)

My last cancer journey post ended with me knowing that surgery was scheduled for Monday, August 9^th. In the meantime, I spent a lot of time on oxy, in bed, and binging TV shows. My poor kids pretty much fended for themselves. Even taking the oxy as prescribed, I would still occasionally need to add acetaminophen to tamper my pain down to a manageable level. Two days before surgery, it was time to start another bowel prep regimen. It went so “well” for my colonoscopy, I was really not looking forward to it.

It was at least a different method. I needed to be on a clear liquid diet, and take a laxative and some antibiotics on a very regimented schedule. Along with this, for two nights in a row I was to drink Miralax mixed with Gatorade. An entire container of Miralax to 64 ounces of Gatorade. The clear liquid diet was fine the first day, then it came time to down the Miralax/Gatorade combination one cup at a time until it was gone. I psyched myself up, and started downing it. I was to start at 8 pm. It really didn’t have a bad taste; it was slightly salty Gatorade to my taste buds. I tried so stinking hard, I really did. But every time I got a cup of it down, it came back up. I kept on trucking and had the pitcher nearly gone...but it was 3 AM before I reached the point where I broke and decided “close enough”. I went to bed exhausted and not sure I even managed any prep since I vomited so much.

Unfortunately, the vomiting continued the following day, Sunday. It reached a point where I was literally not even keeping sips of anything down. Once I had attempted the antibiotics and those came back up, my husband called the surgeon’s office. They told us to go to the emergency department and tell them my surgeon wanted me admitted early for IV hydration and antibiotics. And because God has an infinite sense of humor, I also started menstruating 24 hours before a planned hysterectomy. Seriously. I was not amused and the female doctor that asked me about my ‘last period’ was very sympathetic when I chuckled and told her it had started that afternoon. Eventually I got a room and was able to attempt sleeping for the night.

I don’t remember a whole lot from the morning, but I do know there was more poking and prodding involved. Once I went down to the surgery prep area, I met the doctor that would be giving me a nerve block for my abdomen. That was really weird...and he and my husband had a lovely chat all about hunting. And fishing, I think. But mostly hunting. Before long, I was rolled away and into the operating room. The last thoughts I had about the surgery before nodding off was “It’s going to be really weird having a colostomy bag for a while.”

When I woke up from surgery, the first thing I did was feel for the bag. It wasn’t there. The colon went back together just right without any fistulas (holes), so no colostomy bag for me. Yay! The surgery went pretty well from what I was told. The were able to remove the tumor, restructure the colon, and remove my reproductive organs, my appendix, and a small part of my bladder. Let that last sentence sink in for a minute. It’s quite the list for a single surgery. My husband jokes that I was “gutted”...definitely not far from the truth.

And being gutted was definitely how I felt in my hospital recovery! I had a catheter in to allow my bladder to fully heal, and my intestines—as expected—were a bit sleepy and confused as to which direction food was supposed to be moving. I don’t care to throw up to begin with, and vomiting post-surgery was a new kind of torture. (In case you wonder; it wasn’t gentle just because I’d had surgery.) I felt really bad for the techs that had to clean me and the bedding up when I’d go to bed feeling great and leave my bucket on the other side of the room. Eek. It felt like every time I’d make a move in my allowed foods, I’d get moved back down to clear liquids. There’s only so much juice, jello, and (gross/fake) broth a person can handle. I spent six days in the hospital altogether and an entire two meals were not some sort of liquid diet.

At home, I continued to need to watch what I ate for several weeks, but it wasn’t very difficult. A little less than flavorful, but not terribly difficult. We had so many people bring us meals and stock our freezer. It was an amazing blessing. The freezer meals are nearly gone, but the bulk beef is still being worked on. :) I know without the prayers and meals we would have gone crazy and would definitely not be in the good place we are now. So, if you are one of our prayer warriors or meal providers, THANK YOU!!!

Next time I write about my cancer journey, I’ll talk about that pesky catheter and getting my chemo port placed.