Surgery Friday Questions

[Mimzim]

Hi All!

My surgery is Friday and I am having a right hemicolectomy. I have read a lot of what people have written in the forum about this surgery and I am not so frightened. Well, I am so completely anxious about it all, but being a part of this forum is wonderful!

I see some people their doctors make them prep and some don't. I see some people have epidurals and some don't. I am not having to prep, which is really nice considering that is awful! My surgeon says she prefers solid matter rather than liquid and with strictures she doesn't want to aggravate the bowels with prep.

For those that didn't prep, did you have wound problems afterwards?

I am electing to have an epidural. This is for when I wake up my pain may not be as intense right away. I will also have an on-demand pain pump. If you had an epidural, did you think it was a good idea afterwards?

I am sure afterwards I am going to have more questions and I look forward to being able to come on here.

Thank all of you and I will let you know how it all goes.

Donna

 

[valleysangel92]

It's perfectly normal to have worries about all this. I'm so glad this place is helping though .

I'm also glad you don't have to prep, it's awful and I was up pretty much all night the night before my surgery, the prep caused so much pain that the nurse got a doctor to prescribe some tramadol!

I think if I'd had the choice I may have done the same, the pain hit me pretty hard when I first woke up. But the pain pumps are also good, since you don't have to wait for the next drug round. Just remember to keep on top of it. My nurses told me to press it all the time and not let the pain build past maybe a 3-4 out of 10 .

I would also say - take short walks when you are able, don't force it but the sooner you do the better you'll feel.

Only eat what you feel you can tolerate, dont push yourself to eat a big meal if you don't want it.

Make the most of pain meds and anti nausea meds. They are actually an important tool in your recovery.

Rest and sleep as much as you can. The body heals best when your asleep.

 

[annawato]

Hi mimzim, being anxious about surgery is completely normal. I think it would be abnormal not to worry about it!
I didn't have bowel prep for any of my resections/ilestomys and whilst I did get a wound infection with my last one it developed quite a while after surgery so was probably not related to lack of bowel prep. Your surgeon saying dealing with solid waste rather than liquid makes total sense. The main worry is developing peritonitis or becoming septic if waste from the bowel got into the abdominal cavity but I think that is pretty rare and is something the nurses keep an eye out for. So don't add that to your list of worries.
The epidural sounds like a great idea. The fastest way to heal is to get up and moving so the more pain relief you have the better. The first 24 hours is the worst and you'll have the epidural helping for a lot of that time. As Valley angel said don't try to tough it out by not using the pain pump, again it will help you get mobile and thats a good thing.
any other questions just ask away, both pre and post op and all the best for Friday.