Surgery tips, advice, etc.???

[kernelmom3]

Hi all! Surgery for S is set for the day after tomorrow (Monday). We've been in the hospital for a week now and S is MUCH better! She's still on antibiotics and Prednisone in addition to TPN. She's been saying she's starving for the last two days so that's a good sign.

I was just wondering if I could get any tips or advice you might have for me or my daughter. My son had surgery last year but that was to repair the perforation the doc made with the scope, so it was emergency surgery that we didn't have time to mentally prepare for. Surgeon said it would take 2-3 hours but beyond that he answered most of our questions with a polite "we'll know more when we get a look inside" (since she's had no scopes, just MRI/CT/xray). Thanks for any info!

 

[CarolinAlaska]

I'm sorry but I haven't had to be in your shoes. So far we've avoided surgery. I can see why your daughter is hungry - my daughter becomes very hungry on prednisone. Are they letting her eat now? Poor girl.

 

[Maya142]

No advice but sending HUGS! We'll be thinking of you!

Tagging Clash, her son had surgery recently.

 

[ronroush7]

What type of surgery?

 

[pdx]

Here is a post with a lot of detail about a recent surgery:

http://www.crohnsforum.com/showthread.php?t=73088

I hope everything goes well for your daughter. I'll be thinking of you guys on Monday.

 

[ronroush7]

Prayers.

 

[kernelmom3]

She's having a resection.

 

[ronroush7]

I had a resection five years ago. Make sure your child has stuff to keep them busy while they recover . They tried to get me up the day after they did the surgery . Everyone is different but it was too painful for me. Make sure they walk a lot. Make sure they don't eat too much too soon. Keep us updated if and when you get a chance. Best to you all.

 

[my little penguin]

Sending hugs
No Exp
But you will be in our thoughts and prayers

 

[Sascot]

No experience, just wanted to wish you all the best!

 

[Clash]

My son had a small bowel resection. I think they had him up that evening walking. We walked more blocks of the surgery ward in those first couple days that C probably ever walked in PE.

The questions we addressed before surgery were:

What type of pain treatment will be used ie pump,pain block, etc and what is the average amount of time after surgery til the switch to oral pain meds.

Will they insert a cath during surgery that he will wake up with? How long should he have the cath.

Will they insert an ng tube during surgery that he will wake up with for drainage.

C did have a cath but didn't have an ng.

 

[Mehita]

Looks like I'm a little late since surgery is today. I hope it goes well!!

DS had a resection a three years ago. He did an epidural for pain, which was great for surgery site pain, but didn't do anything for his sore throat from intubation or the referral shoulder pain from his diaphragm. He also reacted badly to the epidural and, unfortunately, it's not an easy or quick out with a needle in your back and tons and tons of tape holding it in. If we had to do it over again, we'd do a pain pump.

The catheter was yucky. He hated it. He also had an NG tube which he accidentally sneezed out. Both were removed on day two or three.

The first two days, DS was pretty out of it, but by day three he was starting to walk again. Bring slippers or grippy socks. He was discharged on day 6 and pretty much off all pain meds by then. His surgeon used super glue instead of staples or tape and it didn't hold. It's left a really odd looking scar. For after, DS found blue jeans uncomfortable because the button would rub on his incision site, so he wore elastic waist athletic pants or pajama pants for several weeks.

Having a good friend visit can do wonders for their attitudes. That was a big turnaround day for DS and instead of one step forward, two steps back, it was all forward from there.

Take care of yourself!! Go back to the advice from when they were infants and sleep when they sleep. I was up for 24 hours at one point and it was horrible because you need to make decisions and keep track of things, yet you can't think straight because you're so tired.

Please let us know how things go today.

 

[Maya142]

Thinking of you today - good luck :ghug:!

 

[CarolinAlaska]

Thinking of you today

 

[Optimistic]

Sending positive thoughts. Look forward to hear about the success.

 

[my little penguin]

Good luck
And healing thoughts

 

[xmdmom]

Thinking of you and hoping things are going smoothly.

 

[kyoung02]

Thinking of you! We left the hospital today. Now, thinking of resection surgery after healing and bag is removed. Update us and good luck!