I came home yesterday from Sloan-Kettering, on the third day after my
RRP.  Here's my story so far:  First, I was very upbeat and positive
going into the surgery -- a major reason was that I knew so much about
what was going to happen and what to expect afterwards, information I
got from all my reading and going to support groups and reading the
experiences of men on this NG.

I did not expect that I would go into the OR awake, but they rolled me
in and asked me to get up on the table.  This was the coldest room I
had ever been in.  They put warm blankets on me, but I was still
shivering, so they got a special paper blanket that fills with hot
air.  The anesthesiologist put a line into my hand, and then put an
oxygen mask on my face.  "Your job," she said, "is to breathe."
That's the last thing I remember until I woke up in post-op.

Surgery went very well.  Had less blood loss than average, but had
problems with low blood pressure in post-op (my BP tends to run a
little low), so they kept me there for a few hours.  My wife came back
with one of my friends, and they report a couple of exchanges.  One is
that a nurse came by (after I knew I was being held to monitor my BP)
to explain the morphine pump, which let me get a small dose every ten
minutes by pushing a button.  I pushed the button to show that I
understood.  Some time later, I pushed it again, and my friend said,
"It's only been about four minutes."  I replied, in dismay, "And I
have to be in here for four hours?"  (Time seemed extremely dilated
while I was on morphine.  Minutes flew by like hours.  I awoke after a
refreshing night's sleep to find that it was only 11:30PM.)

The doctors came by and pulled back the sheets to look at my abdomen,
which was my first look at the area.  "How are you doing," they asked,
and I replied, "Just great, except I think you used a horse catheter
by mistake."  I had no idea how large the tube would be, although it
wasn't uncomfortable.

I was rolled upstairs to my room and passed a peaceful night.  The
next day, I had a liquid diet, and the nurses started me walking, and
I had some visitors.  Not much pain, just discomfort doing anything
that put strain on my abdomen, like swinging my legs over the edge of
the bed.  At the end of the day, I had a little fever, and my BP was
still low, so they gave me back one of the two units of blood I had
donated.  I fell asleep about 8PM, and awoke groaning about 2AM.  It
took me about two hours to identify the source of the abdominal pain:
gas, which I could not muster the muscular control to pass.  When I
paged the nurses, they got me up to walk.  It was striking how many
patients were up at 4AM.

The doctors were very excited about my gas pains and about my progress
in general.  This day, the morphine and the IV drip were taken away,
so I could get out of bed more easily.  I was able to sleep most of
the next night, and went home the next day (Friday), on schedule.
That afternoon, I took a nap -- a great, peaceful, home-again nap,
uninterrupted by hospital noises or nurses taking my vitals.

Now, my job is to drink fluids, keep my catheter clean, walk (I've
done over a mile already today), relax and heal.  Walking produces
discomfort, but I have no pain when sitting.  The catheter is draining
well.  It will come out a week from this Monday.  I'll keep the group
updated (shorter than this).