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Medical Forum / Diseases and Disorders / Prostate Cancer / October 2003Surgery date coming closer
Just an update. Have not posted for a while. Had my surgical assessment yesterday -- blood, ECG, chest x-rays, questions. All went well. I got a very good impression of the hospital and the staff. Tomorrow I give the first of 2 units of blood in case I need a transfusion during the RRP. The operation is scheduled for the 27th. Its less than 2 weeks away and it seems strange as it was so far away for so long, but now it is almost upon me. So far I feel calm, but with a bit of apprehension. You guys and gals have certainly been a great help to me. I am going to look up some of the past posts on the items of clothing etc. I'll need post surgery. Bruce Sounds like you have it all in order. Word of advise: Don't worry about it. Have a good 12 days. By Christmas, you'll be wondering what all the fuss was.  SignatureSteve Kramer PSA 16 10/17/2000 @ 46 Biopsy 11/01/2000 G7 (3+4), T2c RRP 12/15/2000 PSA .1 .1 .1 .3 .4 .8 EBRT 05-07/2002 @ 47 PSA .3 .2 .2 .2 .3 Erection 05/12/2003 @ 48 Begin Lupron 07/21/2003 @ 48 PSA .1 > Just an update. Have not posted for a while. > [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > > Bruce Bruce: I know the feeling, I was there a couple of weeks ago. Here's the list: http://www.phoenix5.org/Basics/treatsides/RPsuggestsJoe.html Come back often, please. Larry > Just an update. Have not posted for a while. > [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > > Bruce Hi, Bruce... Just enjoy these next two weeks. Try not to sweat the surgery. It's good that you got a positive impression of the medical staff. They will take good care of you. You just turn it all over to them and go along for the ride. I promise you... it's not difficult to get through. I had never had any surgery at all... and I was calm the morning of... and all went well! In a few weeks, you'll have the surgery behind you, and it will just seem like a speed-bump on the way to your future! Wishing you all the best! And by all means, if you get anxious ... or if it would help to talk about it... please post away! That's what we're here for! Pmail me if you like: domiha@hotmail.com Take care! MikeH :) > Just an update. Have not posted for a while. > [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > > Bruce > Hi, Bruce... > [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > Take care! > MikeH :) I echo what Mike said. I had mine on Dec 2, 02 and it seems like a long time ago now. It was not that bad, in fact I had little pain except for the incision and that felt like I had done too many situps, that was all. Dale J. > > Just an update. Have not posted for a while. > > [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > > > > Bruce SignatureEmail: dj2001@mn.rr.com Ditto on the pain. Not really "pain" at all. Just soreness that reminded me of when I did too many situps. They had me up walking less than 24 hours after the surgery was completed. I was able to get out of the bed unassisted. All that surprised me because I expected it to be tougher. I did a lot of walking for exercise prior to the surgery. I think that paid off. I am not athletic, nor am I in good physical condition. All my excess weight is in the belly, so I really did expect to have a harder time of it after the operation. Watch out for the hospital food though :). > I echo what Mike said. I had mine on Dec 2, 02 and it seems like a long > time ago now. It was not that bad, in fact I had little pain except for > the incision and that felt like I had done too many situps, that was all. > > Dale J. Amen about the hospital food. It encouraged me to get up and get out. Really the worse part of the hospital stay---aside from being awaken every 2 or 3 hours and the general noise. The nurses however were from Heaven. Shorty Food? You guys had food? I wasn't even allowed ice chips for 7 days. SignatureSteve Kramer PSA 16 10/17/2000 @ 46 Biopsy 11/01/2000 G7 (3+4), T2c RRP 12/15/2000 PSA .1 .1 .1 .3 .4 .8 EBRT 05-07/2002 @ 47 PSA .3 .2 .2 .2 .3 Erection 05/12/2003 @ 48 Begin Lupron 07/21/2003 @ 48 PSA .1 > Amen about the hospital food. It encouraged me to get up and get out. > Really the worse part of the hospital stay---aside from being awaken every > 2 or 3 hours and the general noise. The nurses however were from Heaven. > Shorty I am not sure what they "served" me could be called food. Well, you guys will HATE this --- I had great food, and I wanted to eat it all, which stretched my belly, which I didn't like --- frustration! I was supposed to get a "clear tray" Monday after my surgery, but, as I was a "model patient", I got scrambled eggs and bacon, cereal, coffee and orange juice. Monday evening, I got lasagna with a salad with baby greens and oil and vinegar dressing, iced tea and banana cake. Tuesday before checkout at 1:00 PM I had boneless chicken breasts with rosemary and mushrooms, a green salad with ranch dressing and banana cake. I predict some ruthless restaurateur will have an RP there and steal their cook ... Larry > Amen about the hospital food. It encouraged me to get up and get out. > Really the worse part of the hospital stay---aside from being awaken every > 2 or 3 hours and the general noise. The nurses however were from Heaven. > Shorty > Well, you guys will HATE this --- I had great food, and I wanted to > eat it all, which stretched my belly, which I didn't like --- [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > > 2 or 3 hours and the general noise. The nurses however were from Heaven. > > Shorty My last meal before going home was beef stroginolf (I think the spelling is wrong). It was really good. In fact so good I was having second thoughts about going home.........just kidding, but the food was good. Dale J. SignatureEmail: dalej2@mac.com I just want to chime in on the subject of postoperative pain with standard (large incision) RRP. I think I had it as bad as it could be, so here's a few optimistic words. For some reason I didn't respond to the morphine drip, and that made any movement involving the incision area very painful. So I asked for and got something else by drip, and was up and walking in about an hour. Then when I got home I never could get the prescription for pain killer filled, so I had to go without. The pain is not the constant and inescapable pain of migraine. It is more like a sports injury or a pulled muscle in the back. That is, if you just stay still, it doesn't hurt. I don't know whether the prescribed treatment for a sports injury or a pulled muscle would be immobilization or not, but postop for RRP you can't stay still, you have to move around. So if you have pain you'll just have to move around anyway and keep thinking about how it's good for you to move. I felt that I was reaching a new plateau of recovery every 36 hours or so. So even if your pain management effort was as ineffective as mine, you can take it. Even without John Wayne telling you to get tough. jimhoney > Just an update. Have not posted for a while. > [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > > Bruce I did not have or need the morphine drip after surgery. Chris only hit the button once or twice. Nurses on the unit said they've never had a patient use it less before. The worst of the pain for him was when the second drainage tube was removed by an inexperienced intern. SignatureRebecca Ford > I did not have or need the morphine drip after surgery. The resident came into my room st 6am and had it out before I realized what was happening, I used the drip a few times, mainly because I misunderstood the instructions. I thought only once an hour when it could have been once every 8 minutes. So I would watch the big clock on the wall and wait my hour. Having done this, I began to tolerate the pain, I didn't like it but WTF did I know? At my pain management meeting in the anesthesia department it was determined that I could have medication similar to an epidural applied just after the surgery but before I left the OR. Doing this would ensure that I would wake up pain free. Unfortunately during the interview I told them that I was allergic to ibuprofen which was similar to the medication they were going to use so that was not done. Anyhow, I can't even remember what it was like. Chuck H. I just went down and checked with my wife, she is a nurse. Other than what pain meds they gave to me in the recovery area, I did not have a pump or narcotic type pain medication in my IV. She had gone home to shower when I got up the next morning to walk the first time, and when she got back she told me to ask for a Percosette (sp?). She said that would help me tolerate the walking. As far as I know that was all the pain medication that I had. > I used the drip a few times, mainly because I misunderstood the > instructions. I thought only once an hour when it could have been [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > > Chuck H. Thx for all your support and your post-op stories! Makes me feel a lot better about the surgery knowing what to expect on the other side. On the subject of pain management, the hospital gave me a booklet on their approach -- epidural analgesia. Pain medication will be given thru an epidural catheter placed in my back. The anesthesiologist will determine the type of medication and how much and how often it will be administered (based on my age, sex, weight and how I answered the questions). A pump will be programmed to deliver the medicine thru the catheter. I understand that if by any chance that does not work, then I will be hooked up to a "patient controlled analgesia" unit, which allows me to control the amount and timing of the medication. It all sounds great -- hope it works! Bruce > Thx for all your support and your post-op stories! Makes me feel a > lot better about the surgery knowing what to expect on the other side. [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > > Bruce I had the pump, no epidural and only real pain was when I first awoke for a few minutes until they got that pump thing going. I said it was maybe a six or seven on a scale of one to ten. After the pump was activated then it was just kind of a sore feeling the rest of the day and improved steadly over the next couple days. I'd have to say the whole thing was much better than I had thought it would be. It all went like clockwork thanks to the medical staff at the hospital. As far as medicine goes I don't wish for the good old days. Dale J. SignatureEmail: dalej2@mac.com > On the subject of pain management, the hospital gave me a booklet on > their approach -- epidural analgesia. > It all sounds great -- hope it works! It works! I got the needle in my back in pre-op (and that didn't hurt either). I had the operation, I went to my room, and for days, I never felt any pain whatsoever. It was really weird having this big slice down my belly and not feeling pain. Yet I had "feeling" everywhere. I did, however, suffer one of the lesser occurring side effects; illiitis. There is a muscle called the "illium" between the large and small intestines. When they took out the epidural, everything in my gut woke up except that muscle. It slept for almost a week and because of it, I couldn't take anything in by mouth and had a tube up my nose to suck out the bile. Not pleasant. But, damn if that epidural wasn't amazing. SignatureSteve Kramer PSA 16 10/17/2000 @ 46 Biopsy 11/01/2000 G7 (3+4), T2c RRP 12/15/2000 PSA .1 .1 .1 .3 .4 .8 EBRT 05-07/2002 @ 47 PSA .3 .2 .2 .2 .3 Erection 05/12/2003 @ 48 Begin Lupron 07/21/2003 @ 48 PSA .1 I had the pump and only used about half what was available. I asked for a doggy bag but they said no. Bill Denton 2/12/02 Memphis |
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