Surgery: day 4 post op

Written by powell

Sam is in good spirits.  He was reading stuff on the internet when I walked in.  He self administered pain meds 3 times today.  He could be taking 4/hour so he seems to be doing well.
o 6:30am to get out of bed
o 9:00am before the walk (was not in pain just anticipating it)
o 11:30am after getting back into bed, sore back.

Sam took three laps.  No problem, no pain.

The Dr. said best case, absolute best everything goes perfect, could be three more days in the hospital (anticipating longer).  Food tube is delivering 15cc/hour and just got upped to 30cc/hour.   Hard to tell how well the food consumption is going, no diarrhea - good,  no poop - bad.

Sam is hungry.  Not even a drink of water is allowed.


Go Shockers:

Surgery Recovery, Day 3 - Evening

This is Caroline.

Dad obviously posted the earlier post, and gave you a clear overview of the morning and early afternoon.

He had his first guests this afternoon.
He has been talking more (than yesterday) to my mom, Kevin and I, and watching college football.

He walked around the floor a few more times than yesterday, and is actually getting ready to go on another walk with the evening nurse (whom has been his nurse for the past two nights). Real Time: They just made one loop and he passed the room saying he wanted to make a second loop, and they are off...This is the first time he has completed two loops of the floor. The nurse claims the floor loop is 1/15 of a mile.

He is still commenting on his breath and noticing the difference of breathing post surgery than before surgery when he did not think about breathing. Dad has now returned and he and the nurse are talking about breathing...He especially notices it when he gets in and out of bed and when he sits down in the chair or gets back in bed after walking. He is also on the same drug that he can dispense himself, and it sounds like the nurse might give him some Tylenol to help with how he feels at certain times when he is breathing.

Not that dad has paid attention, but I think the view could be worse...The image below is looking west.

Surgery Recovery, Day 3

I've been moved to room 740 in the Cancer Tower at Portland Providence.  Exit 3 off of I-84 then head back west on Glisan to 47th.  The easy access is from 47th, just south if I-84.

I am alert enough to sit at a computer and type in my blog for a while.  The picture that Caroline posted yesterday shows Dr. Christy Dunst, my primary surgeon, and Dr. Radu Peskaro who is a fellow under Dr. Dunst's tutelage.  He can write orders.   He came by this morning and said it is time to get onto the feeding tube.  We begin with 15 ml /hour.  If everything goes well, it will ramp up over time to 100ml/hour.  So far, the only "feeding" I've had is from saline IV's.

I took a walk last night around 12:30a when I woke up with a headache and was feeling kind of lousy.  That walk was very short, after about 40 feet we turned around and came back.  I felt worse.  This morning at 8:00a I walked around a loop that might have been 60-80 yards total.  I'm feeling better and planning on doing that again in about 20 minutes.  Then a sponge bath.  Then I'll get back in bed and hope that I haven't over done it.  I know that if I've done too much I'll feel bad.  On the other hand, when a slow walk of 80 yards is overdoing it you realize how much much further you have to go.

The doctors have thankfully removed a lot of tubes that were connected when I came out of ICU.  There was a tube through my nose into my stomach to suction out any stomach contents.  That really irritated my throat, which was incredibly sore for two additional reasons: (1) the breathing tube and ventilator and (2) the main incision through which the operation was performed was high up on my throat.   Here is the incision in my throat, you may have to blow it up:

They removed the bladder catheter.  They like to remove those as soon as possible because they are primary source of infection.  I was under anesthesia when they put it in.  It felt really weird coming out like it kind of hurt, but when it was out I felt fine.  I was very nervous about the first time I urinated without the catheter, but had no burning.  Since it is difficult for me to get in and out of bed, they give me a "urinal" (which is kind of like an empty plastic milk bottle) which I use while in bed.  Guys have it a lot easier then girls.

They removed two IVs from my right wrist, one was arterial. I'm getting all IV stuff through the one in my neck, which everyone refers to as "a main line".

Finally they gave me this breath quantity measuring device to help me improve my lung capacity.  As I breath in, beyond a certain point it really hurts, due to the surgery.  Here's a picture:

Surgery: Status Update - 7:45 PM PT / 9.13.13

This is Caroline.

It is 7:00 which means the nurse change is currently happening in the room. The new nurse is his same nurse as last night. She is very friendly. In the midst of the change, the surgeon stopped by for about 15 minutes to check on Dad. Both times, I have seen her, she has been quite upbeat and friendly. The photo below is the of the surgeon and the man is on a fellowship with the doctor. This was the most upbeat and talkative Dad was all day, today.

He took another walk, which is encouraging. The doctor wants him to walk and breathe into a small box (where when you breathe a small ball moves. The object is to get the ball as high as possible).

Otherwise, not much has happened since a few hours ago...

Surgery: Status Update - 5:45 PM PT / 9.13.13

This is Caroline.

Not much knew has happened or changed since I last wrote, except my dad appears to be sound asleep. We are hoping he can sleep for a while, or at least until the next nurse arrives...

They did up the medicine he can dispense himself to double the amount (since he was not taking it enough as he should have been the past 24 hours), so I am convinced that is making him extra drowsy and sleepy.

I will post a final update later...In the meantime, it's Friday, and past 5:00 PM everywhere in the US (except Hawaii), so if you happen to be enjoying a beer or cocktail, I encourage you to have an extra for my dad...

Surgery: Status Update - 1:45 PM PT / 9.13.13

This is Caroline.

Pain is still quite high and he seems a bit out of it today. Per the picture I posted last night, that smile is definitely not on his face today. He did sleep somewhere between 2 - 4 hours last night; however, the nurses do not document this piece of data, so we do not know for sure the exact number of hours. I am in the room and he is napping at the moment.

Earlier, he was very slowly walking around with the nurse. They are trying to make him walk every so often. He also used the bathroom.

They have been encouraging him to take the medicine in which he can dispense; yet, he is hesitant at times because it makes him feel drowsy. He is taking the medicine. Per what the nurses are saying, he could probably be taking more.

He would like to have glass of water, but he cannot swallow anything until, tomorrow (Saturday). The only thing "food wise" going into his body is something with salt through an IV that has zero calories.

Surgery: Status Update - 10:30 PM PT / 9.12.13

This is Caroline.

A few updates:

• Pain was a word we heard several times from my dad. Per my earlier post, he is now hooked up to some powerful drug in which he is able to dispense to himself once every ten minutes (if needed). The amount is programmed into a machine and when he needs the medicine he clicks a button. The nurse assured him that there is no way he could overdose. The epidural that I also mentioned today, did not take, in which allowed him to feel much pain in his abdomen this morning. The anesthesiologist that was with him during surgery, stopped by this afternoon and confirmed that in fact the epidural did not take.

His surgeon also stopped by this afternoon and removed a few items...

• The catheter - An item that has been known to cause infections (specifically staph infections). They were going to give him a bucket type thing to pee in later tonight, so he would not have to walk to the bathroom the next few hours.
• The tube in his noise that was bothering him last night, was removed - He was quite pleased about this going away.

Additionally...

• His throat is still quite bothersome (despite some items having been removed)...the three main items causing the pain: nose tube (which was removed), breathing tube ventilator (in which was placed in his throat during the surgery), and a mini tube that is running through his neck (still in place).
• They helped him get out of bed (the first time since before surgery) and he sat in a big, La-Z-Boy-like chair that is next to the bed. He also spent approximately 4 hours total walking around the nurses station. He said it felt good to walk around for a few minutes at a time.
• Dad is very, very tired. Since post-surgery, he has received only 40 minutes of sleep. We left around 8:30 this evening, and he was hoping to get some sleep, tonight.

To lighten things up a bit, the nurse this evening mentioned, "I am glad he is making jokes, despite being uncomfortable and in pain!"

*Still, no visitors are allowed. Once I get confirmation that people can visit and that my dad is OK with people visiting, I will post a quick post, as I know a few of you have been asking when you can visit (I would be the same way). I have a hunch it will be late this weekend. Yesterday was the surgery and today/tomorrow the nurses want to ensure he does not get an infection. On top of that, dad is hoping to sleep most of tomorrow and perhaps Saturday.