HIPEC Tomorrow

[ko1300cc]

Just wanted to update everyone on my mom. Tomorrow is July 29th and my moms HIPEC surgery is scheduled with Dr. Bartlett at UPMC. We will all keep our fingers crossed and pray for a complete cytoreduction and no complications. Wish us luck!!!

[BrownBagger]

Good luck!

[Badass]

Yes, lots of luck! Hope everything goes just right!

Jane

[chrissyrice]

Thinking of you, as are many others here at the Colon Club.

Prayers too.

[rosa01]

Lots of prayers for your Mom. I even went to freezer and swing some chickens. Ok please don't laugh one fell on my two. Ouch!!!!

Sheila

[ko1300cc]

Thanks guys, It truly means a lot! I will keep everyone posted.

[raym]

If you have any questions feel free to PM me. I had HIPEC April 2012. One thing that my family was not prepared for (except of my wife the nurse) was how swollen I was when they saw me after the surgery. They pumped ALOT of fluid into me.

[jacekica]

Good luck! Praying for both of you.

[SMR]

Good vibes being sent your way. I do agree with Ray- I was NOT prepared for how swollen my husband was - I've never been so happy to see an alien before! By the next morning he looked a lot better, though it took a while for all the swelling to subside. Keep us posted when you can.

[SkiFletch]

Probably shaking and baking as I write this... Many thoughts and prayers

[Gicyndi]

My DH had the CRS with HIPEC on June 25th, his surgery went well and he is recovering nicely. Hopefully your mom will have the same resulsts.

Thoughts and prayers are with you

[ko1300cc]

Thank you guys to all the well wishes. As crazy as it sounds it really helps a lot and hearing from other people that have went through the same path certainly keeps my nerves and families nerves grounded. As far as her surgery it was completed yesterday and it last 8 hours and 45 minutes. Dr. Barlett did an amazing job. He said he removed all visible disease including her omentum, small resection of her liver, resected a small part of her small intestine which required just an anastomosis (no colostomy bag). Its safe to say that her surgery was very good and she tolerated the chemo bath with no visible complications. Of course with every good news there is bad news. Doctor did notice some enlarged lyymph nodes around her small intestines. He biopsied one lymph node and it came back positive for cancer, so that is very discouraging news. Its clear shes gonna have to get back on the same regimen she was on before HIPEC after she recovers. We are having high hopes that the chemo will keep the cancer at bay.

But in the meantime she is wiped out. She is visibly not herself and is in trying to keep her pain managed in the ICU unit. Doctor said she will most likely be in the hospital for 2 weeks but they will have her sitting up today and try to get her walking tomorrow. Any advice on how to support her in these next coming months. DO we force her to do things for her own benefit or do we have her do things (walking, eating, exercising, etc.) at her own pace. Please any advice on the recovery process will be greatly appreciated. This has been so hard for everyone especially my mom, and its one of the hardest things to see her in pain.

[SkiFletch]

Forcing your mom to walk might not be the best way to go about it, but vehement encouraging is probably a good idea . Keep in mind the severity of what just happened to her and allow her to express her discomforts and the difficulty of what she's going through. When discussing things like walking, make sure to remind her that walking will help her out in the long run both heal, get out of the hospital faster, and feel better faster. Much as they fear doing it, most folks can walk within a day or two after HIPEC. Hoping she heals up as fast as she can.

[raym]

I think firm suggestions will work. When I was recovering from HIPEC it would have been much easier to just sit in bed but the hospital staff had me up and put goals on me as far as walking. Another thing that helped me out was getting off the pain medicine as soon as possible, it was just too hard to function on it. Of course if there is real pain involved (not just discomfort) then by all means use the meds.

[ko1300cc]

Thank you guys for all the advice. You guys are right, encouraging is way better than pressuring. She has been sitting up today, still in a lot of pain naturally and her swelling has subsided. She did have a mild temperature today, but they are saying that may be due to post-op dehydration. They gave her some IV tylenol and that temp has been creeping back down. We will keep a close eye on it. They also noticed a clot right near where her port-a-cath is located. They will change her IJ tube today and in the morning pump a clot-blocking medicine that will disolve the clot. It is not safe to give her anticoagulants right now. Thats pretty much where we stand right now. It looks like we have to treat everything in a milestone format when it comes to this kind of recovery. Every little thing makes a difference, hopefully tomorrow we could get her on her feet walking short distances. Keep our fingers crossed. Thank you guys for all the support!