Lap resection surgery set for Dec

[kellywin]

I don't remember any pain going to the bathroom from the surgery - however, I had radiation prior to my surgery and radiation jacked up my shit down there, so things were sort of a mess (hemorrhoids). If you don't have any calmoseptine (over the counter cream - you may have to ask the pharmacist) and gloves, get some. I think any pain is going to be from wiping a hundred times. Also, get some preparation H wipes, they're great too and much easier to use when you literally have pain on your ass after making a several trips to the bathroom.

[Maelleous]

I had lap a week ago today. Mine was most of my rectum, they originally said their goal was to avoid doing an ilo but because they had to take so much I ended up with a bag for 2-3 months. The day after surgery was surpriginly easy. I was able to get up and walk the hall 3 times. I did it with my wife at my side but no other assistance. I have been home two days and now has been the harder part. I feel like I need to go #2 almost constantly (started last night), nothing came out when I gave a try, but didn't want to push or anything since it only has been a week.

I am also having bladder issues, don't know if it is bladder or prostate (rectum is healing near all that stuff so it kind of makes sense) but now when I lay down and fall alseep I wake up with my heart racing a few mins after drifting off. I haven't slept since 2am last night. I think I am having panic attacks or something, had the nurse come out and he couldn't find anything wrong with me. I had no pain meds today yet either. As crazy as it sounds, after the first few days they were only giving me 2 650mg Tylonal every six hours and I felt fine. I went ahead and picked up the heavy duty stuff and going to take it tonight in hopes that I can actually sleep.

[Marylandmaniac]

I wonder if Lorazepam would help with sleep and anxiety? The first night I had my pump I had a hard time sleeping. I swore I could feel the fluid going in. I took Loraz and slept well.

So that is weird to hear that even though you had a bag you still feel like you have to go.

I hope you are feeling better and can get some sleep

[Marylandmaniac]

I don't remember any pain going to the bathroom from the surgery - however, I had radiation prior to my surgery and radiation jacked up my shit down there, so things were sort of a mess (hemorrhoids). If you don't have any calmoseptine (over the counter cream - you may have to ask the pharmacist) and gloves, get some. I think any pain is going to be from wiping a hundred times. Also, get some preparation H wipes, they're great too and much easier to use when you literally have pain on your ass after making a several trips to the bathroom.

Thanks Kelly. I have not had radiation so hopefully it will go a bit easier for me. As long as my MRI shows that the tumor has shrunk 50% or more then I can bypass radiation and go to surgery. My surgeon is not fan of radiation for the damage it does and how it messes up surgery. But I have herd that it is a valueable treatment. If the tumor has not shrunk enough then radiation may be in play before surgery. My PET scan showed 43% after 4 treatments so I am hoping these 2 treatments push me over that 50% hump. I really want this thing out of ME!!!!
I will remember about the wipes and the cream. Anything to save my butt will be good.

[Stewsbetty]

I had most of my resection done laprascopicly but needed one area opened to ensure clean margins. Mine was colon cancer. I was in the hospital for 5 days. On a pain pump while there. Once home I had the hydromorphone for only a day and then switched to just Tylenol. I was feeling myself within 2 weeks of the surgery and resumed most of my normal eating and activity. It was hard to remember not to lift things or get too active because I was feeling so much better without the tumour. I hope all will proceed smoothly for your surgery date.

[Marylandmaniac]

I had most of my resection done laprascopicly but needed one area opened to ensure clean margins. Mine was colon cancer. I was in the hospital for 5 days. On a pain pump while there. Once home I had the hydromorphone for only a day and then switched to just Tylenol. I was feeling myself within 2 weeks of the surgery and resumed most of my normal eating and activity. It was hard to remember not to lift things or get too active because I was feeling so much better without the tumour. I hope all will proceed smoothly for your surgery date.

Thanks Stewsbetty! Glad to hear you felt better after 2 weeks. I have a feeling I will be the same as you and if I am feeling better will forget and try to lift something I shouldn't.

[tarheelmom]

From one engineer to another ...

I had lap surgery to remove my rectum, sigmoid, and part of my descending colon plus a temp ileo back in April Since my tumor was very low, the surgeon also had to do some trans-anal suturing. My surgery was 5+ hours on a Tuesday. I was walking laps on Wed. morning and went home on Saturday. I did not use any narcotics for the pain - only Tylenol and Celebrex. I was part of a protocol called ERAS - enhanced recovery after surgery. Honestly I thought the C-section was a more difficult recovery but maybe because I was trying to learn how to breastfeed, take care of a newborn, and recover all at the same time. I went back to work in less than two weeks, and I was driving the week after surgery. I did get some sort of horrible skin reaction to surgical adhesive which may have been the worst part of the experience.

Now pooping after the reversal - that is a whole different ballgame. I'm still finding that a challenging experience ... Best of luck!

[Pita]

Hi Mary,
Instead of writing my experience here's the link to what I wrote when I had LARS: http://coloncancersupport.colonclub.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=55236

Another about incisions: http://coloncancersupport.colonclub.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=55323

Still having bowel issues, haven't found the correct mix for Milk of Magnesia and Immodium yet, chemo makes it almost impossible to become regular. My colorectal surgeon said it can take up to 2 years to operate correctly.

Best wishes and prayers for your surgery Mary, hope it goes well and easy. oxo

[Marylandmaniac]

From one engineer to another ...

I had lap surgery to remove my rectum, sigmoid, and part of my descending colon plus a temp ileo back in April Since my tumor was very low, the surgeon also had to do some trans-anal suturing. My surgery was 5+ hours on a Tuesday. I was walking laps on Wed. morning and went home on Saturday. I did not use any narcotics for the pain - only Tylenol and Celebrex. I was part of a protocol called ERAS - enhanced recovery after surgery. Honestly I thought the C-section was a more difficult recovery but maybe because I was trying to learn how to breastfeed, take care of a newborn, and recover all at the same time. I went back to work in less than two weeks, and I was driving the week after surgery. I did get some sort of horrible skin reaction to surgical adhesive which may have been the worst part of the experience.

Now pooping after the reversal - that is a whole different ballgame. I'm still finding that a challenging experience ... Best of luck!

Thanks Tarheelmom! One thing my surgeon said is to up my protein intact before surgery. My nutritionist mentioned a product called Impact. I think it is a 5 drink that you take to improve recovery. I have sensitive skin to and learned the hard way when I got my port. I got blisters from the tape. From now on I try to remind everyone to use the sensitive tape.

[Marylandmaniac]

Hi Mary,
Instead of writing my experience here's the link to what I wrote when I had LARS: http://coloncancersupport.colonclub.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=55236

Another about incisions: http://coloncancersupport.colonclub.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=55323

Still having bowel issues, haven't found the correct mix for Milk of Magnesia and Immodium yet, chemo makes it almost impossible to become regular. My colorectal surgeon said it can take up to 2 years to operate correctly.

Best wishes and prayers for your surgery Mary, hope it goes well and easy. oxo

Thanks Pita,
Nice to hear that things went so well. It is nice to get an idea of what to expect.

[Green Tea]

So right now it looks like I will be having laparoscopic (or possibly robotic lap surgery if available) on December 14th... what should I expect? ... I am wondering if you all have any advice or recommendations.

I have never had laparoscopic surgery, but I have a few suggestions:

1. Read whatever you can about LARS -Low Anterior Resection Syndrome. Patients who have had part or most of their rectum removed usually have symptoms of this nature. Even though you are not having an LAR open surgery, per se, you will still have part of your rectum missing after your surgery is over, and this part will not grow back or restore itself in time.

2. Read whatever you can about SSO - Sphincter Sparing Operations. Surgeons who do rectal surgery need to know about this procedure and need to have quite a bit of experience in this area. Your surgery is not only about removing a malignant tumor; it is also about performing the operation in such a way that the patient maintains a good quality of life (QOL). This is why it is so important to have a Board Certified Colorectal Surgeon perform the surgery.

3. Read a sample Informed Consent form for your type of surgery, and be prepared to ask your surgeon questions of clarification. Note that in Paragraph G (Patient Consent) it says: " • a doctor other than the Consultant may conduct the procedure. I understand this could be a doctor undergoing further training ". Since you are being admitted to a teaching hospital and your surgeon is on the faculty of the med school there, you might have one or two trainees attending your Laparascopy session. Hopefully, it will be the surgeon herself who is operating the machine, but the consent form that you sign might give them permission to have one of the trainees do the operation, under supervision of the professor. I thought I'd mention this, because it is a possibility.

[Marylandmaniac]

So right now it looks like I will be having laparoscopic (or possibly robotic lap surgery if available) on December 14th... what should I expect? ... I am wondering if you all have any advice or recommendations.

I have never had laparoscopic surgery, but I have a few suggestions:

1. Read whatever you can about LARS -Low Anterior Resection Syndrome. Patients who have had part or most of their rectum removed usually have symptoms of this nature. Even though you are not having an LAR open surgery, per se, you will still have part of your rectum missing after your surgery is over, and this part will not grow back or restore itself in time.

2. Read whatever you can about SSO - Sphincter Sparing Operations. Surgeons who do rectal surgery need to know about this procedure and need to have quite a bit of experience in this area. Your surgery is not only about removing a malignant tumor; it is also about performing the operation in such a way that the patient maintains a good quality of life (QOL). This is why it is so important to have a Board Certified Colorectal Surgeon perform the surgery.

3. Read a sample Informed Consent form for your type of surgery, and be prepared to ask your surgeon questions of clarification.

Thank you for the info. Hopefully I am using the right terminology. I know she is going in with just a few small incisions instead of open. My surgeon is one of the top colorectal surgeons in the DC area. I drive over an hour to see her because of this. She is amazing and even teaches at Georgetown U. I also like she has one of the lowest rates of complications. I feel like I am very good hands. She may even do robotic on me if she can get access to the equipment. She only has access once a month and my date is not one of them. She said if no one is using it she can request it though. So we shall see. Hopefully all goes well. Only a portion is in my rectum so hopefully I will not be impacted too much.

[Green Tea]

Another thing you might do between now and mid-December is to review some of the experiences of past Stage III laparoscopic surgery patients who have posted their experiences here. For example, here is one report given by a Stage IIIB patient (an engineer!) who had a laparoscopic LAR almost four years ago. This report is complete with photos of the surgery scars and incisions:

http://coloncancersupport.colonclub.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=45031&p=325206#p325206

I have the impression that the surgery that you are going to undergo would be what they call a "laparoscopic assisted resection" -- i.e., a surgery where some but not all of the maneuvers are done by laparoscopy. Some patients here have called this type of surgery a "hybrid laparoscopic surgery" since the surgeon needs to make an extra incision that is big enough to remove the large tumor, as the three standard laparoscopic key-holes are not large enough to handle this. You can see this in the "Animated Gif of my incision healing" shown in the above link. This extra incision is also mentioned in the recent post by pita.

BTW, there are a number of engineers here -- mechanical engineers, chemical engineers, electrical engineers, software engineers, system engineers -- who have had rectal cancer surgery in the past and who monitor this board from time to time.

[Marylandmaniac]

Another thing you might do between now and mid-December is to review some of the experiences of past Stage III laparoscopic surgery patients who have posted their experiences here. For example, here is one report given by a Stage IIIB patient (an engineer!) who had a laparoscopic LAR almost four years ago. This report is complete with photos of the surgery scars and incisions:

http://coloncancersupport.colonclub.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=45031&p=325206#p325206

I have the impression that the surgery that you are going to undergo would be what they call a "laparoscopic assisted resection" -- i.e., a surgery where some but not all of the maneuvers are done by laparoscopy. Some patients here have called this type of surgery a "hybrid laparoscopic surgery" since the surgeon needs to make an extra incision that is big enough to remove the large tumor, as the three standard laparoscopic key-holes are not large enough to handle this. You can see this in the "Animated Gif of my incision healing" shown in the above link. This extra incision is also mentioned in the recent post by pita.

BTW, there are a number of engineers here -- mechanical engineers, chemical engineers, electrical engineers, software engineers, system engineers -- who have had rectal cancer surgery in the past and who monitor this board from time to time.

Thanks for the link. Cool that people were able to post pictures. I think my surgeon mentioned they would be going through my rectum as well as my incisions. I wonder if the literally pull my tumor out of my butt??? lol Either way the pictures of the scars aren't too bad. I already have a C-section scar.

[Green Tea]

In case you're interested, here is the story of a colon cancer patient who is now in complete remission 5 years after having surgery and treatment at your MedStar hospital there in DC. She apparently decided to do an awareness video last March when she was about to reach her 5-year NED point. (Same hospital as you, I think, but a different doctor.)

My Battle with Colon Cancer
http://www.youtube.com/embed/toP2XcJUOyU/?rel=0&autoplay=1