Re: Rectal cancer (Stage 3A) diagnosed late June 2017
Posted: Wed Nov 01, 2017 5:36 pm
I started the colonoscopy prep eight hours earlier than expected by stopping eating Saturday night. The trip to Boston would take several hours and I didn't want an accident while driving down or taking the train to Brigham and Women's. Compounding this was the forecast of heavy wind and rain for early Monday morning. So I drove to my mother's home and took the train to a hotel next to Brigham and Women's. The weather was windy and wet Sunday evening. I forgot a lightning cable so I walked about 0.6 miles to Walgreens in the harsh weather and passed by the hospital on the way back. I decided to go in to dry off a little and ask about admitting. I found out where I should go. The lady in Admitting said that there's a huge line of people at 5:30 for 7:30 surgeries. I returned to the hotel room and did the Hibiclens for the day.
One problem with the directions is with the instruction to pour a quarter-size amount onto a washcloth. So I poured out that much as I took it to mean the US monetary coin. It meant a quarter of the bottle which I figured out on the morning of the surgery so I followed the correct directions only once. I kept doing the quarter-sized bits so I got the stuff on me but you're supposed to use a quarter of the bottle in the facecloth and squeeze it into a lather to apply.
I woke up around 3:30 to do the enema (worked very quickly), then the morning Hibiclens, and then drank the ClearFast. It was White Grape flavor and has 200 calories per bottle. Then I walked over. The rain had stopped and the wind had died down. I got there at 5 AM and was asked to sit in the waiting room after they took my name. At 5:15 AM, they opened the doors and a long line of people came in. Many with suitcases. I assume that those folks traveled, perhaps from faraway places. They then called me and I gave them my information and my workout bag. I went back to the waiting room for a few minutes and then they called me and one other person to go to the pre-op area.
They took my clothes and valuables and I was in a bed and getting stuck, poked, checked, etc. I was supposed to start at 7:30 AM but I didn't actually start until 9:45 AM and I believe that some staff didn't make it in on time. The surgeon said hello (her resident gave me most of the information and he had a very good bedside manner) and I was wheeled into the operating room and they put a mask over me and I was out in about a minute. I woke up feeling pretty sore in my back but I was otherwise not feeling any pain.
I had a back injury in my 20s from carrying a weightlifting set up to my apartment and I'm fine if I keep my core strong. The OR table was flat so I think that was the reason for the soreness. I did hit the pain pump three times but there was no improvement for the backache and I learned that some kinds of pain do not respond well to medications used today. It took me a while to figure out that the ache was from my old injury and not the surgery and when I figured it out, I just asked for a towel to place under the curve of my back and that took care of the problem.
Surgery was done at 2 PM and I left recovery around 6 PM. My sister was there with my backpack (computer, charger, and other stuff) and chatted for a while and then went up to the floor as it was ready but they were cleaning the other side of it so I was delayed. I had a ton of stuff attached to me: IV in the left arm, butterfly in the right for blood draws, Foley catheter, Uretal Stents, drainage tube under the stoma, EKG leads and Oxygen. I did not get out of bed until Tuesday morning so I was okay. No real pain as the anesthesia took time to wear off. I didn't have anything to eat on Monday but I had a Ringer's Lactate IV running through.
One problem with the directions is with the instruction to pour a quarter-size amount onto a washcloth. So I poured out that much as I took it to mean the US monetary coin. It meant a quarter of the bottle which I figured out on the morning of the surgery so I followed the correct directions only once. I kept doing the quarter-sized bits so I got the stuff on me but you're supposed to use a quarter of the bottle in the facecloth and squeeze it into a lather to apply.
I woke up around 3:30 to do the enema (worked very quickly), then the morning Hibiclens, and then drank the ClearFast. It was White Grape flavor and has 200 calories per bottle. Then I walked over. The rain had stopped and the wind had died down. I got there at 5 AM and was asked to sit in the waiting room after they took my name. At 5:15 AM, they opened the doors and a long line of people came in. Many with suitcases. I assume that those folks traveled, perhaps from faraway places. They then called me and I gave them my information and my workout bag. I went back to the waiting room for a few minutes and then they called me and one other person to go to the pre-op area.
They took my clothes and valuables and I was in a bed and getting stuck, poked, checked, etc. I was supposed to start at 7:30 AM but I didn't actually start until 9:45 AM and I believe that some staff didn't make it in on time. The surgeon said hello (her resident gave me most of the information and he had a very good bedside manner) and I was wheeled into the operating room and they put a mask over me and I was out in about a minute. I woke up feeling pretty sore in my back but I was otherwise not feeling any pain.
I had a back injury in my 20s from carrying a weightlifting set up to my apartment and I'm fine if I keep my core strong. The OR table was flat so I think that was the reason for the soreness. I did hit the pain pump three times but there was no improvement for the backache and I learned that some kinds of pain do not respond well to medications used today. It took me a while to figure out that the ache was from my old injury and not the surgery and when I figured it out, I just asked for a towel to place under the curve of my back and that took care of the problem.
Surgery was done at 2 PM and I left recovery around 6 PM. My sister was there with my backpack (computer, charger, and other stuff) and chatted for a while and then went up to the floor as it was ready but they were cleaning the other side of it so I was delayed. I had a ton of stuff attached to me: IV in the left arm, butterfly in the right for blood draws, Foley catheter, Uretal Stents, drainage tube under the stoma, EKG leads and Oxygen. I did not get out of bed until Tuesday morning so I was okay. No real pain as the anesthesia took time to wear off. I didn't have anything to eat on Monday but I had a Ringer's Lactate IV running through.
