John update

[johnmeissner]

Hi everybody. I have been home for 10 days now and things are going well. Got the stitches out a couple of days ago. The surgeon did a fantastic job of sewing me up and while my scar is pretty long, it's not all that noticable. My appetite has been pretty good(No more hamburger for awhile though. The hamburger helper the other night didn't set too well.) and all the plumbing works pretty good too. I drove my car today for the first time in 3 weeks and I am going back to work tomorrow. And finally, everything is on schedule for my wife, our dogs and I to move to Nebraska on the 21st.

Speaking of my wife, she has done an absolutely incredible job taking care of me and getting us ready for our move. I love her more than ever. She is truly my hero!

Thanks for listening. Have a great day!

[Harleyman]

glad to hear everything went well. just a side note. you might notice that some foods dont sit to well with you anymore. Hamburgers for me are still in, ice cream is boarder line as i have to figure if i want to deal with Gas for the rest of the night. nobody else notices but i do. i think it made me lactose intolorant. so just keep that in mind. belive me when i tell you. your body will tell you what does and doesnt agree with you. cut out certain things to narrow it down and there you go. might just be me though. talk to you later. and take the wife out for a nice dinner, when you can eat something good besides the soups. lol.

[Holly]

John,

Great to hear that you are recovering well. Do give your wife lots of hugs and smooches!

Great time to move to Nebraska. It is lovely this time of year and well if you love football...Start thinking "Red"!

Holly

[johnmeissner]

I did a half-day at work last Saturday. My work is not strenuous at all, consisting mainly of sitting in a chair and pushing buttons and moving switches. And, this time it was mostly spent training my replacement. But, even with my wife doing all the driving, it took too much out of me. I stayed long enough to watch the space shuttle take off, then went home. I was so wiped out, my boss called me that night and told me not to bother coming in on Monday. I am back at work today, against my wife's wishes, so I can pick up a little extra spending money for our move next week. I just have to remember to pace myself. If I take it easy, I'll be okay.

[missjv]

hi john,
it sounds like you are slowly getting back to your old self. i guess any major surgery is going to take alot out of a person, just do a little more each day i guess and pretty soon it will all be behind you. i myself have yet to go through any major surgery i have a liver resection coming up end of oct or early november. i did not have any colon surgery as my cancer was in a 1mm polyp so it was taken out during colonoscopy. i think it would be a good idea though to take out that part of my colon just in case it wants to grow back.

missj

[johnmeissner]

I had just one polyp too, and it showed signs of cancer on the tip. The way it was explained to me, even though the polyp was removed during a colonoscopy, that it was standard to remove the section of colon and the lymph nodes feeding it, creating good solid margins on each side of the site, then sewing it all back together. In other words, a colon resection. If the polyp was removed and nothing else done, you'll likely need colonoscopies more often in the next few years than someone like me, who had a resection done, would.

If you are worried about a recurrance, then you should look into having a resection. The GI(?) doctor who did your colonoscopy should have referred you to a colon & rectal surgeon like mine did. I'm still in the process of recovering from my surgery, but I am thankful I had it. The surgeon put my chances of recovery with surgery now, at 93%. He put my chances of recovery if not having surgery for 3 to 5 years, at nearly 0%.

I think a second opinion is in order for you.

[missjv]

hi john.
well my polyp that had cancer had clear margins, no lymph involvment but cancer did get in my bloodstream and went to my liver. when i see liver surgeon i will ask him about colon resection.

thanks,
missjv