I agree with Amy about the HAI pump. I also had mine implanted at Memorial Sloan Kettering during my liver resection to prevent recurrence. The surgery was on November 4, 2011 and my liver has been completely clear since then. The surgery was from 8:30 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. and involved three procedures: LAR, liver resection, and HAI pump. I was in the hospital for 7 days. When I left, they gave me oxycodone for the pain, but I only needed it for a few weeks. I was really tired for about a month (but not too tired to go to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade 2 weeks after I was released!
). The hard part for me was gaining back the weight I lost from the surgery. I was already lean before surgery and when they weighed me afterwards, I'd lost 15 pounds. It seemed like every calorie I ate was going directly to growing a new liver! It took about 3 months to gain back 10 of the pounds.
Tips: Get in as good as shape as you can before surgery. That way your body will be in good condition to handle everything. Ask for an epidural - they work really well for pain control for this kind of surgery. While you're still in the hospital, walk as much as you can, even if you walk slowly and have to rest a lot. Walking will help your body heal faster and the sooner you start healing, the sooner they release you. Before they take you into surgery, take a deep breath and realize that when you wake up, the tumors will be gone and you will be cancer-free! You can do this!
PM me if you have any questions. And best of luck to you with everything!
Julie