The map of the journey--Andy

Thanks George! And Rick -

My surgery was March 2nd. Before that I also did tons of Kegels and did a couple of miles on the treadmill 5 days a week - combo walking and running. I am quite active, drink 2 to 3 beers a day, and am slightly over weight.

Mike, as usual, is right on the money with all his info, he's the man concerning all you need to know concerning BaC. I did not not have a bowel prep, just 1 day of liquid diet and an over the counter Fleet enema the night before surgery. An epidural was discussed with me pre-op but my surgeon said since he was doing the nerve sparing surgery I would be under too long to guarantee the epidural to be effective. I was encouraged to chew gum and when they came to get me up the morning after surgery, I wanted to laugh in their face! But I did get up, walked about 4 steps and went back to bed. Was up 3 more times that first day and then it wasat least 6 times a day, each time a little longer. It really does make you feel better and gets the bowel moving as well. I also tried to not over do the morphine pain pump. The first couple of days you have to use it, don't get behind in your pain control! But at the end of day 2 they started me on Toredal (sp?), an anti-inflammatory, and that really turned the corner for me. I used the pump maybe 2 times in 4 hours and eventually just had them take it away. After that was oral Vicodin. I used that until Monday and then moved to Motrin and Tylenol as Vicodin does not promote bowel movement. But I'm happy to say that this morning things are back to normal

You'll do just fine with the surgery and will feel great you're taking steps to make yourself cancer free. If you want to talk send me or phone # or I can do the same.

Best of luck - Andy

Rick,

I forgot to mention in the message above that you may want to give your surgeon a call and ask about the points I mentioned. Different surgeons do things differently and many are happy to discuss these things and adjust if it is a preference of the patient. Also, if he disagrees with any, he can explain why he prefers differently.

Mike

Rick,

I know you just asked George and Andy, but I will just butt in anyway with some info.

One of the most common problems after the surgery is ileus. That's when the intestines don't wake up properly.

Some things have been changing recently with regard to the surgery that have an impact.

1. It is tyical to NOT do bowel prep pre-surgery now. That is, you don't have to drink the mag citrate and do an enema prior to surgery to clean out the bowels.

2. Studies about chewing gum have shown the action of chewing helps trigger the intestines to wake up.

3. Epidural has been shown to have less change of ileus when compared to other anesthesia for the surgery.

I had my surgery Oct 8, 2008. I had bowel prep, did not chew gum, and did not have epidural. I wound up with an ileus that was bad and did not get out of the hospital for 12 days post surgery.

Also, many of the folks recently followed advice here about walking even when you think you can't or just don't want to. That also helps wake the intestines and that is what gets folks out of the hospital sooner.

Some people just seem more prone to having the intestines take longer to wake up. I had a kink in my intestine where they took the segment out for my neobladder and it was causing periodic blockages. I had intestinal repair a few months ago (November) but I didn't know that I needed to ask about epidural a few days ahead of time. They didn't do it for me and I wound up not having the intestines wake up for 7 days instead of getting out in 3-4 days as expected. I did chew gum and did not have to do bowel prep but I still wound up with the problem. Good news is no more blockages.

Best of luck on your upcoming surgery!

Mike

Andy and GK... Can you refresh my memory... Andy what was your date of surgery...it seems you both recovered at an amazing rate... any secrets...are you sure you didn't just have a hang nail removed and mistook it as an RC Can you tell me if you did any extra prep and how your general health\\weight was before surgery... I am hitting the cardio and doing kegel's to the point I don't think my spinkter will ever release again... Rick

Andy, so glad to here you are doing so well.
As I was reading your post I could have written the exact same scenerio last year. If I am any indication (physically, not my mentally deranged self) you are on the perfect path. Keep up the good work!
George

Pretty good Rick -

I'm sure anyone will tell you the hardest part is just not being able to do much, sitting around is not my style! I feel a little better each day to the point if I get sore Tylenol works just fine, no more heavy painkillers needed. My only issue has been getting regular again which is pretty typical from what I've read and been told. It's slowly getting better but I was pretty uncomfortable for a couple of days. Been walking a lot, usually followed by a nap Eating small, frequent meals and drinking tons of water. No mucos problems to date and flushing the cath is really a non-event anymore, you just do it. My wife is a trooper, really making it easier as well as reminding me that in the big picture I'm paying a small price compared to so many others. And boy is she ever right! Looking forward to next Friday when I see my doc, get my staples out, have a cystogram to see if the neo bladder is leaking and if it's not, having the cath pulled. Really glad I had the surgery, my wife and I are a lot more at ease these days.

Thanks for asking - Andy