Skip2MySue
03-11-2014, 10:53 AM
Colon Surgery Part 2
As promised I will continue reporting on the fun and games that go along with having colon cancer surgery. Today's episode will cover the pre-op testing and cardio clearance needed to get to the big show. The info will be after the initial story that I posted earlier.
Based on my previous post looking for a colon surgeon and the 29 replies and 1409 views it received I thought it might be worthwhile sharing my experiences with you all as a type of "paying it forward" for any of you who may hit this hurdle in the future. I'll do my best to keep it light but informative and hopefully some of you will find it educational as well as entertaining. This will be written in installments as I move thru the process.
Here's chapter #1.
PLEASE keep up to date on getting a colonoscopy!!!!!!!
No it's not the most fun I've ever had but it's a must to keep this silent killer at bay as we age. Fortunately I've been a regular and my cancer was caught in the early stages. After my latest colonscopy the GI doctor announced that I would need to see a surgeon to remove part of my colon as cancer had begun to attack it. So I was scheduled for a blood test and then a CT scan to begin the steps necessary to meet with a surgeon. The scheduled date for the CT scan was postponed because United Healthcare hadn't O.K.'d the procedure and it was rescheduled for 4 days later. The day before the new date I called the Scan office to make sure they had authorization. Nope, they hadn't rec'd the clearance. With steam pouring from my ears I called U.H. to find out what the hell was going on. Now they tell me they never rec'd a request from the GI doctor to have the procedure performed. So then I calmly (not) move onto the GI office to find out who was doing what. 3 hours later I rec'd a phone call from GI office that it's all straightened out and that it was U.H. mistake. So don't be surprised if these snafu's pop their little beady heads up along the route. Finally got all the tests complete and then the search starts for a colon/rectal surgeon obviously trying to find the best one available. Thru many responses from you guys I had narrowed my search down to two doctors, one in Florida and one in NJ. I started it off by having my colonoscopy, pathology and CT results faxed to the two doctors and seeing that I was heading back to NJ for the holidays I made an appointment for the initial meeting in NJ with a surgeon. Before leaving for NJ I checked in with the Dr. to make sure my test results had been received and of course they hadn't. I then returned to the GI office with fire in my eyes wondering what had happened with such an easy request. Asst. said they must have had trouble with the fax machine that day so I stood there and watched him fax the reports again. Wow, no trouble with the fax machine today!!! Prior to my appointment I had mentioned to friends that I was heading to see Dr. Glenn Parker and I was flooded with nothing but good comments about his ability and history. In the week prior to my appointment I must have received over 2 dozen recommendations from friends, relatives and neighbors about what a great doctor he is. So now I head for the appointment with trepidation rushing thru my veins. So many questions and thoughts racing thru my little brain it almost made me dizzy. But thanks to all the great things I had heard I had a much more positive outlook on seeing this doctor. And then all of a sudden I was sitting in his office discussing my condition and the plan of attack. As he went over his credentials and history with similar surgeries he mentioned that he is the Chief of Surgery for the largest teaching hospital in the area. I had previously had two hip replacement surgeries at this Jersey Shore hospital and was more then pleased with the care offered. He just exuded a bedside manner that gave me just what I needed to make me feel at ease with the pending surgery. With no guarantee of what he was going to find but his promise that he would give me 100% of his efforts to return to normal health I shook his hand and said, let's do it. I mentioned that all my doctors where now in FL. and he assured me that his office would set up all the testing I needed in NJ and we would proceed with complete backing of his staff and himself. I actually left the office with a little spring in my step knowing that I had made the right decision to move forward. Pre-Op and Cardiologist appointments are set for the week of Jan. 13th and surgery is to be performed on Feb. 7th. I'll be back after the pre-op tests to give you a little more info on how all that goes. Hope this play by play will help others.
Skip 2
Chapter 2
Well if everything goes as smoothly as my pre-op testing this whole thing is gonna be a piece of cake. First appointment was with the Cardio Dr. and an EKG. After consultation and a little small talk he gave me the O.K. for the surgery. Wow, didn't have to have another stress test which helped lessen the process by a week. This in turn would end up getting me back to the Villages for some fun in the sunshine prior to the surgery date even earlier. Then a couple of days later it was off to the hospital for a chest xray and 6 vials of blood and all were approved for surgery clearance. Once I verified with the surgery Dr.'s staff that everything was O.K.'d for surgery I was on the phone booking my round trip flight back to the Villages. So tonight I'm outta here and headed back to paradise and will not return to NJ until Feb. 3rd. Funny how the Villages lifestyle helps lessen the anxiety of the pending surgery. So the countdown begins but I'm pretty psyched as I have a loving wife and family support system, a super surgeon and much support from my fellow Villager's. As I've discussed my cancer with friends I've been able to steer 2 of them to having well past due colonscopies performed so my message has been able to help others. PLEASE don't but off this simple procedure which could certainly be a lifesaver. I'll look forward to writing another chapter after the surgery to share with you all of the complete recovery and clean bill of health that I'm sure will be forthcoming. Now repeat after me " I WILL GET A COLONOSCOPY ASAP FOR MYSELF AND THE PEOPLE I LOVE. "
Skip 2
The final chapter
So the surgery date of Feb. 7th arrived and I was ready to push forward and get this thing behind me. Certainly the butterflies were busy in the pit of my stomach in anticipation of the surgery and also the pending outcome. Got a nice little shot to help relax on the way to the OR and the lights quickly dimmed. 2 1/2 hours later and I'm in recovery trying to shake the cobwebs from my brain. Think to myself wow, the pains not so bad although I do have a morphine button clutched in my hand. Would find that button very helpful for the first couple of days. Get wheeled to my room which became home for the next 8 days and the fun began. Because of the procedure you are pumped up with air which must sooner or later must come back out of you one way or another. I realized that I must have now swallowed a beach ball as that was now my stomach's size which would be poked and prodded for days ahead. The thought of resting while you recover is just a figment of my imagination as there is a constant flow of Dr.'s, nurses, blood pressure checks, blood tests and questions which started everyday @ 4:15 AM and continued on throughout the day. On the 3rd day the surgeon arrived with the results. My colon was now 8" shorter but the cancer was stage 1 and no further treatment would be necessary. I'll have to admit I did shed a tear or two after hearing the good news and the 8" that were lost would only have been filled with french fries or ice cream so it was a fair trade. So the recovery continued although slow at best. The first 3 days my diet consisted of ice chips and finally on the fourth day I graduated to a clear liquid diet. Not until the sixth day did I get to finally have whole foods which is just the natural progression of the recovery process. Oh what fun to have to go to the bathroom while dragging "Zeke" along with all the IV's attached. He was my constant companion for the 8 days and once we parted it was a happy experience. But only for a short time. I went home to continue the recovery and that's when the real pain started from all the gas my system had to get rid of. At certain periods I was doubled up in pain and the only relieve was to get up and walk to try and expel the gas. After a couple of days the pains started to subside although I had now lost my bed partner Sue to the other bedroom as I could barely stand to be in the same room with me thanks to the gas problem. I found myself starting to regain my strength slowly and looked forward to a rapid recovery. Then the chills started......Something wasn't right and I was running a fever. Call to surgeon and was told if temp hit 102° to head back to the hospital. Stalled with every excuse in the book for one day and then the next day it hit 103° and off to the emergency room we went. Now they're not sure what the problem is so a new round of tests begin. The obvious suspect area was the colon so a CT Scan was taken which came back negative which was a great relief. This meant they wouldn't have to open me back up again. But the temp continued and they had to find out why. A whole new team of Dr.s where brought in and it was determined that I had acquired an E Coli infection from the catheter and it had gone into my blood stream. So this setback kept me in the hospital for another 5 days where I rejoined "Zeke" for our up close and personal relationship. This also returned me to the ice chip diet for another 2 days until they could isolate the problem. More new medications to take and I am now at home back on the recovery trail. Feeling a little bit better each day and return to the surgeon on Thursday to get the final release from him. Hope to be back in paradise sometime next week if I can get my strength level a little stronger. All in all the experience was not a fun time but the results which could have been so much worse were outstanding and I'm certainly thankful for all the support and prayer's I received from my family, friends and the TOTV gang. To have been proactive over the last 10 years on getting a colonoscopy and catching the cancer in it's early stages was a life saver. A month's worth of problems with the surgery was well worth it when comparing it to the cancer taking over my body and certainly shortening my life. PLEASE use this story to help spur you all on to being proactive in protecting yourself against this silent killer. Let's all have a happy ending!!!!!!!
Skip 2
As promised I will continue reporting on the fun and games that go along with having colon cancer surgery. Today's episode will cover the pre-op testing and cardio clearance needed to get to the big show. The info will be after the initial story that I posted earlier.
Based on my previous post looking for a colon surgeon and the 29 replies and 1409 views it received I thought it might be worthwhile sharing my experiences with you all as a type of "paying it forward" for any of you who may hit this hurdle in the future. I'll do my best to keep it light but informative and hopefully some of you will find it educational as well as entertaining. This will be written in installments as I move thru the process.
Here's chapter #1.
PLEASE keep up to date on getting a colonoscopy!!!!!!!
No it's not the most fun I've ever had but it's a must to keep this silent killer at bay as we age. Fortunately I've been a regular and my cancer was caught in the early stages. After my latest colonscopy the GI doctor announced that I would need to see a surgeon to remove part of my colon as cancer had begun to attack it. So I was scheduled for a blood test and then a CT scan to begin the steps necessary to meet with a surgeon. The scheduled date for the CT scan was postponed because United Healthcare hadn't O.K.'d the procedure and it was rescheduled for 4 days later. The day before the new date I called the Scan office to make sure they had authorization. Nope, they hadn't rec'd the clearance. With steam pouring from my ears I called U.H. to find out what the hell was going on. Now they tell me they never rec'd a request from the GI doctor to have the procedure performed. So then I calmly (not) move onto the GI office to find out who was doing what. 3 hours later I rec'd a phone call from GI office that it's all straightened out and that it was U.H. mistake. So don't be surprised if these snafu's pop their little beady heads up along the route. Finally got all the tests complete and then the search starts for a colon/rectal surgeon obviously trying to find the best one available. Thru many responses from you guys I had narrowed my search down to two doctors, one in Florida and one in NJ. I started it off by having my colonoscopy, pathology and CT results faxed to the two doctors and seeing that I was heading back to NJ for the holidays I made an appointment for the initial meeting in NJ with a surgeon. Before leaving for NJ I checked in with the Dr. to make sure my test results had been received and of course they hadn't. I then returned to the GI office with fire in my eyes wondering what had happened with such an easy request. Asst. said they must have had trouble with the fax machine that day so I stood there and watched him fax the reports again. Wow, no trouble with the fax machine today!!! Prior to my appointment I had mentioned to friends that I was heading to see Dr. Glenn Parker and I was flooded with nothing but good comments about his ability and history. In the week prior to my appointment I must have received over 2 dozen recommendations from friends, relatives and neighbors about what a great doctor he is. So now I head for the appointment with trepidation rushing thru my veins. So many questions and thoughts racing thru my little brain it almost made me dizzy. But thanks to all the great things I had heard I had a much more positive outlook on seeing this doctor. And then all of a sudden I was sitting in his office discussing my condition and the plan of attack. As he went over his credentials and history with similar surgeries he mentioned that he is the Chief of Surgery for the largest teaching hospital in the area. I had previously had two hip replacement surgeries at this Jersey Shore hospital and was more then pleased with the care offered. He just exuded a bedside manner that gave me just what I needed to make me feel at ease with the pending surgery. With no guarantee of what he was going to find but his promise that he would give me 100% of his efforts to return to normal health I shook his hand and said, let's do it. I mentioned that all my doctors where now in FL. and he assured me that his office would set up all the testing I needed in NJ and we would proceed with complete backing of his staff and himself. I actually left the office with a little spring in my step knowing that I had made the right decision to move forward. Pre-Op and Cardiologist appointments are set for the week of Jan. 13th and surgery is to be performed on Feb. 7th. I'll be back after the pre-op tests to give you a little more info on how all that goes. Hope this play by play will help others.
Skip 2
Chapter 2
Well if everything goes as smoothly as my pre-op testing this whole thing is gonna be a piece of cake. First appointment was with the Cardio Dr. and an EKG. After consultation and a little small talk he gave me the O.K. for the surgery. Wow, didn't have to have another stress test which helped lessen the process by a week. This in turn would end up getting me back to the Villages for some fun in the sunshine prior to the surgery date even earlier. Then a couple of days later it was off to the hospital for a chest xray and 6 vials of blood and all were approved for surgery clearance. Once I verified with the surgery Dr.'s staff that everything was O.K.'d for surgery I was on the phone booking my round trip flight back to the Villages. So tonight I'm outta here and headed back to paradise and will not return to NJ until Feb. 3rd. Funny how the Villages lifestyle helps lessen the anxiety of the pending surgery. So the countdown begins but I'm pretty psyched as I have a loving wife and family support system, a super surgeon and much support from my fellow Villager's. As I've discussed my cancer with friends I've been able to steer 2 of them to having well past due colonscopies performed so my message has been able to help others. PLEASE don't but off this simple procedure which could certainly be a lifesaver. I'll look forward to writing another chapter after the surgery to share with you all of the complete recovery and clean bill of health that I'm sure will be forthcoming. Now repeat after me " I WILL GET A COLONOSCOPY ASAP FOR MYSELF AND THE PEOPLE I LOVE. "
Skip 2
The final chapter
So the surgery date of Feb. 7th arrived and I was ready to push forward and get this thing behind me. Certainly the butterflies were busy in the pit of my stomach in anticipation of the surgery and also the pending outcome. Got a nice little shot to help relax on the way to the OR and the lights quickly dimmed. 2 1/2 hours later and I'm in recovery trying to shake the cobwebs from my brain. Think to myself wow, the pains not so bad although I do have a morphine button clutched in my hand. Would find that button very helpful for the first couple of days. Get wheeled to my room which became home for the next 8 days and the fun began. Because of the procedure you are pumped up with air which must sooner or later must come back out of you one way or another. I realized that I must have now swallowed a beach ball as that was now my stomach's size which would be poked and prodded for days ahead. The thought of resting while you recover is just a figment of my imagination as there is a constant flow of Dr.'s, nurses, blood pressure checks, blood tests and questions which started everyday @ 4:15 AM and continued on throughout the day. On the 3rd day the surgeon arrived with the results. My colon was now 8" shorter but the cancer was stage 1 and no further treatment would be necessary. I'll have to admit I did shed a tear or two after hearing the good news and the 8" that were lost would only have been filled with french fries or ice cream so it was a fair trade. So the recovery continued although slow at best. The first 3 days my diet consisted of ice chips and finally on the fourth day I graduated to a clear liquid diet. Not until the sixth day did I get to finally have whole foods which is just the natural progression of the recovery process. Oh what fun to have to go to the bathroom while dragging "Zeke" along with all the IV's attached. He was my constant companion for the 8 days and once we parted it was a happy experience. But only for a short time. I went home to continue the recovery and that's when the real pain started from all the gas my system had to get rid of. At certain periods I was doubled up in pain and the only relieve was to get up and walk to try and expel the gas. After a couple of days the pains started to subside although I had now lost my bed partner Sue to the other bedroom as I could barely stand to be in the same room with me thanks to the gas problem. I found myself starting to regain my strength slowly and looked forward to a rapid recovery. Then the chills started......Something wasn't right and I was running a fever. Call to surgeon and was told if temp hit 102° to head back to the hospital. Stalled with every excuse in the book for one day and then the next day it hit 103° and off to the emergency room we went. Now they're not sure what the problem is so a new round of tests begin. The obvious suspect area was the colon so a CT Scan was taken which came back negative which was a great relief. This meant they wouldn't have to open me back up again. But the temp continued and they had to find out why. A whole new team of Dr.s where brought in and it was determined that I had acquired an E Coli infection from the catheter and it had gone into my blood stream. So this setback kept me in the hospital for another 5 days where I rejoined "Zeke" for our up close and personal relationship. This also returned me to the ice chip diet for another 2 days until they could isolate the problem. More new medications to take and I am now at home back on the recovery trail. Feeling a little bit better each day and return to the surgeon on Thursday to get the final release from him. Hope to be back in paradise sometime next week if I can get my strength level a little stronger. All in all the experience was not a fun time but the results which could have been so much worse were outstanding and I'm certainly thankful for all the support and prayer's I received from my family, friends and the TOTV gang. To have been proactive over the last 10 years on getting a colonoscopy and catching the cancer in it's early stages was a life saver. A month's worth of problems with the surgery was well worth it when comparing it to the cancer taking over my body and certainly shortening my life. PLEASE use this story to help spur you all on to being proactive in protecting yourself against this silent killer. Let's all have a happy ending!!!!!!!
Skip 2