Husband Had His Surgery

Yeah my husband has 13 staples in his long excision, and 2 in each of his 3 other ones. The staples take the place of stitches. No need to do anything with them. When he takes a shower he just washes them off. You can see the the incisions are healing by the just looking at the skin. It's kinda neat looking! I just remember when I had my two kids, both were by ceseran section and when they went to close me up I refused staples, I made them sew me up because I thought the staple thing was gross! But now it is pretty much standard with surgery. The reason he has to see the onocologist is because one of his slides that the pathologist looked at said it had gone through the colon wall, which means that there is most likely a few stray cancer cells circulating so he most likely will have to do chemo, but hopefully a short course and not as strong as the usual stuff. We'll know more when we meet with him. We go back to the surgeon in another week and then we will see the onocologist after that. I'll let you know what he recommands when I find out. Just keep a positive attitute and be there for your husband it will rub off. Stay in touch Sandy

Hi Sandy. Surgeon informed us that the Gastronologist said colonscopy cannot be done . Something about the camera/tube unable to pass through the colon ...instead to have the Barium Enemas done . Do you have any idea if this is effective at all ? I thought colonscopy is a sure thing to see if the entire colon has any tumour right ? But again , doesn't the ct scan show everything ? Anyway , we are still going ahead with the Barium Enemas with a positive attitude and hopefully get encouraging news out from doing this test . Believe my husband's inflammation aka cancer area was almost causing a blockage at the sigmoid colon . Fortunately they could still do the flexible sigmoidscopy on him . How is your husband doing ? I hope he is getting stronger and better each day . So he is not planning to discount chemo therapy ? Does he take any supplements such as vitamins since the surgery ? How are you doing ?
Lisa

Hi Lisa . Just an update . Surgery has been schedule for Dec19 and hopefully it is a straight forward operation and Dave will be able to come home before Christmas . The barium enema tests will be on Dec4. Another lady also by the name of Lisa replied me . She had colon cancer in her sigmoid same as my husband ( as far as know for now ) and she couldn't have the colonscopy done as well . She had the barium enema done and reminded me to ensure Dave drinks lots of water cos it can be pretty dehydrating and can also constipation too . Anyway , she had her surgery last Dec on her birthday and she said the doctor and nurses all wish her a happy birthday before her op . I am waiting for her to reply me to tell me more of her experience and diet and hopefully can have an even better understanding of the process .
Lisa O.

Hi Lisa,

Thanks for the update. I will keep you both in my prayers that everything will go as planned and Dave will be home for Christmas. I know when my husband did his CT scan he had to drink bariumn and he did get constipated, so yes make sure he drinks lots of water. Kurt goes to the surgeon tomorrow to get his staples out and get the name of the onocologist he will see. He is a little unsettled about the chemo but he knows that he needs to do it so he'll get it done. Take care and please keep me updated. Sandy

How's Kurt doing ? Is recovery painful ? Has he been eating much and gaining weight ? Yes I do hope Dave's surgery will be a smooth sailing one and he will be home for Christmas . Right now , we are doing ok , everyday is just like any other day . Now that we have the surgery date , we feel it's moving along , and soon it will be our turn to enter the recovery phase like you guys . How many weeks did your surgeon say that Kurt will require to recover ? Please kep me posted after you see your doctor and onocologist tomorrow . Good luck !
Lisa O.

Kurts doing great. Staples came out today, and we have an appt. with onocologist next Friday. Recovery has been fine. Kurt really didn't need any pain meds at all. He used them the first day after surgery but that was it. He goes back to work Monday so figure his surgery was the 17 and goes back to work 17 days later. Now he can't lift anything more than 20 lbs for 2 more weeks but thats it. Surgeon said he was good to go. Just make sure Dave goes in with a positive attitude and keeps it up, and walks, that's the big thing the sooner he gets walking after surgery the better, cuz thats what get the digestive system going again. I'll let you know how the appt. with the onocologist goes next Friday and let me know how Dave's tests go this week. Take Care and God Bless
Sandy

You know , I am so glad that we have become friends and able to share our experiences and constantly updating each other . I am very very pleased to hear about Kurt's progess in his recovery. I think he is very strong and brave and for only one time pain med , that's very good . 17 days recovery is amazing . After removal of the staples ...how does the abdomen close back ? Or is it already closed ? Is there a scar that is perm ? So no more medication to take for now ? After seeing the onocologist , that's when you'll know if you have to do chemo right ? So has the surgeon staged his cancer ? When do they do the staging ?
Lisa O.

Sandy , the supplements which Kurt is taking , are they in tablet forms ? Like Nature Made vitamins ? Or do you actually give him fresh fruits/veges that contains the Vitamins you mentioned ? If they are the tablets , does he take them all at one go ? Thanks .
Lisa O.

Hi,

Got a copy of the pathology report.This is the report they give you after your surgery and have sent all the tissue to the lab. They staged it as pT4b. Not sure what the p and b are. It did go through the subserosal adipose tissue and perforates visceral peritoneum. Which means it broke through the outside of the colon. They tested 16 lymph nodes all negitive. No lymphovascular invasion seen. I am not real clear on all this so Iam gonna start a new thread and see if someone can explain. Also Kurt's tumor was in the sigmoid colon. The staples came out today, and all is healed. There is scabs and yes he will have a scar. He calls it his battle scar! Just looking at the books it looks like he will have to do some chemo but won't know till we see the onocologist next Friday.

Oh wow , very deep info and I really don't comprehend . Hopefully someone can explain to you in a more simplified manner . So no lymph nodes were affected right ? That's very good news . 17 days ago he had surgery and 17 days later staples comes out and next week he is going back to work . This is a wonderful recovery ! You guys should celebrate . Thank you so much for letting me know what is going on and the possibility of the same situation that I may face in the coming weeks . PT4B ? I thought it's either stage 2 or 3 in his case .
Lisa O.