January15th, 2015 was my
surgery to remove the tumor, the area around the tumor and what would turn out
to be 30 lymph nodes. I’d never had surgery before (technically I guess the
insertion of the port is surgery, but considered “minor” surgery and done as an
outpatient), and I’d never spent the night in a hospital before. I was both
nervous and anxious. After all, I had been working to get to remission and get
my CEA down so I could have this surgery. Also there was something
psychologically cathartic about having the tumor and tumor site- the source of
the Cancer- removed from my body.
Before surgery I had to get
medical clearance from my Primary Care Physician. That was basically the same as an annual physical with blood
work and a chest X-ray (for the anesthesia). Everything came back normal- my
Dr. told me once again, that just looking at my test results and the rest of my
physical, you wouldn’t know there was anything wrong with me. Small comfort,
all things considered, but it beats the alternative. The prep for surgery was
the same as the prep for a Colonoscopy. Not fun at all. My parents came in from
Texas to be there for the surgery and after- until it was clear things were
okay. Of course my girlfriend was there as always- she is amazing! I had to go
to the hospital the day before and register for the following day- it was also
when I had to pay them my insurance deductible.
Originally my surgery was
scheduled for 7:00 AM, but because they couldn’t get a urologist at that time,
it was moved to 12:30 PM- more time to angst. I was looking forward to getting
to the hospital, getting hooked up to the IV and then getting “something to
relax me” as the surgeon’s office promised when I saw them for a pre-op
consultation. When I got there; I got undressed, put on the hospital gown given
to me, and then climbed into the hospital bed. I answered a bunch of questions
from the admitting nurse, and waited. The nurse came to insert the IV, and she
couldn’t get the vein right. I have really good veins- easy to see, and easy to
hit, but she missed! Not only that, but this wasn’t a little butterfly needle,
this one was big and it hurt as she was moving it around inside my arm. After
removing the needle, and trying again in a different spot- and more digging
around, it was set. She then got up to leave, and I asked her about getting
that something to relax me. She said not yet, the surgeon wanted to talk to me
before surgery. I asked how long until he came by, and she said about 15
minutes. 45 minutes later the surgeon showed up to give me a rundown of what would
be happening.
They were doing the surgery laparoscopically,
and would be going in through an incision that curved vertically through my
belly button. They would remove the tumor, the site around the tumor and about
20 lymph nodes (it ended up being 30). Then he was going to palpate my liver
and see how that felt since the Cancer had metastasized there- though the
pre-op PET Scan I had showed that there was no evidence of disease anymore. The
reason they needed a urologist was because they had to place a couple of stents
by my bladder for a clear path to get where they needed to go, and I assume to
make way for what they were removing. When he finished removing everything
necessary, the urologist would then remove the stents and insert a catheter.
I’d wake up and be all done. Needless to say I was nervous- scared even. Seems
with Cancer there’s always something you’re scared of- and the (not so) funny
thing is there always seems to be something new that is frightening.
I then got the something to
relax me I was promised- just in time for them to wheel me to the operating
room. I said good-bye to my parents and then to my girlfriend- which I don’t
remember (seems I was relaxed as promised). From what she has told me, she came
over to the bed as they were starting to wheel me out. I gave her a nice kiss,
and then looked up at her and said, “Please don’t leave me!” I remember none of
this, but feel really bad about it all the same.
I woke up after surgery, and
the first thing I asked for was my girlfriend, so the nurses went out and
brought her back to the recovery area. I was groggy and needing two things- to urinate
and drink. My throat was so dry it hurt, but at the same time I couldn’t
remember how to swallow- it was a strange combination. They were taking wet
sponges of some sort and putting them on my gums. As the water came off the
sponges I would remember how to swallow, but then forget as soon as it was
gone. This went on for a while. At one point the nurse gave the sponge to my
girlfriend and she was giving me water. In between sponges I was telling them
that I had to pee really bad. They told me go ahead and pee, that I had a
catheter in. In my confused state it took a while for this to sink in. Also, I
am not used to just peeing wherever- I usually go in the toilet. Finally I
peed, which made part of me feel better, though my throat hurt from being intubated.
I was lucky that my surgeon
was Assistant Head of Surgery at the hospital, so I got a room to myself. Although
as I understand it, if you have Cancer they put you in a room by yourself to
limit your exposure to germs since Chemo lowers your immune system. Once I was
in the room and more conscious, they showed me the best part (if there is a
best part) of the process- the little green button. The little green button was
connected to an IV with Dillaudid, which is a painkiller. I had the button in
my hand, and every 6 minutes it would light up indicating I could press it and
get another dose. I was in pain from the surgery and uncomfortable with the
catheter in- I pressed that button every 6 minutes unless I happened to pass
out- the drug also made me groggy. Later that evening, I was told it was time
to stand up. They want you standing and then walking around to get your body
back in “normal” working order as quickly as possible. I slowly sat up, got to
my feet, and having successfully managed that I went back to my bed, and
probably hit the green button again.
One of the perks of a private
room in the hospital is that my girlfriend was allowed to stay there with me.
Honestly, I would have felt bad for anyone who tried to tell her she couldn’t
stay. Unfortunately in the hospital they take your vitals every couple of hours
and blood is drawn and tested at 5:30 AM. Hard to get a good night’s sleep that
way. The drugs made it easier. At one point we had ants in the bathroom. The
hospital staff were quick to act and move me to another room. Later that day as
I was taking another couple of laps around the ward, I saw the exterminators
getting off the elevator, so I helped direct them to the right place, which
brought puzzled looks to their faces.
Sometime later that day they
removed the catheter. The nurse doing it was new and it was painful when she
removed it, but I did like not having a tube in my penis, so I was glad it was
gone. I had to keep track of my urine output by peeing into a plastic bottle.
However, after the catheter was removed it hurt to urinate. This made it
difficult to pee for an extended period of time, which made them do an
ultrasound of my bladder to see how much urine was in me. It was more than was
normal so the surgeon was contacted. He gave me 2 hours to reduce the amount of
urine in my bladder or they were going to put the catheter back in. I told the
nurse. “You’re going to knock me out for that, right? After all, it’s the
catheter that caused the pain in the first place.” She said they wouldn’t be
knocking me out, and to try and get the amount of urine needed out. I went back
to the green button- I hadn’t been using it as much through the day, but at the
thought of being catheterized again I watched for the green light every 6
minutes, gave myself a dose and then went to try and urinate. Sometimes I would
get so loopy from the Dillaudid that I wouldn’t go, but at then end of the two
hours, when the nurse came in and took another ultrasound, I had evacuated
enough that there was no need for another catheter. Thank G-d. I honestly think
the amount in my bladder was borderline, but she didn’t want to deal with
trying to put a catheter in me in my mental state. By the next morning the pain
while urinating was gone, and things there were back on track.
The next day they wanted to
take me off of the green button and put me on oral pain meds. Seems the pain
meds can make you constipated, and I needed to have a bowel movement to get
discharged. So I went from Dillaudid to Percoset. I was also moved from a
liquid diet to a low fiber diet- I got to have both chocolate pudding and
ice cream. Best thing in the hospital since the green button. I also needed to
get up and walk more- which with the encouragement and help from my girlfriend
I did. All of this to get the bowels moving- as soon as they did I would be
discharged.
During my stay, the surgeon
would come to visit once a day, and by day 2 he said he didn’t need any
“movement” just some passed gas. My primary care physician came by as well to
check on me. They both told me that everything went very well, and we just had
to wait on the pathology from what they removed. I was told that there were
Cancer cells found in the lining of my colon- though no tumors. The third
morning when my Primary Care Physician came around and was doing his routine
exam, my blood pressure was high- approximately 160/105. He had my girlfriend
come over and hold my hand, as he took my blood pressure again. It dropped 10 points-
which made me smile and gave him a chuckle. If you’ve ever needed an example of
how people can affect your life and well being, there you have it.
So it came to pass on the
fourth day that I passed gas. Never was a fart so celebrated and high-fived as
when I let that one rip in front of my girlfriend. For the record, this is not
something that I had done before- I’m just not one of those guys who takes
pride in his flatulence- at least not publicly. That day when the surgeon came
to check on me, I told him about the great event he had missed. He said I could
be discharged and go home. I asked how long that would take, and he told me
about 45 minutes. Two hours later, I was packed, and out of the hospital. Thus began "The Adventures of Me and My Semi-Colon".
