I had surgery 2 days ago and it went well. Originally he took out 50% and then sent it to pathology. There was no sign of cancer in those cells but he decided to err on the side of caution and took out more. There is some discrepancy on whether he took out 80 or 90 percent. He told me 80 twice, but Mel 90. I will need to eat small amounts and eventually I will get back to perhaps almost regular. I will need to talk too the dietician to see what they think. The surgery was scheduled for 4.5 hrs but ran over to 6 hrs due to some complications. The stomach was more complex than they had thought. The good news is it all seems to be out now. I had multiple lines put into me just in case. I had 2 lines in each arm, catheter and a folio bag into my side you drain any fluid. When I came out of anesthesia it was tough. I could not focus and could not read my phone. So the live blog died. I did not anticipate it being so hard. It took 5 to 7 nurses to transfer me from the stretcher to the bed. I did not realize how much I appreciated Mel just being there. She did so many small things. They wanted me to sit up and walk about that night. I declined. I had to go for an x-ray on the first night to check things out and make sure tubes were in the right place. Right after they put me under a bright florescent light. It was wonderful for triggering a headache. I kept on dozing in and out of consciousness and Mel sat by me. She would ask questions to the nurses and took care of things. I do not remember much front the first day except I could not text. I told the nurses I would sit up and stand the next day.
Post-Op day 1
At my midnight check I sat up. The dosage of the pain killer I was on dropped my blood pressure significantly to the point I was light headed and dizzy. It was tough to reply to people who sent messages. Mel asked if I wanted her to come in the morning and when I was hesitant agree knew she should as I normally say no. Have I mentioned how much gratitude I have for her support? If not then my appreciation for her is boundless. Our families have been helping out so she can come here twice a day and her work has been great as well. She is managing the house while taking care of me. I am not sure how helpful I would be for her at the hospital. At first I was hoping she could help me out with some of the more personal stuff. But you get over that quickly with nurses and doctors lifting things to see you all exposed. I stopped caring about modesty. I managed to walk around 3 times and sit up. I was still super dizzy and told the nurses I will deal with the pain and get my blood pressure up as it was quite low. The nurse was changing my PICC line and she thought it looked infected. They ended up pulling it just in case and sent it away for swabs. I had a tube down my nose to help with discharge and to suck on out liquids. They want you moving around to help with circulation and lungs. It was painful breathing with the tube down my throat and it hurt. I could feel it. Whenever I breathe or swallowed I felt the tube. That evening they sent me for another x-ray to make sure the tube was in place. If it was not they would pull it. They had tried to contact the doctor but it took till 10pm to go get the x-ray. Around midnight they said it was in proper place and they could not remove it. Since my mobility was not great they were not going to remove anything so the catheter remained as well. The day after surgery was rough as I was quite light headed. Once they decreased my pain medication the recovery was better.
Post-Op day 2
One of the conditions of having the nasal tube removed was passing gas. That was painful so I was avoiding it. It would wake me up in the middle of the night as did my catheter as it did not drain properly. By the morning I figured out a trick for the catheter. If I raised the tube it would start to fill and then if I lower it, it would drain. Over the course of the night I was more comfortable. Today is the first day I have been able to use electronic devices for an extended time. In the morning I asked the nurse if I could have some of the tubes removed. The doctors had to check with my doctor but he said if I was paying gas and everything else was ok they could start removing them. By the time Mel arrived a bunch of tubes were removed and I could breathe again. The pain from the tubes was gone. I was only allowed to eat ice chips for 3 days and could start with small sips of water. I have been practicing eating 6 to 7 times a day for a couple months so I was ready for this. It seems my taste buds are coming back slowly. I had some broth at lunch and jello. The pain has subsided to a manageable level. My heart rate deceives me though as it is racing. The nurses believe me though when I say I can manage it as I am calm and do not show any outward sign of distress. I anticipate going home on the weekend at some point. Thanks for all the support from everyone. Given the chance I would highly not recommend this procedure. 0/10.