Just met with a general surgeon today about the intestinal blockages I've been having. Two of them caused hospitalization for three days each back in January and then again in April. I also have a couple of hernias. Turns out I have three based on my exam today plus a review of my last CT scan. We knew I had a couple from the scan but now it is three and one of them has gotten quite large.
All of the hernia are near the incision line from the RC.
Anyway, I'm going in to the hospital on Wednesday to get this taken care of. Yes, I know I'm missing the turkey and fixin's but it will mean the least amount of time off work and I'm kind of sensitive to stuff like that. Other reasons for doing this now are that I'm on a deal at work where I'd be able to work from home the week after surgery and my high deductible is already paid for this year.
I expect to be in 3-4 days (unless I can pull a Rudy and walk out later that day
).
This is certainly nowhere near a neo surgery so I'm hoping to be up and around quite quickly and my recend studies on ileus have me well prepared to get myself better quickly.
My surgeon (general surgeon) has tons of experience with ileus and we discussed the tricks he knows plus the ones I know. He knew all of the ones I learned recently so that's a good thing. Another thing in addition to no bowel prep presurgery, chewing gum shortly after surgery, walking, Zofran, and Regalin is Erythrimicin. I didn't know that one. I actually met him when I was in the hospital back in January due to my first blockage.
I didn't realize how big the hernias were getting until he made me do leg lifts and I thought that creature from Alien was coming up from my middle.
He's going to check all of the intestine to be sure there are no adhesions and no problems where my staples are from the RC surgery. That's where my past blockages were (at least the ones that put me in the hospital and warranted CT scans).
My minor blockages may actually be due to the hernias. I'm hoping that's the case as I'm not thrilled about the idea of having to take it apart and put it back together again at the resection point.
This will be at my local hospital since they are a top hosptial for general surgery things like this. These guys are doing hernia repairs and bowel repairs all the time so I'm quite confident.
Glad I got my ski weekend this past weekend! Still planning my next ski trip for mid-January so I need to hurry up and heal.
Mike
