caregiver needs info for after RC on Monday

worried daughter.....your mom is getting the ileal conduit which is the least invasive of the surgeries. Its good that she has strong family support.. if you have any questions at all just ask us...all of our experiences vary a bit but at least we can guide you. Pat

Sorry about not giving all the info. My mother is 69 and will be havinf her bladder, reproductive organs, lymph nodes removed. She will not be having a bladder reconstructed but will be wearing a pouch. Sorry, I don't know all the medical terms. Anyway, I appreciate all the answers. Surgery is Monday and I am starting to get a little anxious.

Hi,

Having just gone through this myself, I can say I will be forever grateful for my twin daughters presence 24 hours a day for the first four nights. After that, they'd stay until about nine or ten at night, usually arriving around 9 or 10 in the morning. What did they do? Anything I needed...help me sit up, scratch the bottom of my foot...pull the blanket up when I got cold and it was at the bottom of the bed...constantly finding me ice chips. After a few nights I found they didn't need to be there all the time and encouraged them to go get some rest (they were looking tired).

I was in the hospital for 10 days after the RC with neo bladder.

Helping your mom and dad after she returns home with housekeeping and meals will be invaluable for a week or two. It won't be that she can't do anything, she probably won't feel like doing much.

Hope this helps...good luck to your mom

Joe...not really...the stoma nurses fully educated me on how to do everything and though i wasn't home alone..my husband was not exactly what you call handy.....i mean the toaster baffled him......so there really was no choice. He did help getting groceries and things i couldn't do as i wasn't supposed to drive for 6 weeks....he brought home some pretty interesting stuff!!!! The only change that was difficult for me was the bag covering the temporary drain in my right abdomen...like the ileal conduit bag....they sometimes were defective and leaked and it seemed like i needed 3 hands to make the change.............Pat

Patricia,
that is almost incredible! I would not be able to do that.
I can not imagine being home alone after they discharged me. Wow...

Congratulations on making it under such circumstances.
You're a true warrior!

Joe

Interesting indeed. When I woke up from my initial surgery for the bladder CA they tried to tell my wife how to remove my catheter. She didn't even want to look at it. And give me a break! In medical school and residency I catheterized more than a few patients. Why would I need my wife to remove my catheter!?!