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helloo all–we’re back!
Posted by Stephany on May 28, 2008 at 2:34 pmHellooo to all, from Iowa. We’re back in the hospital, hopefully for the LAST surgery! Doran is having a resection of a blocked ureter, secondary to the stretching caused by the cystectomy/Indiana pouch. He’s been wearing a nephrostomy out of his left kidney since November, and then developed a blood clot from the chemo, so it has taken this long to schedule the surgery.
He’s been in surgery for about two hours now, so I’m hoping to hear something soon. If they can do a simple resection, he’ll be out in four days. If they need to use another piece of bowel, it will be at least a week. We’re all hopeful for the former, but prepared for the latter (that stuff does NOT get any better tasting each time you use it. I can attest to that. I finally listened to my gyn and had my first colonoscopy last week. I figured I should get it done while he was relatively healthy and able to care for me.)
Anyway, I had to check in and say thanks for all the support in the past, and to let you all know how things are going. The pouch is doing well, but it’s only draining one kidney right now, but getting up to 1000 cc’s without a leak, so things look pretty good right now.
Margot, Ginger and all the rest. I’ve missed chatting with you. But you of all people know how busy one gets when caretaking. And taking care of oneself, too!
“Talk” to you later.
Stephany in Iowa
replied 16 years, 8 months ago 6 Members · 22 Replies -
22 Replies
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GuestJune 15, 2008 at 11:44 pm
an alligator lopper?? Is that for lopping off alligator heads?…whats going on in Iowa?……….
Glad you’re back and damage is minimal..at least for you Pat -
And now he’s down to ONE TUBE! He had the other tubes (Foley cath and stent cath) taken out last Tuesday. They left the nephrostomy tube in, just in case, but it’s not attached to anything ???
Anyway, with the flooding going on, he’s not going to get it out next week. The university complex is surrounded by water….only one way in, and the road through Cedar Rapids is being used only for emergencies, and there’s pretty much everything surrounded by water in Iowa City. All our favorite restaurants, from what we can see on the news, are full of water. The university is doing all the schedule changes they can to keep it simple, so we’re not going back down until the 26th for the last tube removal, and that’s fine with us. Does NOT sound pleasant right now down there.
We, however, are finally drying out. The river is down enough that our bridge to go south is open, and we once again can go to the grocery store without having to go out on the interstate. Several businesses had to close for a while, but I think the sandbags helped prevent damage. FEMA did a good job of clearing out the houses in the flood plain, so there isn’t going to be a lot of loss of property with this flood, even though it was higher than the last one. The big joke is about how many 500 year floods a person can experience.
Doran is feeling much better, although the hernia repairs are giving him some discomfort. He keeps forgetting to take the pain meds, and then he has to catch up. It’s a learning process.
Anyway, Robert came home for Father’s Day weekend, and we gave Doran an alligator lopper, so he can do guy stuff in the woods (or Doran and Robert can do guy stuff).
I am going to try to find some time to plant herbs and flowers on the deck, now that things may be drying out. I can’t believe how much rain we’ve had this year, but that’s Iowa!
Stephany in Iowa
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How wonderful he is doing so well after this surgery. Sounds like your life has taken a great leap for the better. Unplug the phone tonight so no one can disturb you. Julie
Volunteer Coordinator
ABLSCGuestJune 7, 2008 at 8:59 pmThings are going so well, DON’T ANSWER THE PHONE!!!! Ginger
Hello, all! I just had to find time to report to you all on the surgery, and I think I have a few minutes right now, when things are “quiet” ;)
Doran is doing MUCH better after this surgery. I have no idea why. He had seven hours of surgery, and more pain after surgery (because they didn’t do an epidural), but he’s back home, and even went to the office the day after he got home, to take care of an emergency that his partner didn’t feel comfortable handling.
He’s walking, eating, sleeping, and not complaining! And he’s draining his own pouches, watching TV, even talking on the phone, getting his haircut, etc. We had the distinct pleasure of hearing our son perform at a brunch on Friday morning, playing PDQ Bach’s “Only Piece Ever Written for Violin and Tuba” What a hoot!
Anyway, I gotta tell you, this was not expected, and very much welcomed. Thanks for all your support. He has only three tubes left….one from the pouch, one from the reconstructed ureter, coming out the pouch, and the nephrostomy tube.
On Tuesday, he’ll have the pouch tubes taken out, and we’ll see how it goes. If it all goes well, if you take my meaning, he’ll have the nephrostomy tube out the following Tuesday, and he’ll be tube-free for the first time since November.
I finally finished up all the “busy season stuff” on Friday afternoon, and went to bed Friday night giving thanks for all the people who helped us get through the dental work, the doctor visits, colonoscopy, etc etc etc.
Going to celebrate tomorrow by sleeping in. The phone just cannot ring, right?
Stephany in Iowa
GuestJune 2, 2008 at 3:57 amGlad to hear he is doing better Stephany, all that home cooking, I want to come to your house. The milk shakes do the trick, I fed them to Gene to gain back the 30 pounds he had lost. Thanks for keeping us posted , let us know when the homecoming is..Ginger
I think they’re saving mine for me…..I put some of his clothes on it, so it won’t disappear while I’m home ::)
I stayed home today….took a “day off”. I got laundry done, and the bills paid, and my desk close to clean. Then I popped popcorn, and had sushi and seaweed salad (leftovers). It had been so long since I popped any that I burned the first three batches! Boy, the dogs got really really lucky tonight.
He is able to eat food today, and I had left him a box of sushi and some organic blackberries. And an Orangina. He broke the Orangina bottle, so my name is probably mud at the nurses station, but he told me he ate all the rest of the food, so it was what he needed. And he’s had two chocolate milkshakes. So he’s feeling better.
The nurses unplugged one of his drains, and some of his pain went away, so maybe he’ll be in a better mood tomorrow, too.
I’m hoping they might send him home tomorrow, but if not, then on Tuesday.
thanks for being there.
Stephany in Iowa
GuestJune 1, 2008 at 3:50 amStephany,
I had an “all points bulletin” out at the cleveland clinic for a recliner.
I got all kinds of answers, none to be found, to of course we have them somewhere.
Finally a very nice nurse found me one day 4,,you just have to be A BIG MOUTH, it works everytime!!!!
Just a note, you may find this interesting, I reserved a room at the Cleveland Clinic Conference Center hotel the first two nites after surgery. We are not rich people but my room was a walk away without going outside,at 300.00 a nite it was manufeke!!! this room had marble everything, I was a QUEEN for sure, my queenship went downhill as after 2 nites I went to an Inn across the street, I felt a little guilty spending the money, but my daughter split it with me and now I am on my own,, what a change, 5 channels on the tv, no jacuzzi tub,,,and no coffee pot!!! I STAYED IN HIS ROOM DAYS 4 AND 5 AND CAME HOME DAY6….This way I didn’t miss one doctor,,,no matter what time they came..THE RECLINER DID FINE… GingerHi Stephany – I just knew you were a resourceful person ;D I agree about the chairs in hospitals not being the best. I don’t recall seeing any recliners at Stanford but we improvised when we could by putting two chairs face to face to prop up my feet…It was just lucky that Harry ended up with a private room and there was room for three chairs too. Of course when our daughter and son-in-law were there I lost my “recliner”! The hospital did offer us a roll-away bed if I cared to spend the night…but I opted to stay at the Navy Lodge so I could get some sleep…I know all the “goings on” in the hospital would have kept me awake! Glad you were able to spend the night in your own bed – bet your dogs were happy to see you!! Hopefully you’ll be able to post that he is being released soon! Take care. Margot
Hello Julie, glad to hear that the surgery went as well as expected. Good to know you are able to rest up too. Hope all continues to go smoothly for you both.
Maria xxStephany, Good for you searching out your own recliner. I also need to keep my feet up otherwise my sciatica comes back. I feel a rant coming on about how hospitals accommodate family and visitors of patients. I bet we are not the only family members who need to keep our feet up.
Julie
Volunteer Coordinator
ABLSCWell, I had to do SOMETHING ??? And I love doing those repetitive tasks that occupy your hands, so I don’t snack ;D
Explode he might…..but at least he’s getting better. And no problems with them not giving him the right meds, so no depression problems this time.
He’s even remembering to “deep breathe”. When I left him today, he was going back to sleep.
I’m taking tonight off, and sleeping in my own bed. I came home, picked up the dogs and now I’m cleaning out the spam, and going to watch TV.
Julie….you should have seen me scouring the ward for a recliner! The lady whose husband was in the other bed had asked for a recliner, and hadn’t gotten help yet, and here I come in, rolling a recliner I stole out of an empty room. Bet she could have strangled me. I felt bad, and when I came back that evening, I was going to tell her she could sleep in it, because she was staying overnight, but by then she had her own.
That’s the only way I could spend much time there….with my feet up.
Stephany in Iowa
GuestMay 30, 2008 at 5:29 pmStephany,
Thinking of you and Doran, the multitasking your doing impresses me, I use to just sit there and look at Gene as if was going to blow up or something. You handle things so well, I usually have this sense of urgentcy about everything. Hoping you get him home soon, then you will be readily available!!GingerStephany, It sure sound like Doran was an effective advocate for himself. Calling the surgeon’s office on his own to get help is a good method. I hope he is feeling less anxious now.
I hope you can stand spending the long hours at the hospital. I finally had to say that it was too hard for me physically to spend so many hours in the chairs they provide visitors. I finally had to limit my hours at the hospital. Since you are away from home I bet it makes it more difficult for everyone. Since he is up and moving it should speed up his recovery. Julie
Volunteer Coordinator
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