My husband Harry had his RC in 10/07. Surgery went very well, but he also experienced problems passing gas. The first couple (few?) days he just kept burping...it wasn't passing through in the "right direction". Then he passed a little gas and they put him on soft then more solid soft food (chicken breast was actually considered "soft" ?!?)...for him this was too fast and he threw up and they had to start all over with the NG tube....and waiting for gas to pass again... They ruled out a blockage, but did insert another drain because they did find some excess fluid that they thought could be "holding up the works"...the doctors kept saying it just takes some people more time ... which was frustrating day after day - "more time" when he was doing all the "right things" like walking several times a day...they finally inserted a PICC line for nutritution as all he could "eat" were ice chips....FINALLY...he passed some gas and they fed him soft food a couple days before introducing the chicken breast! Even then gettng the bowels to work like they did pre-op took quite a long time and trial and error with stool softners, fiber, etc. I teased Harry that his body was mad at him and giving him a bad time because he was 61 and had never had any surgeries and didn't even take any prescription medications prior to his BC diagnosis! He ended up being in the hospital a total of 28 days, however, the upside of that was that when he was finally released, he was much more farther along in his RC recovery and came home without the catheter and all drains removed. HOPEFULLY, your dad won't wait that long before passing the "all important" gas! I guess "time" is an individual thing...and everyone is different. Best wishes for your dads speedy recovery. Margot