Yet another surgery that didn't go as planned

[JAB]

After six months of chemo I am apparently cancer free (the same lymph nodes that have been showing up all along are still showing up but have neither grown nor shrank so have been relegated to 'keep an eye on them' status.) So, back on August 20 I went in for surgery to reverse the colostomy that I have had since having a blockage - a cancerous tumor - removed from my colon late in October of 2014. Also on the schedule was having the venus port (which was used to administer my chemo) removed. As an extra, added bonus the surgeon said he could go ahead and remove my gall bladder while he was at it. My gall bladder had acted up and I even had one pretty severe attack that lasted for a few days right before I started chemo but it wasn't removed at the time because that would have further postponed starting chemo.

After I awoke in recovery and as I was being wheeled out to go to a room (in ICU), I noticed that my surgeon was making a phone call at the recovery room desk. It must have been to the other partner in his practice or at least to one of his colleagues since I heard him saying, "You just missed the worst gall bladder I have ever seen," as I was rolled past the desk. He later told me the same thing and said that he actually wouldn't doubt that it was the worst gall bladder anyone had ever seen. The anesthesiologist said it was certainly the worst one he had ever seen, as well. I guess you could say that I had a 'zombie' gall bladder because it was dead. In fact, it was rotten and still rotting - literally. It was gangrenous and had rotted to the point that it had holes all the way through it in places. The vessels and so on serving it were dead and rotten, as well. So there is the fourth thing that has tried to kill me in the last dozen or so years.

The surgeon had planned to do everything in my abdomen via laparoscopic procedures. He was actually able to remove my gall bladder that way - although it apparently took two hours or more since it was so rotten that it came out in pieces (the surgeon said that such a procedure normally takes a half hour or so under normal conditions.)

When it came time to reverse the colostomy, though, he ended up having to open me up, again. My colon had gotten twisted and there were several adhesions that had to be separated. He had planned on using some kind of stapling device to reconnect my colon but ended up having to stitch it back together by hand, instead.

Removing the port must have been pretty straightforward because he barely even mentioned that afterward. I didn't even have stitches where it was removed - the surgeon just 'super glued' that incision closed.

In the pre-surgery consultation the surgeon indicated that he expected the whole shebang to take three or four hours, tops. In all, I was in surgery for roughly ten hours. I was in the hospital until the 25th. I followed up with the surgeon on September 1 and one of his nurses removed the staples from my various incisions (well, most of them - seems she missed one that was actually in my navel and I pulled it out, myself, last Friday.) I still have steri-strips over the incisions and there is a small but deep place where the colostomy was closed that is still open and has to be packed with a strip of packing gauze which needs to be changed daily.

I returned to work today (yeah, on Labor Day.) I don't necessarily feel like being here and could probably have used another few days or even another week to recuperate but between the surgeries and so on last October and all the time it took to recuperate from those and this recent surgery and time off my FMLA leave has run out so I had to come back whether I was ready or not. Mine is pretty much a desk job so at least I can manage, I guess. And that is my latest health saga.

[TGO David]

Sounds like quite the ordeal.  Glad you're still among us!  Which is, indeed, the most important part!

[gregintenn]

Geez, man! :shake: Hopefully, the rough stuff is now behind you. Hang in there. :up:

[hipower]

My prayers and best wishes for you JAB. I've been where you are. At least in relation to the chemo and gall bladder. I was blessed to avoid the colostomy. 

 

 

I found that the gall bladder was the most painful thing I had to endure, and I wouldn't wish it on anyone except my enemies.

 

Move slowly and carefully for a few days.

[Jonnin]

I had my GB out but I can't begin to relate to your condition... I felt so much better after the surgery I never noticed the healing process;  it had been making me feel kind of bad all over without realizing it. 

 

Glad you are on the mend, prayers sent.  

[Bigiron]

Praying for your complete recovery.

[Bassoneer]

That sounds like a lot, but everything you described turned out positive which is awesome.  Glad that bad stuff has been taken out of you and now you can heal.  My dad had some similar things happen with his colon and he is doing well now.  Praise God for your surgeons (they sound awesome) and your continued healing...B

[rugerla1]

Wow, what a story! I can't imagine what your family was thinking while waiting for you to come out at hour 3, 4, and so on, wondering what was taking so long. From a fellow cancer/chemo patient, you'll be in my prayers for a quick recovery and hope you feel good soon. Glad you made it through all that.

[JohnC]

You got my best wishes and prayers that this will be the last time you have anymore issues like this. :up:

[TMF]

Glad to hear you're cancer free! Cancer served a great big gut punch to my family this year, but we're fighting it hard and winning.


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[Grand Torino]

You're gonna make it...trust me on this. Anyone that can make it with a rotting organ in their system is one tough bugger. My thoughts and prayers are with you.

[peejman]

Glad you're still with us. Sounds like you've had quite a week.

[TNWNGR]

Wow! That's so extraordinary it sounds like a bad TV medical story. Glad your still kicking and participating and hope your annoyed enough by all this to continue doing so.

[Fourtyfive]

God speed brother .....

[JAB]

Thanks to all for the kind words and well wishes.  They are appreciated.

 

My dad was probably the toughest individual I have ever known.  He survived several things in his life, any one of which would probably have been the end of a lot of folks.  It was stomach cancer that got him in the end - but even then he lived for 7 1/2 years after his first surgery despite the doctors saying he probably had two years or so and despite having a heart attack in the midst of that 7 1/2 years.  I have said that he almost had to die of cancer because nothing else could kill him.  My ex-wife (who is still one of my best friends) has been there through the first three things that tried to kill me in the last dozen years or so.  When I told her about the gall bladder thing being number 4 she just shook her head and said, "You really are your father's son."  That is one of the best compliments anyone has ever given me.

Edited September 8, 2015 by JAB

[hipower]

My wife has said that about me a few times.

Not always in the nicest of forms and meanings though.

[Oh Shoot]

Though it's not been "as planned", I'd wager having that poop tube pretty much back in spec is a win win win type thing, eh?

 

Hoping for ongoing better health for ya,

 

OS

[JAB]

Though it's not been "as planned", I'd wager having that poop tube pretty much back in spec is a win win win type thing, eh?

 

Hoping for ongoing better health for ya,

 

OS

 

Honestly, I think the worst part of the whole ordeal, for me, was having to wear that ^*&$ colostomy bag.  I am so glad to be rid of that thing.