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GregJ’s Journey - To Infinity And Beyond!

User
Posted 27 Jun 2023 at 21:24

Thanks JedSee

😊👍

cheers

Greg. 

User
Posted 27 Jun 2023 at 22:51

Gregj, strangely I can think of worse reasons for being in a travel lodge. I love the whole general anaesthetic experience. I had the extra night in hospital, only because the nurse said don't get pressured into going home early. Have fun.

Thanks Chris 

User
Posted 28 Jun 2023 at 05:24

Haha thanks Chris 

I’m almost looking forward to it now! 😊

cheers

Greg 

User
Posted 28 Jun 2023 at 08:28

Hi Greg

I was put out the weekend,try the 10 second challenge if the room has a clock above the bed where they put you to sleep,I never seem to see it out

Enjoy the ride phil

User
Posted 28 Jun 2023 at 09:12

Cheers Phil. 

10..9..aaaayyy…zzzz 😁

User
Posted 28 Jun 2023 at 09:15

Woahhh. Hod the bus!

Brakes put on proceedings. Anaesthetist is not happy with bloods and ECG from pre-admission. 
I was supposed to be in by now but they’ve swapped me to later today and taken more blood tests to try see what’s happening. He thinks it may be a thyroid function problem. 

Oh well, time for a sleep then, to make up for the 2 hours I got last night. 
cheers

Greg. 

User
Posted 28 Jun 2023 at 09:32

Not good ☹️

User
Posted 28 Jun 2023 at 20:11

Hi Greg,

Really sorry to hear that.  What a roller-coaster ride of emotions.  Hope surgery will proceeded as planned.

Take good care of yourself.

Best wishes,

JedSee.

User
Posted 28 Jun 2023 at 20:56

Hi Greg,

Hopefully by now you’ll be all done and dusted🤞

Hope everything went well and your recovery is good! Looking forward to hearing you are all good!

Derek

User
Posted 30 Jun 2023 at 11:27

Hi all

Well that’s that then! 

The anaesthetic, which was one of my many initial fears, was brilliant actually. Haha.
He was chatting away, as he put the cannula in.

Then he said, “this is just some pain killer, nothing to put you to sleep yet. Bit of a cool feeling up your arm. Right, now this is the stuff that puts you to sleeee…..”

Cue waking up in recovery, constantly trying to remove my mask, being gently told to leave it alone … then trying to get out the bed .. I really need a wee! You’re fine, you’ve got a catheter fitted. Hand pulled away and covers tucked in again. Warm blankets all over me.. it was actually lovely as many have said. 

Back on the ward by 7pm. No pain at all really. Very tired of course and woken up every hour until 2am for blood pressure check. 
Apparently I bled a lot and they did fit a drain which needed emptied twice. 
Surgeon said I was just a bit “gooey” … who’d have thunk that was a medical term. It came out yesterday and it had leaked quite a lot, quite a bit of blood on robe and bed, which was a surprise. Sister told me to stop being a drama Queen… it’s probably only about 50ml … to which I suggested it might be just 50ml to you but it’s a bloody armful to me! … like she won’t have heard that hundreds of times. 
 
 I only got 2 hours sleep the night before the op and the night immediately after on ward, we had a very serious snoring problem. Like sounds ive never heard before! 😳

So last night I spoke to the night nurse and she found me an empty day treatment room so I was wheeled in there and the door closed. Absolute bliss! Slept like a baby. 
Feel much more human today and getting discharged very soon, as soon as my lovely lift arrives. 

Surgeon said operation was full nerve sparing so fingers crossed I’ll be “up and running” in 1-2 years  

Pathology report about 3 weeks away he said so toes crossed we get clear margins  

Still a lot of pain from the CO2 but trying to stand and move about as much as possible so very slowly it’s “peeping” out 😳🥴

I still don’t know how the gas is pumped into the abdominal cavity yet ends up in the intestines and colon…does it just get absorbed through?

So all done, definitely not as bad as I thought it was going to be, especially after I was educated by the warriors on here who’ve been there before. 😊

Quite stiff, a little tired, leaning over a lot to try to let a “peep” come out without pushing 😂 … but all in all not bad at all. Definitely nowhere near as bad as I thought it was going to be. 

I hear that having to have a drain is very rare nowadays so most people will sail through it without problems.  I do like to make life as complicated as I can … it seems! 🙈

Take care all and thank you for the support  

All the best

Greg 

 

User
Posted 30 Jun 2023 at 12:12

Glad that's all over. For the surgeons and medics, it's just all in a day's work. For the patient it is far removed from a normal day.

Dave

User
Posted 30 Jun 2023 at 18:47

Greg J,

I'm delighted to hear that it's all 'out' at last.

Very best wishes for a speedy recovery.

JedSee.

Edited by member 30 Jun 2023 at 18:47  | Reason: Not specified

User
Posted 30 Jun 2023 at 20:20

Gregg, pleased to here it went ahead after the delay. I had a similar issue with the drain leaking blood. Take it easy but keep mobile,no straining to pass that first motion. If the catheter makes the eye of the penis sore get some instilagel or hydrocaine, both available without prescription at most pharmacies except Boots.

Hope your recovery goes well.

Thanks Chris 

User
Posted 30 Jun 2023 at 20:45

Great stuff Greg, so pleased for you and all the best for a speedy recovery.

Derek

User
Posted 30 Jun 2023 at 20:59

Youve got there Greg. Well done my man. Time to get back to as close to normal as you can.

 

Slainte Mhath lad.

 

Jamie.

User
Posted 01 Jul 2023 at 06:58

Thanks gents

Seem to have a slight problem today, well from last night actually. 

Juat as I was leaving the hospital I smoothed my sweatshirt down and felt quite a bit of past n on my right side. Nipped into the ward bathroom for a look in the mirror and saw what can only be described as massive bruising right around my right hip and up into my belly. Deep dark purple bruising. Also my penis is the same all over, very dark bruising. 
I spoke to the sister on the ward and she looked at it, did say it is quite a lot but that it can happen so just keep an eye on it. 

By the time we had made the 2 hour journey home I was feeling very unwell to be honest, blood pressure was up to 155/100 with a pulse of 110. Also a slight temperature of 37.8

I called the sister on the ward again as I was/am getting concerned. She did not seem phased at all and said just keep taking paracetamol and plenty of fluids. Which of course I am doing. 

Has anybody else had similar bruising after a RARP? 
 
The side where I had the drain has very little bruising at all but the other side looks like a war zone! 😳

Any suggestions what I should do? 

I might post this as a separate thread, if that’s allowed, as people may not see it here? 

Edited by member 01 Jul 2023 at 07:00  | Reason: Not specified

User
Posted 01 Jul 2023 at 07:06

Gregg,no personal experience of it, but I have seen it mentioned before and from what I remember it takes some time to clear.

Thanks Chris 

User
Posted 01 Jul 2023 at 09:10
Keep an eye on your temperature, if you develop any kind of fever or sudden pain get right back onto the hospital.
User
Posted 01 Jul 2023 at 10:03
HI Greg

Everyone is different in how the body reacts and you have to remember that it's a fairly brutal operation with the Da Vinci with all the tubes and pipes being pushed into your body and the CO2 inflation is quite significant - they release it after they are finished, it's the residual that causes the issues and irritates the diaphragm which radiates to the nerves in the shoulders.

Your body is reacting to the surgery with the bruising and as the nurse says, pretty normal in a small number of cases.

The high blood pressure is possibly down to you panicking too much - so you need to relax and chill.

Take your temperature every 2 hours to be sure and talk to the nurse again if it spikes but also keep drinking water - you need at least 2 litres per day.

User
Posted 01 Jul 2023 at 14:15

Thanks gents. 

My blood pressure has now dropped to around 103/58, which is totally normal but very low for me. My baseline before surgery was around 124/80

The hardest thing at the moment is my heartbeat. It can go way up over 100 when moving about (131 once) and down to the 70’s if I’m resting but it’s beating so hard it is actually lifting me off the chair! The anaesthetist did have some concerns about my heart and did say I should speak with my GP, which I’ll do on Monday. 

From what I’ve read on Dr Google, hard or fast heartbeats are normal after surgery but do need to be checked because of stroke risk. 
The reports I’ve read say that the heart is working harder because of an inflammatory immune response to the surgery. 

Anybody any experience of this?

Its proving to be a bit of a tough ride at the moment guys 🥴☹️

cheers

Greg. 

Edited by member 01 Jul 2023 at 14:16  | Reason: Not specified

 
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