Hospital Reprise

We ended up the first week out of the hospital running to some Dr.'s appointments and got into some extended time away from home that exhausted me. I did not rest well and just felt really worn down. Then bang, Friday morning about 7:30 lying in bed thinking about getting up I began to experience a pain in my lower back, right side. This would be August 13 two days after I was out of the hospital. As I lay in bed the pain intensified and came through to my front. I got up walked around, didn't know what was happening and lay down trying to see if it would stop. It kept getting worse until I was literally moaning with every breath. Finally about 10 AM I told Terry to call the surgeon's office and tell them we needed help. I could not stand the level of pain intensity I was feeling.

The Dr. had us drive to NEA Baptist hospital where they ran some blood tests and took and X-ray. Then we went to the Dr.s office and they were just in the process of closing as he wasn't seeing patients Friday afternoon. He had seen the blood tests and the x-ray and could find nothing specific but I was in bad pain. So about 2:30 he had me admitted to NEA Baptist and we drove back over there. In the meantime I had been given nothing for pain relief.

Once there they took history, got me in bed and took care of my ileostomy bag which had begun to leak in the Dr.'s office, I was a sight boy. Wet clothing, pain, was literally begging for some relief. It was the most prolonged, intense pain I had endured in my life. Finally about 6:30 PM I was administered some dillaudid that is a powerful pain killer and started to feel some relief.

I was scheduled a CT scan and just before I went down for that procedure a nurse came in and administered another injection of dillaudid , a bit early, but thank God for nurses who know their own mind. The pain was so severe that I got sick on the CT scan table, but it just turned out to be the dry heaves as there was nothing in my stomach. I had not eaten all day. By the time I got back to my room I was settling down and I was given one injection of dillaudid every hour, but I had to ask for it. I asked believe me, or Terry keeping vigil reminded me.

The next morning both Terry and I were not in good shape. Terry was exhausted from the Friday's stress of carting me around, worry and not getting much rest. She is a tough old bird and I am fortunate that she fell in love with me, that's for sure. Anyway I called my daughter Kristi who is my in family medical consultant. I explained where I was and the pain was still present although now more tolerable. Kristi called back about 9 AM and said she could rearrange her work schedule and drive to Jonesboro and help relieve Terry. We both accepted.so Kristi drove down Saturday afternoon arriving about 9:30 PM. Terry left about 5 PM and Kristi's presence allowed Terry to stay home Saturday night, Sunday and Monday. I was released Monday evening about 6 PM.

Kristi's coming was a blessing. She helped me in the hospital, translated medicallese into laymen's language and talked with the nurses in a professional manner which allowed her to learn all kinds of information. We even played cribbage and had a good time. The pain really started going down Saturday afternoon, and was tolerable. I kept up the pain meds as I had some bouts of pain erupt somewhat unexpectedly. Kristi was a great help in moderating my pain, plus it was just so good to see her.

By Monday the Dr. had put me on hydrocodone and percocets and wanted me to try to lay off the dillaudid, which I did. But Sunday and Monday I was taking two percocets  to relieve the pain which is a heck of a dose but it worked. So Monday evening the Dr.s said there was no specific cause of the pain, they had though kidney stone but there were no evidence of it on the CT scan or x-ray. So the called it pain due to the surgery, which it may be and I will experience pain for a number of weeks. I have medications at home that I have been taking sparingly and have had no recurrence of the intense pain since and this is now two weeks past.

Surgery: I lose a day

I am prepped and brought to the OR staging area about 6:30 AM. A few people are around, they start and IV and the anesthesiologist comes and talks to me to determine what he needs to do. I mention I do not want morphine as a pain killer as I had a bad reaction to it, got high and couldn't sleep, the last surgery I had using that a the pain killer. A drug called Dilaudid was used in place of morphine and seemed to work quite well. It relieved the pain, I did not get high, nor did I suffer sleeplessness.

I got to my room from recovery and have no idea what time it was. It was late, I think the surgery was more involved and a lot tougher than originally anticipated. The rest of the night people watched over me, cleaned my new iliostomy bag, and provided relief from pain. Terry was with me and slept in a cot provided by the hospital. The day is just a blur and I found myself several times not even counting August 4 as a day I had any recollection.

Mission accomplished.

Purgatory: The time in between

Radiation and Chemo stopped Tuesday, June 28. Now five weeks until surgery on August 4. The intervening time was tough. I endured severe cramping, my butt hurt constantly, and the fatigue was amazing. At first I crossed the living room one chair at a time. The most relief I could get was lying on a bed where I could roll around, pass some gas and otherwise stretch out and not have to use the energy to support my body.

As the weeks went by my strength gradually built up. Not very well, but I was able to stay up for longer and longer periods each day. Eating was a task, food just did not look appealing and the first few bites make my stomach revolt so I would stop and wait for that feeling to pass. The pain in my rear end never did leave but I did become somewhat more settled. Occasionally I would take a pain pill if I did too much but I made the five weeks and looked forward to the relief the surgeon would provide.