RPLND on the way -- Couple of Questions

[jtyler]

Hey all, first post here.

So I've been through the whole spiel thus far -- orchiectomy, 4 rounds of chemo for TC -- and now the RPLND looms this week.

Not too concerned about the procedure itself, as I'm lucky to be at MSKCC with Dr. Sheinfeld, who's just about the best there is.

My main concerns involve the things they don't tell you as you go in. Does anyone have any tips or things they learned along the way to help make the rehab and recovery easier? Any particular recipes that did the trick during the 5g fat diet [which I began today -- so far, so good]? Any tricks or tips to make things more comfortable in that first couple of weeks out of the hospital?

How did you ease back into a more balanced diet [aka bringing back fish/meat/poultry, etc] after things were going back to normal?

Any extra help or information would be greatly appreciated, and I'm looking forward to getting into the operating room and finishing this off.


Cheers,


JT

[Mizu]

Hi JT,

welcome.

I had my RPLND on 3/3, 3 more days on that darn diet :-)

- Walk walk walk walk. The more the better, as it brings your digestive system back into gear.
- Pace yourself with the ice chips and sips they'll give you after a few days, it's very easy to get nausea if you take it too fast. I did this by walking and then "rewarding" myself with a sip after a few laps or so.
- Bring your own robe if possible as the supplied robes are, ahem, not too fashionable
- Bring some good headphones if you can, the A/C in the rooms tends to be noisy
- Bring eye shades, as your neighbor might stay up later than you want to
- Bring slippers

As for the diet, I eat lots of vegetarian meat substitutes (fat free veggie burgers on fat free pita bread with a bunch of greens and ketchup etc.), fat free pasta with tomato and basil and the likes. Haven't gone through the transition back, so I don't have any advice there...

Best of luck

Michael

[Don]

As Mizu said the Walking is really the most important thing to do ASAP after the surgery.... Most hospitals will also give you a contraption ( kind of looks like a breathealizer) to do breathing exercises-- this is also very important because if your lungs don't have any exercise it can increase your chances of getting Phenomonea(spelling?)...you may also consider asking the nurses for Fentenole or Litaderm patch which numb the incision and a few inchs around the incision.. Good for the first couple of days because of the tightening of the incision ----especailly when walking..... Best of luck!! DON

[premct]

Echoing the sentiments of Michael (who had the surgery on the same day as me at MSKCC),

Make sure you don't pound the ice chips. I made the mistake of eating (I chewed them) half the container of ice chips within 2-3 hours. Bad mistake. In actuality, you should be sucking on the ice chips and shouldn't have more than 10 an hour or something. I ended up upsetting my stomach and it may have resulted in the complication of a bowel obstruction (which kept me in the hospital for 18 days).

Do the same with the clear liquids. Take sips and spread it out over the course of a long period of time.

And walk as much as you can...14 laps = one mile.

[JimmyDean]

the first morning, getting up to be weighed, was probably the most painful part of the experience. but after the first walk it Does get easier. So the best advice thats been givin already..is to Walk! it helps with everything as far as recovery and digestion. I walked until i was tired.There was something that upset me a bit, when people 50 years older than me, were lapping me,lol. so get tough, get motivated and walk it off!

the diet was tough for me, because i love to eat. chicken soup was my first 'meal'.

[jtyler]

Thanks so much to everyone. This is all great advice, and I intend to follow it down to the last letter!

I'll be walking as much as I can bear, and I'll be posting updates whenever I can!

[mikehatestc]

Good luck jtyler and remember to listen to your body and not to push yourself to hard, only you really know when enough is enough.

[jtyler]

Mizu -- veggie burgers!!! Genius!! The eyeshades are a good idea too, although perhaps for him more than me [self-proclaimed night owl here]!

Mikehatestc -- that is perhaps the best advice I could have right now. I'm incredibly stubborn when it comes to pushing myself physically [11 years of high-level rugby will do that to a person], so pacing myself might well be the hardest challenge of all.

Premct -- I have been reading your thread with great interest, rooting for you every time something new popped up. Thanks for the tips, and I will be sure not to rush and cause complications.


Thank you all again, I'll catch you when I'm done and keep some kind of updates going.

Cheers,

JT.

[premct]

JT,

Good luck. Keep us all posted as to your progress if you can.

Prem

[Karen]

Good luck JT!!!!

[jtyler]

Thank you all!!

Ok, I've made it through the other side!! There were no complications thanks to Dr. Sheinfeld's slow and steady approach post-op, and I made progress according to the "textbook" schedule [op on weds AM, bowel movements by sun, ice chips by mon, liquids tues, non-fat weds, out thurs]. However, I'm not about to celebrate as the hardest part is yet to begin, getting reacquainted with home and "normal" surroundings.

The scar is healing nicely, and so far, so good.

[Karen]

JT,
Great news!!! The uncomplicated stuff is SOOO nice to hear about! Thanks for keeping us posted!

[dadmo]

JT
That really is great news. Now you really can begin to put this whole mess behind you. Congratulations.