-
Well I had my surgery on midday Tuesday, and I've just been released by the hospital today (Saturday).
Although there is no doubt that this is big surgery, it wasn't nearly as bad as I expected, and for some reason I was much clamer about the whole RPLND process than the orchiectomy.
The surgery went very smoothly. Mr. Christamas, the surgeon, removed all my nodes on the right side including the 12 mm residual mass. I chatted with him in the anaethesia room, and I was his 389th postchemo RPLND. I was very pleased that he managed to complete everything with only the need for a 6 inch mid-line abdominal incision. Apparently by the time they'd clamped the incision, the 6 inch diameter hole was big enough to get the intestines in and out, and remove all of the right side nodes and residual mass. I've counted 25 staples in my tummy.
The process lasted about 3 hours total, of which only 50 minutes was actual surgery time. I questioned this with the surgeon's assistant, who told me that Mr. Christmas was not rushing, but given his skill and vast experience, 50 minutes was a typical time taken for him to do a straight-forward right-sided RPLND. I'd read of some procedures taking many hours, so was surprised by this.
The NG tube came out on Thursday, and gave me no problems except it irritated my throat. The catheter came out this morning with a much bigger ouch. I started eating and drinking on Thursday, after I started to pass gas.
The path report is not back yet, but in the recovery room the surgeon's assistant told me they suspected what was removed was necrotic (it appeared that the residual mass did not have a blood supply).
Obviously this was a good sign, but I won't count my chickens until the path report is back hopefully sometime later this week .
As for pain, I opted for PCA, although I didn't use it that much. I'm now 5 days post surgery and apart from coughing and laughing I have very little pain. Just going to take it easy now for the next few weeks.
Davie.Leave a comment:
-
Davie, good luck tomorrow... Hope all goes well and looking forward to hearing back from you.Leave a comment:
-
Just think how happy you will be when the final path report comes back next week and it tells you you're "all clear". Good luck tomorrow.Leave a comment:
-
Davie:
I hope all goes smoothly. Try to relax. Don't rush your recovery; give yourself all the time you need.
Best wishes.Leave a comment:
-
RPLND Tomorrow
Going into hospital today for preparation. Will post after it's complete, and when I get back home.
Davie
Leave a comment: