nickysfight's Cancer Blog

May 8, 2007

Surgery Went Great!

Views: 172

Hi everyone. The surgery is finally over and mom did great!

She received a permanent colostomy. It is a very very painful procedure. She’s still at the hospital but she will get to go home on Saturday the 28th. She will have spent 6 days in the hospital recovering. They had her up and walking the day after surgery! They finally let her start eating on Thursday, the 3rd day after surgery. Although it was just broth, jello and juice. They had to wake the bowel slowly because it is very sore from surgery and if she was to get nauseas and vomit, it would be extremely painful and could rip her staples out (The incision is from the navel to the pelvic bone). She also found it was really painful to do the breathing exercises and coughing exercises. They have you do this after surgery to reduce the risk of getting pnemonia. This risk was also the main reason they had her get up and walk so soon and so regularly.

Now we get to start the overwhelming task of finding the colostomy supplies and supplier that she wants to use. Who knew how many choices there were. The hospital gave us one catalong that is the size of a small phone book. Mom and Jay are planning to attend the ostomy support group in Kerrville, Texas. I’m hoping the will get some tips from the people they meet there. They met with ostomy nurses who ran them through the whole process so they know how to do all of that. But they said choosing the type of supplies you use is just trial, error, and personal preferance. Insurance does help with the cost of these supplies; they call it Durable Medical Equipment Coverage. Aetna covers 80% for Durable Medical Equipment Coverage up to $2000. I think that is resonable but of course we would love if they covered 100% and there was no limit!

I took lots of pictures at the hospital (which really annoyed mom) and I’ll try to get them posted this weekend. Mom is at Sid Peterson Memorial Hospital in Kerrville, Tx. in Room 504 in case anyone wants to call her and wish her well!