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5th Day Post Surgery

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Posted 12/3/2007 12:20 PM (GMT -7)
I had hoped that my progress take an upward notch each day.  Day 3 I made a lot of progress, Days 4-5 not as much.  Pain has dissipated but now what I would characterize as a general malaise has set in.

My appetite has diminished a good bit from Day 3, nothing realy taste good and I don't get hungry.  I'm very tired and most of the time feel I have a low grade fever.  Experience fairly severe bowel cramps although I go frequently.

On the positive side the pain in my right side has greatly diminished and I haven't take any pain meds since Day 3.  I'm doing more chores for myself.

I'm not complaining, I realize from reading on this forum patience is key.

Two questions:

Should I force myself to eat (within reason of course) & make myself walk? 

I took Miralax which contains a stool softener in Day 2 & 3 but now have switch to Colaesce (sp).  Did not have cramping in Day 2 & 3.  Miralax wasn't approved or disapproved by Dr. but I wondering should I just switch back or start with Prune Juice?

I think part of my problem also is that my wife had to go back to work today so I'm a little down about that.  Only the lottery can take care of that!

Thanks everyone for the help.

 

Posted 12/3/2007 12:30 PM (GMT -7)
I would say that walking is very important, and I would push myself if I were you. I had a low grade fever for the entire time I was off work....4 weeks. They told me nothing to be concerned about till the temp was 102. I think you should eat something that is light if you can't stomach anything else. Don't stop drinking. It's important to keep the fluids in your system. The bowel cramps you are experiencing may be gas still inside that was used during surgery. I would think it will go away. The more you walk the more it will help. My doctor told me not to sit longer than an hour without getting up and moving around. if the pain and uncomfortable feeling doesn't go away, call the doc. You paid him enough. He should be able to answer all your questions.

I'm waiting for the lottery as well!
Posted 12/3/2007 1:38 PM (GMT -7)
RTR,

Rip&Burn has given a lot of good pointers.
Do walk a little more each day, every day.  By the time my catheter was removed at day 21, I was walking daily several hours on the greenbelt trails. 
(I'd empty the ankle catheter at least once while out.)

Eat at least three small meals a day - preferably foods with natural roughage/stool softening traits (Who recommended butter and prunes?!  Fer shur!   LOL!) as you will put pressure on the urethra sutures with each bowel movement.  A little bleeding with each b.m. is normal.  Be careful about foods that constipate you.

I recommend forcing water somewhat to help with that malaise thing and general healing. 
The maliase is a combination of the side effects off general anesthesia and
  - YOUR PUBIC CAVITY HAS EXPERIENCED A TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF TRAUMA!

Take it easy and REST after those walks. 
Just puttering around the house to tend to food and body functions will be tiring for some time.

Atypically for me (I've had a lot of major/general anesthesia surgery over the years.), I cried a little each day after this surgery.  (I still do?)
It isn't really a malaise but rather some kind of poignancy....
It makes me feel better and might best be described as tears of joy. 
But still, I only had good news and no logical reason to be emotional.
It is like there is an infant in the house - and there is that diaper changing routine for awhile...
The trauma from this surgery seems to have an emotional quotient.

Utilize it.
Tony quoted someone (Jimmy V.?) saying we need to cry each day and laugh each day, anyway!

Keep a realistic frame of reference.
In 6 months you will have mostly recovered. 
Don't overdo it.  Exhaustion can cause a depressive reaction without this surgery.
Keeping your spirits up has been proven to speed recovery.

Your Friend,

CCedar
ICTHUS!

Posted 12/3/2007 4:44 PM (GMT -7)
RTR, unfortunately you, like I , find that recovery isn't always a textbook picture.  I had the same general crappy feeling for several days afterwards, culminating with a really crappy weekend of high fever, and discouraged attitude.  It eased then went away with the 2nd week.  I found that eating regularly, taking some fever reducing meds, drinking lots of water to flush the surgery drugs out (you do have a free pass now with the bag) and being active (walking) made a world of difference in my sudden upward recovery.  So force yourself to walk, then follow with a period of rest, then get back up again.  At this stage in the process, you should be walking at least a short distance on a regular basis, followed by rest, even adding more distance each day and resting between.  Don't feel like you can't nap or recline lots.  This is the time for it.  By the time you get to the catheter out date, you should be feeling much better and ready to really begin to walk and climb stairs in earnest. 
Posted 12/3/2007 5:35 PM (GMT -7)
As others have suggested, and I was advised by my doc, push the walking if you can. Nothing strenuous, just walk. You're only on Day 3, so are doing great.

I had the tiredness, which gradually improved and I was back to normal in about a month.

Coalesce or other stool softener will help.

Take care and hang in there...Tim
Posted 12/3/2007 8:38 PM (GMT -7)

Hey RTR,

It sounds to me that you are doing very well!  

On the eating topic... I found that I needed a lot of water and drank water frequently.  It really helped the urine to maintain the "right color."  In addition, I drank fruit juices with no sugar added and took some vitamin supplements.  I did not "force" myself to eat when I wasn't hungry, but I did watch my weight and tried in earnest to gain some weight back after surgery.  I ate mostly a vegetarian diet with very little meat.  The meat was usually turkey, chicken, or fish.

I still eat Brazil nuts (2-3 every other day) for Selenium and drink Pomegranate juice (8oz/day), just in case these could help delay development of any little cancers that might remain.

I did do a lot of walking around the house and found that this helped my strength. 

The main advice like others have said is don't overdo physical activity.  I made that mistake once in the second or third week and paid for it a couple of days with some soreness and pain.  

We really like your updates... so keep 'em coming!

Kind regards,

Idaho  

Posted 12/3/2007 9:12 PM (GMT -7)
I had no appetite at first, but I could drink Ensure (actually some of the other brands are better) and ate ice cream.  I let my strength get down too much and got pneumonia.  One thing that we have not mentioned anywhere that I've seen is the breathing exercises.  If the hospital gives you a square box with a snorkel to blow into, I suggest that you do it.  I thought that my breathing was fine until the ambulance took me back to the hospital with pneumonia.
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