Surgery

Do you mean you had an epidural for the op rather than general anesthetic?

No, I expressed myself badly. The jab in the back was an additional anaesthetic (I believe) to supplement the general. The thought of an injection near my spine has always filled me with dread, which is why I rejected it at first. However, looking at the anaesthetist and his colleagues whilst waiting to enter theatre and considering his answer to my question I took the expert's advice. I didn't feel the injection and don't recall any pain during the days after regaining consciousness from the surgery. I suppose there is no point in asking an expert's opinion and then ignoring it!

Dulac

Hi Dulac

I also had the supplementary Injection....Oncology recommended that I had it to aid recovery.

Peter

And me. Terrified at the thought of it but trust them they know what they’re doing. And it helps you recover quicker. 

I had the epidural too, I wasn't expecting  it and just went with the flow, I was okay that the person doing it was in training and had a couple of attempts lol it was completely painless and very interesting how it affected by lower body 

after i had surgery I looked up the research on the use of epidural and everything I read said that it aids recovery and shortens recovery time significantly.

I was glad to be asleep, my brother had a hip replacement with a nerve blocker and was awake the whole time!!

Hi Susan, my surgery went very well today. They started off laparoscopically but then had to proceed with open surgery due to complications. They removed the tumour from my sigmoid colon, but additionally removed a part of my ascending colon on the right side. Apparently, parts of my bowel were 'stuck together" so I had two anastomatis instead of one. Two more parts of my colon were removed because of this 'sticking together' issue. Despite all of this extensive surgical intervention, I did not require a stoma. I'm incredibly grateful for all of the empathy and professionalism demonstrated by everyone. I have very manageable pain levels and it only becomes significant with certain movements. The spinal pump painkiller, and the canula in my right arm have proved very effective. I also had an anaesthetic injected into my spine before surgery as well as the general anaesthetic through the canula.  The anaesthetist added extra painkillers for the open surgery. I was given the full works!  Laughing is not on the menu, for the time-being. Best of luck with your surgery on the 7th of August. Marcas :)

Hi Marcas,

I'm so happy that your surgery went well. I must say the twin feeling is getting stronger.  Mine also started laporascopically but due to extensive scarring and adhesions from prior surgery they needed to do an open incision... sound familiar? 

There were also multiple pockets of infection that needed cleaning and my surgeon did not feel comfortable reconnecting the colon due to infection risks so my colostomy is permanent.  I am at peace with this and development of additional infections since surgery seem to validate his decision.

I am sorry for the late reply but the aforementioned infections have kept my energy low so I am not able to get online as much as I like.

However the surgery was considered very successful and the surgeons believe they got clean margins. We won't know for sure until pathology comes back of course but I am very optimistic. 

Congratulations again on your excellent results. 

Susan