Who has gone into HDC after op?

Hi. My husband is yet to have his bowel surgery as he needs some chemo first but he is having stoma surgery next week and has been told that he will go to ITU after the surgery and that is a smaller op than yours. They did say he wouldn’t be there for long if all was well. I think they class any bowel surgery as major surgery as they’re disturbing so much. I’m sure it’s just precaution though and it’s surgery they perform lots. 

I spent 3 days in an intensive care unit (ICU) after my surgery.  I think placement in an HDU is probably fairly normal. 

I spent 1 day and night in the HDU after my hemicolectomy. 

Yep it's normal. In fact my op couldn't go ahead until a bed was free in HDU.

It's a huge operation, so you'll need more observation than a standard ward can give you. 

Doesn't mean anything is wrong.

Major abdominal surgery, especially longer, normally requires closer monitoring, some pain relief is also given in an HDU setting.

I had one night in HDU after my panproctocolectomy.it is mostly just a precaution to keep an eye on your progress post op  before transfering you to an ordinary ward.nothing to worry about.

They check that there is a bed available before taking you down to theatre.again nothing to worry about.

All the best

Kath

Yes, it's normal - I was in the HDU for monitoring for two days after my op (left hemicolectomy with resection) before being moved to a normal ward.

As to whether you are at risk of dying - all major operations have some risk. I had a conversation with an anaesthetist as part of my pre-op assessment where they ran through the statistical risks of what could go wrong during surgery. Also the consultant who warned me about the possibility of needing a stoma etc

It was quite a scary list of risks and complications (they have to cover their backs and ensure you are fully aware of what could go wrong) but the probability of all was low and as I said to them (and they agreed) "I have cancer - the risk of NOT having the surgery and having this thing inside me continue to grow and take over more of my body far outweighs any risk from surgery". 

At the bottom line I think you have to trust the MDT who have decided that surgery is the best route for treatment. If they thought there weere better optinos they would have recommended them. 

I didn’t go into HDU just recovery.  There was 1 2 1 nursing so I felt very safe.  Said exactly what you said about the risk of not having the surgery.   

i personally didn’t even think about the risks I needed the surgery and that was all I thought about.  

If you were in 1 to 1 nursing you were probably in one of the surgical HDU beds that are not necessarily formally HDU and blur the line

 Clickoff I went into the recovery area for about an hour and then onto the ward which was predominantly colorectal surgery. I had my own room for a couple of nights then into a 4 bed room.

The surgeon will advise you of the risks involved and some of the morbidity stats can sound a bit scary but he did explain that these are based on anyone who dies within a particular timeframe after surgery regardless of the reason?

At the end of the day you need the tumour removing so trust in your medical team and focus on getting as fit and healthy as possible before your op

Take care

Karen x