having surgery soon

Hi Loulabelle I had a Low Anterior Resection in 2016 and it was my first experience of a general anaesthetic, hospital stay etc. The surgeon said he could try keyhole but would rather do open from the start to ensure he got everything away so I told him to go for it. Although the recovery from open is maybe a little slower in the early days he assured me that there was not much difference between the 2 after a couple of weeks.

The nurses were great and the pain was well managed at all times. I had an epidural but that unfortunately came out during the first night but the rest of the pain was managed with codeine and paracetamol and occasional squirt of liquid morphine if required. They will encourage you to get up and sit in a chair as soon as possible then little walks up and down the ward. The stoma nurses will visit you every day and show you how to deal with your stomas and the nurses will also help you if you’re struggling. 

Recovery in hospital is about 5 days then about 6 weeks at home where you mustn’t lift anything heavier than a kettle of water with 1 cup of water in or drive until you can safely perform an emergency stop. 

It is hard to stay positive especially with everything that you’ve been through in the last few years but focus on the fact that the cancer is being removed. Get your ducks in a row at home with some meals in the freezer and tins of food in the pantry and consider arranging that things you use regularly aren’t too high up or low down? 

Although I had a couple of setbacks after surgery, up until then I felt that it hadn’t been as bad as I was worrying about. Hope this helps and please ask if there’s anything in particular that you’re worried about?

Please keep us posted and take care

Karen x

Thank you for sharing your experience Karen. It's the uncertainty of it all that feels so hard. I will have to try to be patient during recovery I guess.

I had same surgery 18 th December and was terrified , struggled to cope with the unknown of , keyhole, open, stoma, no stoma , I was in surgery for 4 hours and recovery for 6 as struggled with pain relief, I chose not to have epidural, but thankfully keyhole and no stoma . The following day I was very sick because of the amount of pain relief, morphine doesn’t agree with me ! In terms of pain from that point , very bloated with is uncomfortable and lower abdominal pain , once you are able to get out of bed and walk albeit it slowly it is actually far more comfortable, each day gets a little better . I only had paracetamol and occasional ibruphoren when pain was worse ,  I was in hospital 5 days , the nurses were brilliant and even though I didn’t have a stoma , my allocated nurse still came to see me and really helped when I felt overwhelmed by it all and on the day I was discharged with diet sheets and advice . 
I am just over three weeks post op now and starting to feel much better and more able to do things for myself. 

Thanks for sharing. im interested in why you didn't have the epidural. I dont know much about it.  I'm really glad that things are improving for you after three weeks. I want to hope for the best but inevitably preparing for the worst.

I never fancied epidural when I had my children, I spoke to the anaesthetist about the pros and cons and said I would go with whatever my consultant thought was best , so they spoke to her and decided there would be no great benefit due to the length of the surgery, 

thank you. did you have this conversation with the anaesthetist before the surgery? I haven't met mine. sorry to keep asking questions.

Hi ya saw this and sounds exactly same as me, mines the 16 th. I keep reading and asking chat gpt stuff. I’m sure at the end of it we will think why did we panic and get so stressed. Well I hope so . I think it’s the 5 hours lost and loss of control I can’t cope with . We can do this !! Al the best for a speedy recovery. Xx

Yes they come and see you on the morning of the operation, so does your consultant 

Thank you so much for this. Sorry to hear about your set backs. I understand that everything is worse in our imaginations and mine is rather active :-) I am most worried about managing a temporary stoma and how I will be emotionally after the surgery. I've had depression since I was 11 years old, so forty years dealing with that and the major stroke made it worse. Was getting better and then this news. Feel very unlucky but very grateful for this forum. 

Thank you! Being totally in the hands of the surgeon and unconscious, the loss of control is hard for me too. It comes down to trust, trusting that our surgeons want the very best for us. They do this every day! My stroke after care wasn't good and it was a struggle to get the ablation for my heart after which the referral was lost for a year. My trust in the NHS was quite damaged by these experiences but I'm trying to recover my faith. Wishing you all the best too.