Health progress

[Ajax]

I can’t say I enjoyed mine. They put it in and took it out while I was asleep, but I sure noticed something had been in there. I wonder if they deflated the balloon...

WTF? They took mine out while I was wide away. I swear, that woman removed it as if she was pull-starting an outboard motor. Terrifying!
I also had to have a stent but they didn't explain why.

[Orestes Munn]

I can’t say I enjoyed mine. They put it in and took it out while I was asleep, but I sure noticed something had been in there. I wonder if they deflated the balloon...

WTF? They took mine out while I was wide away. I swear, that woman removed it as if she was pull-starting an outboard motor. Terrifying!
I also had to have a stent but they didn't explain why.

They was just funnin' with you.

[Rob McAlpine]

Way to go Larry! I was driving Monday and missed the big news, but this sounds excellent. Keep kickin butt there, big guy!

[LarryHoward]

Way to go Larry! I was driving Monday and missed the big news, but this sounds excellent. Keep kickin butt there, big guy!

Thanks Rob

A bit of post surgical A Fib yesterday leading to a CT, and EKG and an Echo. Now it’s cleared up after only a few hours but I’ll go home on some meds and specialist follow up. Surgeon was pretty sure it was due to surgical stress and CT shows some fluid in the lungs and some compression of lung tissue “All fairly common with majorly surgery of this type.” But had to send me into the clutches of the cardiologists to be sure. Now I’m sure I will have to fight the cardio to get off the meds eventually. It took 5 or 6 hours to get me a bed on a telemetry floor so there is no recorded A Fib data as I was back in normal sinus rhythm by the time I was wired up.

Will probably not be back to southern MD until 20 December. Gonna have to work on that.

[Orestes Munn]

Way to go Larry! I was driving Monday and missed the big news, but this sounds excellent. Keep kickin butt there, big guy!

Thanks Rob

A bit of post surgical A Fib yesterday leading to a CT, and EKG and an Echo. Now it’s cleared up after only a few hours but I’ll go home on some meds and specialist follow up. Surgeon was pretty sure it was due to surgical stress and CT shows some fluid in the lungs and some compression of lung tissue “All fairly common with majorly surgery of this type.” But had to send me into the clutches of the cardiologists to be sure. Now I’m sure I will have to fight the cardio to get off the meds eventually. It took 5 or 6 hours to get me a bed on a telemetry floor so there is no recorded A Fib data as I was back in normal sinus rhythm by the time I was wired up.

Will probably not be back to southern MD until 20 December. Gonna have to work on that.

Sorry about the setback. It must be an emotional blow, and each additional specialist adds greatly to the burden of being a patient, but you really don't want to be living in intermittent AF if can avoid it.

[LarryHoward]

Issue comes down to discharge date and staple removal. He normally has clinic on Tuesday, which is pushing it for 8 days after surgery. Can be done,but.......10 days after is Thursday, a week from today. He has seen me on a Thursday so we will have to see. If not, one of the fellows might pull them if he has a full surgical calendar. Getting them pulled on the 12th and going home on the 13th would be liveable but would prefer the staples on the 7th and drive home the 8th or 9th. Would be better.

[SemiSalt]

A guy who crews for me is a retired Orthopedic surgeon. I think he is 81 or 82. One night on our way out to the start he said that he had has some trouble with A Fib. I immediately asked what we should do if he collapsed. He said, not to worry, his meds were in his pocket.

Well, okay then.

[Orestes Munn]

A guy who crews for me is a retired Orthopedic surgeon. I think he is 81 or 82. One night on our way out to the start he said that he had has some trouble with A Fib. I immediately asked what we should do if he collapsed. He said, not to worry, his meds were in his pocket.

Well, okay then.

That’s v-fib. AF just gives you clots in the heart and strokes.

[Ish]

Issue comes down to discharge date and staple removal. He normally has clinic on Tuesday, which is pushing it for 8 days after surgery. Can be done,but.......10 days after is Thursday, a week from today. He has seen me on a Thursday so we will have to see. If not, one of the fellows might pull them if he has a full surgical calendar. Getting them pulled on the 12th and going home on the 13th would be liveable but would prefer the staples on the 7th and drive home the 8th or 9th. Would be better.

I watched the assistant take the staples out of my leg, looks pretty easy. I'm sure you could do it yourself if you had the gadget, although the learning curve might be tough.

[LarryHoward]

Sooo, bowel waking up at all?

You had to bring it up. Starting to think I might someday poop. Right now I feel like I might try by rip my incision apart trying. Doc says give it patience by I’m not getting out of here until my bowel works and I spend a day on solid food. Who knows when that will be.

[Ajax]

Sooo, bowel waking up at all?

You had to bring it up. Starting to think I might someday poop. Right now I feel like I might try by rip my incision apart trying. Doc says give it patience by I’m not getting out of here until my bowel works and I spend a day on solid food. Who knows when that will be.

My surgeon told me that the painkillers I was on cause constipation. The nurse was about to inject more as he was saying this. I told the nurse "Stop right there, and remove that syringe. Just give me the allowable dosage of Tylenol."

I hydrated and finally pooped the next day and got the hell out of there.

[Orestes Munn]

You had to bring it up. Starting to think I might someday poop. Right now I feel like I might try by rip my incision apart trying. Doc says give it patience by I’m not getting out of here until my bowel works and I spend a day on solid food. Who knows when that will be.

The ability to sew with tools and the supreme importance of pooping after abdominal surgery are the two main things I took away from my four interesting and highly enjoyable months of surgical clerkship.

Just picture a blue 5 gal bucket...

[LarryHoward]

Position is “everybody does it, some later than others. We put you deep and did a lot of work around the artery supplying all the blood to the gut, small bowel and it’s annoyed so to speak.” He talks me it’s nothing to worry about as everybody eventually goes. It just takes its own sweet time doing it.

I asked about the pain meds and if appropriate meds were called for. He shrugged his shoulders and said “it will happen.”

[Orestes Munn]

Position is “everybody does it, some later than others. We put you deep and did a lot of work around the artery supplying all the blood to the gut, small bowel and it’s annoyed so to speak.” He talks me it’s nothing to worry about as everybody eventually goes. It just takes its own sweet time doing it.

I asked about the pain meds and if appropriate meds were called for. He shrugged his shoulders and said “it will happen.”

I've gone 5 days on a solid food diet, as you know...

I'll do a poop dance for ya.

[LarryHoward]

We did a count. 35 staples from just below the sternum to 3” below the belly button. Not small but somewhat straight.

650BC2F3-62BD-4562-97AE-431FA9F8F384.jpeg

[Orestes Munn]

We did a count. 35 staples from just below the sternum to 3” below the belly button. Not small but somewhat straight.

650BC2F3-62BD-4562-97AE-431FA9F8F384.jpeg

Ai-yi-yi!

That's xyphoid to pubic symphysis. In other words, "guggle to zatch." Decent cosmetic job though.

[TheOffice]

There goes the career as a Chippendale!

[Orestes Munn]

There goes the career as a Chippendale!

Even Clydesdale may be out.

[LarryHoward]

There goes the career as a Chippendale!

Even Clydesdale may be out.

Maybe I should not have opted for the budget tummy tuck.

[kimbottles]

We did a count. 35 staples from just below the sternum to 3” below the belly button. Not small but somewhat straight.

650BC2F3-62BD-4562-97AE-431FA9F8F384.jpeg

Wow! That is some incision!

But nice and neatly done.

[Olaf Hart]

Big incisions for big surgeons ....

If you are still on narcotics you might want to ask the nurse for a microlax enema or some form of faecal softening stuff.

Around here the nurses are in charge of that sort of thing.

[Orestes Munn]

You also have two or three layers of sutures under those skin staples, you know.

[SemiSalt]

More impressive than my prostatectomy scar. It took a couple months to get some strength back in the abs. I did have the benefit of a stool softener..

[BeauV]

There goes the career as a Chippendale!

Even Clydesdale may be out.

Maybe I should not have opted for the budget tummy tuck.

LOL! Almost blew my Pinot Noir through my nose on that one!

[JoeP]

Wow Larry that looks a lot like my incision from earlier this year. I understand what you are going through. I stopped using the pain pump after the first day and a half and they had me walking around the ward a day or so after that. Are you moving around yet? And regarding the constipation, as the old saying goes "don't worry, everything will work out in the end"!

[LarryHoward]

Wow Larry that looks a lot like my incision from earlier this year. I understand what you are going through. I stopped using the pain pump after the first day and a half and they had me walking around the ward a day or so after that. Are you moving around yet? And regarding the constipation, as the old saying goes "don't worry, everything will work out in the end"!

We went the other way. Stopped the continuous drip laced with hydro morphine and kept the pump with programmed limits until mid day today when my usage was virtually nothing. Now down to “call us if it hurts.”

Been walking the floor 5-6 laps at a time since Tuesday am. Really helps the stiffness. With some pharmaceutical help, the constipation had worked it’s way off the worry list and I started real food at lunch today. Not much hunger so eating very little but it tasted good.

Looking like I’ll get discharged to a local apartment tomorrow and probably have the staples out on the 12th and head home 5 hours) on the 13th. Hope Avis gets me a nice, soft riding car.

[Jamie]

Do they still have something like a Lincoln Town Car?

Glad to see you are, "vertical and taking nourishment", as my uncle used to say.

[Tigger]

Ambulatory is good! Good to hear about the laps of the floor. Best wishes!

[LarryHoward]

Just notified at rounds that I’ll be discharged this morning. Doesn’t mean going home as I travelled to manhattan for this surgery and it’s about a 6 hour trip. Surgeon asked me when we planned this to stay in Manhattan for a week or so after discharge for follow up and “just in case”. Fortunately, the owner of my company keeps an apartment in Midtown East, literally 2 blocks from the outpatient clinic and has made it available. Certainly beats $250/night for an Air B&B.

I’ll go there today, have a follow up and get the staples removed on the 12th and head home from there, probably on the 13th.

Be nice to get loose from here.

[Ajax]

You will definitely rest better outside of the hospital and rest is the fastest way to recovery.