What is surgery really like?

What's surgery really like? What happens after surgery? What's it like to be in hospital for several weeks? I explain anaesthesia, the surgical team, pre-surgery checks and life in hospital.
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[@vickery8205]

Everything you said is so true. I had multiple abdominal surgeries and I really wish you could have the epidural . I was in surgery the last time for about 11 hours. I woke up intubated in icu on the ventilator for 2 days. The pain was not too bad due to the epidural, which stayed in place for 30 days while I was hospitalized. The anesthesiologist would come in daily to check the epidural. I had a dilaudid drip in the epidural the whole time. I also had 3 drains and cat scans daily. I wish you the best and hope you can get and keep that epidural. It was a life saver for me regarding the pain. It’s still hard to walk due to the weakness , but physical therapy helped a lot. Good luck ❤️👍

[@grizellda2540]

Oh my - 30 days with an epidural! I've ever heard of that. I've had several, just c-sections, but they came out right away. I hope you're doing well now - sorry you had to go through all of that!

[@vickery8205]

@@grizellda2540 yes, I’m doing great now…it was a rough time. Thank you!

[@KaraMoon]

Hello Vicky, Thank you for watching my videos, I really appreciate it! Thank you for sharing your surgical experiences. I'm doing my pre-surgical checks again just over a week before the surgery. Hopefully my platelet count will have risen a bit and I'll be able to have an epidural. I remember it being so painful to walk after my colectomy, and after the liver resection a few years later. Early walking after abdominal surgery seems to make you heal quicker and reduce the chance of pneumonia so I'll try to push myself quite hard. Thanks, Matthew

[@grizellda2540]

Thank you so much for doing this video! It's very thorough - if scary! I've had a few surgeries but nothing major, like liver, heart, brain. I think I'd be terrified. I always dread the insertion of iv's and blood tests the most because I increasingly panic as they increasingly fail. Even though I think I'm ok at the moment, I've been lying on the floor and lifting weights to try to get the veins in my lower arms to sort of pop out the way weight-lifters do - I feel like I've had a little success, especially on the sides of my arms and I always beg them to use those veins though it's a bit awkward. At least you can see them. I've also seen people wearing heated elbow length gloves before chemotherapy to get their veins more prominent or dilated or something. The only good thing about all that is I'm so busy worrying about the next vein experience that I don't have room to worry about anything else. It's silly but phobias often are, I guess. Just the idea starts me sweating and feeling faint. Well, sorry to go on about such trivia -- I so hope it goes as smoothly as possible! If I remember this is to reattach your intestines so you don't need the colostomy? Maybe that won't be anywhere near as extreme as your liver resection and other major surgeries. Good luck with everything!

[@KaraMoon]

Hello Grizellda, Thank you for watching my video, and for commenting, as always. It's great to know there are actually people out there :) I've found the heatpads work quite well. Also some hospitals have a device that finds the veins eg. VeinViewer made by Christie Medical Holdings. The devices are extremely expensive but there are iPhone apps that are meant to work ok too. I have chemo through a chemo port embedded in my chest but I still struggle with blood tests and drugs that have to be given in my arms. The surgery is to reattach my intestines, getting rid of the colostomy bag. It will be a very extreme surgery because of the length of gastrointestinal tract removed in the first surgery. Also, the years of chemo and radiotherapy make it more difficult and dangerous. More videos coming soon! Thanks, Matthew

[@grizellda2540]

@@KaraMoon I'm looking forward to your videos! You're so insightful and such an excellent resource. So many of the cancer community have gone to Instagram it seems, but it's a less detail-oriented site (more pictures of desserts and self-help quotes, which have their place, of course, but does get a bit tedious). KZbin seems comparatively permanent as well, with videos staying up and accessible to help people for years, which is invaluable. And you're one of the best! I'm sorry the surgery will be so complicated but happy you likely have the best surgeons in the world there!