One week till we fly out!

Time is moving quickly now and it a significant relief to me as well as to my family and friends!  Last Thursday was my birthday and was my first birthday where I felt older than my age.  My bowels started obstructing again on Wednesday morning and I was starting to have some severe cramps as well as a low grade fever which was really wearing on me.  I did get some wonderful presents from my family and friends as well as many well wishes from others.

On Friday, my exceptional wife hosted a get together in my honor at Southside Johnie's and I was amazed at the number of people that came out.  I always get encouraging words from different people at different times but seeing a collection of them, all in one place, made my week.  I do want to thank everyone who did come out as well as those who expressed their regrets.  I also apologize for only staying for about 1.5hrs but that is about 30 minutes longer than Stephanie thought I would be able to handle because of my bowels.

The last two months have been completely controlled by my bowels.  For the last three weeks, I have been on a clear liquid diet and, in spite of that, I still get obstructed and it really is very impressive how great the pain can be.  Fortunately, the most recent bout with obstruction has finally released today and I am really looking forward to getting a full night of unmedicated sleep!

The party at Southside Johnie's was wonderful and did indeed make my week but, on the same day, I got the news that the nano-knife will be available for my surgery!!!  This means that we all set to go.  We fly out of Denver on May 28th, have doctor's appointments all day on the 29th and I hope to be in the operating room at 8am on the 30th.

I will then spend the next two days in the ICU for my initial recovery.  I understand that I will likely have a number of drains to help my body discharge the fluids from all of the cutting that was done.  I also expect that I will be short some number of feet of small intestine (6-8 feet is not unexpected) but hopefully they will leave my illeocecal valve, they will salvage the ureter on my right kidney, and I won't have a colostomy.  I know that is a lot to desire but that would be the best possible result.

After the ICU, I will move to the fifth floor, hopefully without any drains, to finish my hospital recovery.  We will be waiting for my bowels to wake up which usually starts on the end of day 4 or the start of day 5 if history holds true.  As soon as I am able to take solid food, I will probably be discharged from the hospital and will then move to the Hope Lodge to complete my New Orleans recovery.

We plan on returning home on June 13th and we then complete my recovery at home.  The nurses say to plan on 12 weeks to recover but I hope to be playing hockey much sooner than 12 weeks.  I have had a laparotomy three times before and have always been playing hockey the first opportunity after the 6 week mark (5 weeks and 6 days on the last surgery).  That said, I am weaker going into this surgery than I was on the previous surgeries (still down about 20 pounds) and this surgery is going to be much longer and more extensive.

I am still looking forward to food.  My mouth still waters at the smell of anything savory and I can assure you that you don't lose your appetite after almost two months on TPN.  I can also tell you that not an hour goes by without me thinking of popcorn, chips, crackers, cheese, tacos, french fries, ...  As many have suggested after my last blog post, I am going to start being (more?) rude and ordering first from now on!