Hi gang.Boomer23 said:garygid said:I just spoke with Tom and he seems to be doing MUCH better than I did.
That's very encouraging to hear, Gary, thank you.
Please give Tom my best regards and tell him that he's in my thoughts.
Thanks to Gary for keeping you informed of my progress, and thanks to all of you for sending good vibes my way. A brief synopsis of my "adventure" may be of interest:
Into surgery 7:30am Tuesday at Huntington Memorial in Pasadena, arrived at my hospital room from recovery at 2:30 pm. Surgery about an hour longer than normal to deal with economy-sized hernia repair mesh from previous surgery. Surgeon had told me that he could keep it in place, but he needed time to get around it. There was chance he might have to give me extra blood, but that was not necessary.
My hospital room was a beautiful large single with 5th floor window looking out at mountains.
There had been uncertainly about whether I would need to stay one or two nights. My previous hernia surgery was outpatient. Staying overnight is a tremendous benefit, with IV, oxygen, frequent vitals checks, and continuous massage of my legs and back. As the night progressed I couldn't tell too well how I was doing, but they told me the IV was non-narcotic, and I felt very little discomfort, so I figured things were not too bad. They were taking fluid out of the drain every few hours, but in the morning I started to feel stronger, the surgeon removed the drain, and they said I was leaving after lunch. By late morning I had a walk of two complete loops around the nurses' station without a walker or leaning on the nurse assistant. I ate all that they gave me for both breakfast and lunch. The soup was actually quite tasty. I was walking the corridors when the wheelchair guy came to take me down to my friends' car.
The Da Vinci "robot" system was impressive to see briefly before they put me under, but hopefully none of you will ever have to see it. I was delighted to hear Boomer23 refer to it as technically a "Waldo," not a robot, because it directly follows the surgeon's movements. This is a reference to an old Robert Heinlein story. You can read about it :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Da_Vinci_Surgical_System
At home I have a nurse assistant staying with me, with time off for her when my friends come over. I am being careful to not do too much too soon. We are gradually learning how to deal with my new, temporary plumbing. The catheter comes out next Thursday and there will be some more hurdles after that.
The visiting nurse supervisor visited me yesterday. She collected a lot of information, including the catheter size. She was very impressed that I needed a size 18 diameter catheter .