See part one here.
See part two here.
So, my part in the colon cancer surgery was easy. Next thing I knew, I was waking up in my room. I remember that I was so tired it was hard to keep my eyes open. I remember opening them and seeing my parents. I tried to smile and say something, but it took so much effort! Then, I opened them again and my husband and mother-in-law were there. Again, keeping my eyes open was just too much work. I tried to say “I love you” when they left, but I’m not sure I did. Then the night nurse came in and asked if I had been up and walking yet. I managed to say no. She said that Dr. AB wanted me up and walking. I remember thinking there was no way I can walk – I can’t even keep my eyes open! Next thing I knew, I was waking up and it was morning. So much for walking the same day as my surgery!
Now, I was ready to get up and walk. I knew from past experience (I had my gall bladder out laproscopically several years ago) that getting up after having your stomach cut open was tough! The nurse’s top priority was to get me up and walking – at least to the door of my room – and then into a chair! I remember that it took a lot for me to sit up. The actual standing up part was easy. Walking to the door of my room totally exhausted me! I couldn’t believe it. The day before I had walked into the hospital with no problem and now walking just a few feet was hard. Each day I was able to walk a little farther and eventually I was able to walk the halls with no problem.
The other part was waiting for my intestines to wake up. Our bodies are designed to stop the intestines from working anytime after a surgery disturbs them. This meant that I had to have a tube up my nose and down my throat – what a pain – literally! Nothing could get past my stomach – not even saliva. I remember being thrilled when it could finally be removed about three days later.
When I was finally discharged (I believe I was in for 7 days), I still couldn’t lift anything over 5lbs. That in itself was hard! My youngest was still in diapers and wanted to be carried by Mama. I couldn’t go grocery shopping by myself, because while individual groceries don’t weigh over five pounds, the bags of groceries do plus the cart was too heavy to push. Ever go grocery shopping with your mom and not help her? She unloads the cart, puts the bags back in, loads everything into the car while you just watch? It was a definite learning experience.
I was very fortunate! After visiting three oncologists, the consensus was that I didn’t have to have radiation or chemotherapy. There was much celebrating! For three years I had bloodwork every three months, and I’ve had a colonoscopy each year. This past December I had my five year colonoscopy and it was clear. I’m officially considered cured.
I had some genetic testing done, and it came back negative. There’s some family history of colon cancer, but no direct links. I’ve read a lot of recent studies about ways to prevent colon cancer and that it’s one of the most preventable cancers. As always, better safe than sorry – get checked!
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