My Mother, after operation

[Guest guest]

Dear All,

My mother has undergone operation for " Pancreatic Necrosectomy +

Cholecystectomy + Diversion Transverse Loop Colostomy " on 29th March 05 at Asian

Inst. of GI, Hyderabad.

About 100 gm of necrotic tissue involving the pancreas except the head region

was extracted as cast.

Her operation went on for @ 2.5 hrs. And she was in ICU for @ one week after

operation.

After that she was taken to special room in hospital. Though she had nausia, she

was allowed to drink liquid such as milk, soop, fruit juice etc. She was unable

to walk, there was lot of swelling on her body. Since operation she was speaking

irrelevently as if she is in some different world.

After @ week in this situation she also had bed soars.

But then she started speaking relevently, lost some swelling. Though she was not

having appetite, we forced her to take liquid such as milk, soop. After many

efforts we could make her to drink. This helped her in walking few steps,

loosing swelling. Her sugar level also dropped to @ 100 - 150. Due to poor

intake she use to have lot of weekness. But we forced her to take atleast

liquids.

After few days she started walking with some support for @100 fts. Dr. wanted

her to eat solid food but she was not responding. HB, protien levels dropped.

Lot of weekness. Some pains in stomach may be due to operation. She was being

given some IV in between, may be once or twice.

Dr. used to make dressing of the operation once in two days. A plastic bag has

been fixed to collect discharge from the colon bypass at right side of stomach.

This needs to be cleaned two-three times every day.

She was discharged on 19/4/2005 almost after one month. We took her to our home

in Sangli @ 650 km by train. It was tough for her to even sustain train shocks.

Once she is in house her appetite is improving. Slowly she has started eating

small qty. of solid foods. Her weekness also reduced. She can walk more. But our

local dr. checked her dressing and found that there is puss and the stitches are

wet. Some liquid is coming out. He has done dressing and asked us to come back

again for this.

With many small small problems but she appears to be OK now. But she will be

required to go back to Hyderabad for colostomy closure after one month.

Can anyone advise me about her puss problem? Will she have pancreatitis attack

again?

Thanks for all the group who have always guided me all through the treatment.

-- Satish, India

[Guest guest]

Dear Satish; I am so very glad that your MOther has made such a

wonderful improvement. She has been in my prayers and will continue

to be. She is already truly blessed to have such a loving and

attentive son. Perhaps she can give me some pointers on how to

raise such a son as mine is almost 15 years old and is driving me

crazy!

Colostomies are difficult to keep from infection. Stooll is full of

bacteria and is very damaging to the skin. Also the glue used to

hold the bag in place can cause the skin to break down. Is you

mother on antibiotics? Or an antibiotic ointment? The best way to

prevent more infections is to keep the area as clean and dry as

possible. Washing it several times a day with hydrogen peroxide

diluted by one half with sterile water and using sterile gauze to

clean area around the stoma will help. Allowing the area to stay

dry by not covering it with heavy clothing is also beneficial. I am

sure your mother would never want to walk around or been seen with

her abdomen exposed, much the same as my mother would be. However,

encourage her to allow the area to " breathe " so to speak while she

is resting. Also I dont know what the weather is where you live, is

it warm or cold? It is much easier to prevent an infection then it

is to alleviate one.

There are also skin treatments that can be applied to the area

around the stoma prior to attaching the colostomy bag. These skin

treatments act as a moisture barrier. I dont know if this is

available to you or not where you live.

I am very pleased that she is walking around more and hope she will

continue to do so. It is very important that she keep up with

taking in a nutritional diet as well. We need a lot more protein,

calcium and vitamins during the healing process and even more so for

what she has endured. Please encourage her to drink a lot of water

and juices. Tea, soda and the like will tend make one more

dehydrated.

All my best to you and your family,

[Guest guest]

Satish,

I " m so happy that your mother is doing better, I hope she'll be perfectly

alright and back to her normal days.

Cheers

Rupesh Parajuli

Nepal Chapter

Pancreatitis Association International (PAI)

Post Box No: 13946, Kathmandu, Nepal

Tel: 977-1-4479627, Fax: 977-1-4476878/4460560

Mobile: 977-9851078750

rupesh_parajuli@...

www.pancassociation.org

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