Question regarding surgery...

[Guest guest]

Hi guys,

As most of you know I am having surgery on June 9th. I am having the open

sphincteroplasty. I cannot have an ercp. My question is, how long should I plan

on being out of comission? We are trying to plan a vacation to go camping

possibly in July and I don't know if I will be up to it. How long did it take

ya'll to get up and going to the point of a good bit of activity? We have a pop

up

and I can relax but getting in and out of the boat and fishing is something I

like to do. Is this a realistic goal to expect to be able to do this 4-5

weeks after surgery?

I have had lap gastric bypass and lap chole and a vaginal hysterectomy. All

of those were not invasive and very easy to recover from so I am not sure what

to expect.

Thanks,

Angie in SC

" The happiest of people don't necessarily have the

best of everything; they just make the best of everything that comes along

their way. "

[Guest guest]

Laurie,

I did pretty well with my other surgeries but that was before my

pancreatitis got so bad. When I had my hysterectomy in October my doc said it

was like

operating on a 60 year old woman and I am 38. She felt like my tissues were very

delicate due to the malnutrition. So I am hoping the recovery won't be

hindered by that.

What is a laparotomy? My lap chole was a breeze too. So was my lap gastric

bypass. I was back at work within 2 weeks with each of them but my cp was not

like it is now.

Thanks,

Angie in SC

" The happiest of people don't necessarily have the

best of everything; they just make the best of everything that comes along

their way. "

[Guest guest]

Hi Angie,

Well, everyone is different....and each surgery is different but in

my experience the full blown laparotomy as opposed to

laparoscopic surgery is no comparison. The laparotomy is

infinitely harder to deal with and recover from. I had two

laparotomies within 5 weeks of each other then a laparoscopic

chole 6 months later, and the lap chole felt like a small blip in my

life compared to the devastating effects of the other two

surgeries. Hospitalization was about two weeks (for the

laparotmies) then the home recovery was slow and very painful.

It took about 6 weeks from release before I was able to have

strength to make it through the day without many naps and about

three to six months before I had a normal eight hour work day. If

you have an uncomplicated surgery and recovery, I could see you

doing your vacation but at a much reduced activity level. But if

you have any kind of complications (infection, bleeding,

herniation) you may not be able to enjoy such an adventure.

The biggest unknown in the sphincteroplasty is that they have to

cut through your intestine (duodenum) and it is hard to predict

with certainty how the patient will react. You will most likely have

some sort of ileus (the intestine is functionally blocked - but you

probably know about this from your previous surgeries) and

depending on how you recover from this will affect how recovery

in general goes. (There is always an increased risk of infection

and bleeding when the intestines are cut). But seeing that you

have gone through other surgeries, you have a pretty good idea

of what to expect and how your body reacts to the anesthetics

and the insults.

Laurie

[Guest guest]

Hi Angie,

Just what us women like to hear: that our young to middle aged

bodies are like a 60 year olds! Why couldn't she have said you

were like a teenager's? At least that would have fed your ego

and made the surgery easier to handle! (not that I think 60 y/o

bodies are not good).

I didn't think of the malnutrition issue as well as any adhesions

that may have developed as a result of the inflammation to your

pancreas and your previous surgeries. That may influence the

difficulty of the surgery and your recovery.

The laparotomy is the surgery that is done when they cut your

abdomen up big time from the outside. It can be cuts anywhere

from a few inches to a foot or so. Just a fancy name for having

your belly slit is how I look at it.

Yea, the laparoscopic surgery for me was easy too. I just had

one day off from work and that was because of the anesthetic not

the removal itself. But the fully invasive surgery (the laparotomy)

that is a very rough thing to recover from. It took me up to 6

months to be half of what I was....but it was that surgery that gave

me the pancreatitis so it could have been that that caused my

rough and delayed recovery.

Laurie

[Guest guest]

Hi Angie; I apologize for having taken so long to get back to you.

Each person will recover from surgery at a different pace. I was

laid up for 6 weeks after I had the sphincteroplasty and then went

back to work after 10 weeks. When to surgeon opened me up he saw the

extensive damage that had occurred to my panc. He knew then the

sphincteroplasty was not going to work. I lasted at work for one

month then collapsed and was admitted to the hospital, that is when

he told me and all the other stuff.

the octreotide worked well for me, did not take away all the pain but

did help. I cant be sure, but perhaps since it did not help you much

then maybe your pain is more a SOD issue; which the octreotide will

do nothing for. However, the spyhincteroplasty will! If thats the

case I would think that from 6-8 weeks you should be feeling pretty

good. I think you could go camping, just may have to currtail some

of the fishing and defenitely NO heavy lifting of any kind for 6

weeks then still take things lightly for another 6. If ya'll can put

off the trip until maybe 8 weeks post op that might be better.

This is a big surgery and you will need to be mentally and physically

prepared. I know your laparascopic procedures were relatively easy

to recover from. That is why so many procedure are done that way

now. The sphincteroplasty does involve the duodenum as Laurie had

told you and as she said there are always the risks with that. but I

certainly dont want to repeat what she had said so well. She really

should write a book, she writes so well and explains things

beautifully. Anyway, have you been taking in enough protein to help

in the healing process. We had discussed that before and I hope you

are keeping that in mind.

You will have an incision from just below your sternum to just above

your belly button. thats a big cut and it will take time to heal,

inside and outside. The pancreas itself is not cut, but is

manipulated quite a bit. You did say he was going to do both

sphincters, Oddi and I forget the other ones name. So you are going

to have a little more going on in there and it will take a little

longer to heal

I dont know why we sometimes would have diahhrea and sometimes not.

This is a strange condition that seems to have no rhyme or reason as

to why one day you can eat a boiled egg and be fine and then the next

day, whammo. but it happens. Ask Dr. to call you in some

Miralax and use it everyday. He and I had al ong talk about that a

few weeks ago. Miralax that is,(I'm the one who told him about it a

few years ago) not diahhrea...LOL. Anyway it helps with both

diahhrea and constipation by balancing fluids within the intestines.

It is nonaddictive and non cramping (helps with the cramps too). You

should be on something post operatively anyway. Do keep in mind that

be4cause you are having more frequent and watery stools you will need

more water by mouth so as to ensure you dont become dehydrated.

I certainly hop0e that I am out of the hospital long before the

18th. Hey maybe that will be the day form y follow up appt and we

can meet then. Please dont make a special trip all this way to visit

me. I am sure we can meet up some time and I will be sure to visit

you (hopefully).

Please take care and let me know if there is anything I can do to

help out. Oh and if ya'll cant postpone the camping trip then just

declare yourself the queen who deserves to be served the fresh caught

fish.