Jbandmmomma's journey

Brief update... Stardate 12.1.15 the scale read 173.0 pounds. I made my 175 "reasonable to me" goal. I am wearing size 14 pants now and XL/L tops. I am still hoping to reach a 25 BMI, but that means I need to lost at least 15 more pounds. I think I can do it, and am trying. Overall, I feel very healthy. I'm still dealing with what has become an anal fistula. I have had multiple surgical and in-office procedures to address this and am so tired of having a literal pain in the ass. But, I'm OK and will get there. I choose to have faith.

more to come...
 
Becky that is great that you made goal.


Having dealt with a fissure for six months I really feel for you as I am told the fistula is worse pain wise and medically. I really hope your medical team can get this resolved and yesterday! Hang in there, I know you are hurting more than you are letting on so if you need to rant or yell at somebody please feel free to yell at me.
 
Brief update... Stardate 12.1.15 the scale read 173.0 pounds. I made my 175 "reasonable to me" goal. I am wearing size 14 pants now and XL/L tops. I am still hoping to reach a 25 BMI, but that means I need to lost at least 15 more pounds. I think I can do it, and am trying. Overall, I feel very healthy. I'm still dealing with what has become an anal fistula. I have had multiple surgical and in-office procedures to address this and am so tired of having a literal pain in the ass. But, I'm OK and will get there. I choose to have faith.

more to come...

:mad0177:
 
Checking in again. I've had regain and loss and regain and loss and bounce between 180 and 189. I still think I can lose more. I have been very lax with carbs as life has literally been kicking our proverbial asses. I am working on better coping skills and asking for help when I need it.

My 6/2015 hernia surgery site has developed into a massive ventral incisional hernia. I am in the process of trying to decide which surgeon/hospital to have it repaired by/at.

The local "experts" are at Georgetown and would require a plastic surgeon to scrub in and do the panniculectomy if I opt to pay for it (I am waiting on a consult appointment to find out the cost). Georgetown is 1.75 hours away from home. I would be in hospital for probably 4-5 days and have basically no visitors, due to distance from home. Their approach is to use the inpatient time to get adequate pain control and be sure the patient is ready to go home. Severely restricted activity for at least 4-5 months.

The "local-er to me" hospital is in WInchester, VA. He is the local hernia repair expert and I have faith in his surgical abilities. A couple of reservations. He sent me away from 2nd consult appointment with an Rx for ibuprofen and 30 count of 5/325 percocet. Evidently this is his entire plan for post-operative pain control. He said inpatient would only be 1 or 2 nights and that restrictions would be very minimal as long as I wear the binder RELIGIOUSLY - his emphasis. He plans to remove extra abdominal skin.

I don't know what to go with here.
  • I feel that the Winchester MD's plan underestimates restrictions and he will not be supportive of adequate pain control.
  • I am scared to death of how bad this operation is going to hurt and I don't want to go into it with big reservations about this.
  • On the plus side, he is much closer to home (20 minutes) and more easy to get to for post-op follow up appointments. Post-op follow up appointments in DC will require a driver and childcare and .....
  • I have limited family support. My mother is unable to come up for surgery this time, as my father has become fairly limited in his ability to move about etc due to heart failure. My sisters have families and jobs.
  • Even if I go to Winchester, the odds are that my husband will not visit very much since he will be taking care of children after the babysitter goes home when he gets back from work.
  • Overall, Winchester would be less time away from home.

Opinions? recommendations? specific ways to ask the local surgeon questions that might help ease my worry?

-becky
 
Checking in again. I've had regain and loss and regain and loss and bounce between 180 and 189. I still think I can lose more. I have been very lax with carbs as life has literally been kicking our proverbial asses. I am working on better coping skills and asking for help when I need it.

My 6/2015 hernia surgery site has developed into a massive ventral incisional hernia. I am in the process of trying to decide which surgeon/hospital to have it repaired by/at.

The local "experts" are at Georgetown and would require a plastic surgeon to scrub in and do the panniculectomy if I opt to pay for it (I am waiting on a consult appointment to find out the cost). Georgetown is 1.75 hours away from home. I would be in hospital for probably 4-5 days and have basically no visitors, due to distance from home. Their approach is to use the inpatient time to get adequate pain control and be sure the patient is ready to go home. Severely restricted activity for at least 4-5 months.

The "local-er to me" hospital is in WInchester, VA. He is the local hernia repair expert and I have faith in his surgical abilities. A couple of reservations. He sent me away from 2nd consult appointment with an Rx for ibuprofen and 30 count of 5/325 percocet. Evidently this is his entire plan for post-operative pain control. He said inpatient would only be 1 or 2 nights and that restrictions would be very minimal as long as I wear the binder RELIGIOUSLY - his emphasis. He plans to remove extra abdominal skin.

I don't know what to go with here.
  • I feel that the Winchester MD's plan underestimates restrictions and he will not be supportive of adequate pain control.
  • I am scared to death of how bad this operation is going to hurt and I don't want to go into it with big reservations about this.
  • On the plus side, he is much closer to home (20 minutes) and more easy to get to for post-op follow up appointments. Post-op follow up appointments in DC will require a driver and childcare and .....
  • I have limited family support. My mother is unable to come up for surgery this time, as my father has become fairly limited in his ability to move about etc due to heart failure. My sisters have families and jobs.
  • Even if I go to Winchester, the odds are that my husband will not visit very much since he will be taking care of children after the babysitter goes home when he gets back from work.
  • Overall, Winchester would be less time away from home.

Opinions? recommendations? specific ways to ask the local surgeon questions that might help ease my worry?

-becky
That is a tough decision but if you think the further from home surgeon is best man for the Job do you really think not having visitors for 4 days or so would be unbearable? If you are feeling pretty rough visitors aren't going to mean much although believe me I understand the moral support aspect. Maybe your husband could be there to see you through surgery and that night then head home to kids job and sitters the next day. Phone, text, FaceTime can keep you in close touch.
 
Don't factor in the distance. Assume both surgeons will repair the hernia.

I'd go to Georgetown. You need those 4-5 days in hospital -- if you come home after 1-2 nights, there is no one to really take care of you and too much going on in your house that might tempt you to do more than you should. They'll give you the pain meds you need and the plastics guy will make your panni go away and the area look good.

The VA guy sounds like he is just going to perfunctorily excise extra skin, give you the bums rush waaay to soon, and you'll have to fight him for pain meds.
 
Becky this is a tough decision for you and I can't remember if you are doing full component separation with mesh, but I can tell you this was by far the most pain I have ever been in after surgery. Dr K said, Mesh hurts and there just isn't getting around it. I don't say that to scare but just being honest it hurt. They started my on oral pain meds in the room because the insurance company was making Dr K do it outpatient and he had to wait for me to say I was in too much pain to go home before he could admit me. The orders were already in. The nurse requested IV Dilaudid and Dr K added torridol as well to deal with inflammation and it really made a huge difference. 4-5 days in the hospital on IV meds would have suited me fine.

I know how important your little ones are to you, but they will be okay and so will you. This is time to worry about Momma and they will understand. I guarantee you that I would have ripped somebody's head off if they hadn't switched my oral to IV pain meds so I wouldn't advise oral pain meds after this procedure to anyone..let alone someone I like. :D

I think you know what you need to do, but you will come to the decision that works for you.
 
Becky...as we say for the DS...go to the best surgeon you can. And pain control is part of that. Many doctors don't want to write for adequate pain control because so many use it as a way to abuse pain meds but if you are in pain, you need it.

If this were me, I would go to Georgetown. If your kids are little enough to need a babysitter (I assume they aren't in school yet), having a babysitter while you heal enough will be priceless. You probably would need the babysitter even after you get home for a week or so. You aren't gonna be able to lift much for several weeks. Take time to heal. Take care of YOU so you CAN take care of your family.
 
I agree with everyone else. You will NEED time in the hospital. It's not optional. You will need pain control. An hour away is not that far. If that means a few days without visitors, that's ok. The kids will survive without you for those few days. Get the best care you can and then go forward with a good, solid hernia repair and better health for the future.
 
Another brief update. Thank you all for opining and support.

I am scheduled to be at the hospital tomorrow morning at 9:10 for an 11:10 abdominal wall reconstruction. I had a heart-to-heart with both the hernia repair specialist who is in Winchester and his med tech. I am very comfortable going with him. That's decided and done. Post-op visits and potential complications will be much easier on me logistically. My kids have care arranged. My mother and father were able to surprise me by driving up. She will keep us all sane. Babysitter will be here at 8 tomorrow morning and I'm off to get my bag packed and charge the kindle. I will check in tomorrow afternoon/evening, hopefully still riding the anesthesia wave,
 
Best wishes for a smooth surgery and recovery. Push on him hard for pain control and stay on top of it. Torridol along with IV dilaudid really helped me. I was just getting dilaudid at first and still in tremendous pain, but when dr k added the torridol it really helped me to be able to move and it got much better.
 

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