What follows is a run down of how it can take a 26 day stay in the Hospital for Take Down Surgery
26 days in the Hospital
Monday 8/27 BP 77/51 (I lost 60 pounds in 10 weeks was still taking blood pressure medicine had only been on it for about 5 weeks before I found out I had FAP) canceled surgery got scratched with Cath/Foly (Dang that BURNED), Wednesday 8/29 TD surgery Friday 8/31 Infection in wound and 102.4 fever Saturday 9/1 Thrush mouth, Monday 9/3 wound vac Wednesday 9/5 new dressing looking better still bad thrush, by Friday 9/7 I was eating had wound Vac dressing changed full of infection, Sunday 9/9 wound vac leaked/failed Monday 9/10 new dressing again failed Wound full of Stomach content Small intestine had softened from infection and was leaking into stoma surgery site (fistula) NPO TPN, Tuesday 9/11 new dressing still TPN NPO for a full week, Next Tuesday 9/18 swollow test all good, Wednesday 9/19 started liquids Dressing change all good, Thursday 9/20 removed TPN, Friday 9/21 Dressing Change and home. The only good part was the doctor left the pain pump from Monday 8/27 until Wednesday 9/19 23 days.

But it really is great to be home with my wife and three sons!!!!!!

Wow! It must be AMAZING to be back home. I was in the hospital for 9 days and I could not wait to get home!! I can't even imagine 26 days.

It can only get better from here :-)

Keith

I know exactly what you are talking about. My takedown was 30 days in the hospital including an infection, 3 liters of fluid pumped out, a third surgery to repair a kink and a leak, blood transfusion, 6 weeks at home NPO on TPN, a fistula that took 3 months to heal, and a year and a half of lingering misery. 5 years later I still need antibiotics and narcotics daily.

I hope you have better days ahead.

I know the feeling. Although my hospital stay was only 18 days; I went through a blood transfusion, fever, pneumonia, inactive bowel so I had to get the NG tube inserted... UGH! Infection....

Congratulations on finally getting home.

oh wow! it sounds like you sure went through a lot. you must be so happy to be back in the comfort of your own home. hopefully that was the worst of the worst and now things will be getting brighter

I feel your pain zeke. I know with me, I spent about 3 and a half months all together in the hospital. I had my subtotal colectomy, and the reversal 1YEAR later. On top of that, as soon as I had the reversal, I had a small bowel obstruction and had a wouund infection. Eventually everything was fine and I haven't had any problems in 7 years.

Chris spent 45 days in the hospital after his last surgery from complications, ileus and hematoma included, high output, vomiting from percocet on an empty stomach,etc

I also spent 45 days in the hospital due to a series of complications, so I know how you feel. It will only get better from here. Plus you are home now, which must make you feel much better.

Oh my gosh! So sorry you had to deal with all of that.

But, for newbies reading this: This is not a common event, far from it. It may seem like it when you read one disaster case after another, but really, it is a very small percentage. So do not expect this sort of thing with your surgery.

That said, it is best to hope for the best, but be prepared for the worst! There are no guarantees.

Jan

My husband was in the hospital a full month for first surgery (colon removed and j-pouch creation) - supposed to be 5 days. Surgery went great, but then he had some trouble with tachycardia, then ileus, then infection which was the major thing keeping him in. Also when he went in for takedown he was only supposed to be 3 days but was over a week due to infection again (cellulitis!).

My best advice: hospitals are dirty, dirty places. Take a bunch of those alcohol wipes with you and clean everything off. The dirtiest things and the things that get cleaned least are the phone, the TV remote, bed rails, IV poles, light switches, door knobs, etc. Of course wash hands/use hand sanitizer like crazy too. But I can't stress cleaning things off enough. Staph infections both times in a major teaching hospital (while on IV clindamycin) is a crime. AND my brother-in-law wound up with a blood staph infection after visiting there. Insane! The OR rooms are clean but the recovery/hospital rooms are not. When my husband had his hernia repair in June he was supposed to be in 5 days - I got him out in 24 hours. I told the doc our house was dirty (dust, cat hair, etc.) but no staph lying around! He agreed and wanted to get him out quickly too.

Now not all extended stays are due to infection (many get ileus or other complications) but infection seems to be a big one. So whatever one can do to prevent it, please do it. The staff just don't have the time to do the proper cleaning any more.

And like Jan said, newbies don't panic. Not everyone is in this long - just the unlucky few. But one does have to be prepared for the 'unexpected' as with any surgery.

Glad you're finally home Zeke and hope you're doing well.

I hate to say this, but one bad thing about teaching hospitals is that you have this crazy number of students, residents, and teaching staff coming in and out of your room, touching your body and incision, and if not, touching things in your room and probably not washing between patients. It all adds up to disaster. It is better to be ignored, especially now that antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria are on the rise. They have been around for more than 30 years, but it is becoming nearly pandemic now.

Jan

Jan's point is very important. When I had takedown surgery in 1990 at UCSF, the head of the team of doctors and all the resident/student doctors came in to look at the surgery site. All of the private rooms have sinks in them. The head 'doctor' did NOT wash his hands when he came in. He did NOT put on surgical gloves. (Remember, this is during the time of an AID's epidemic.) He came over and pulled the sterile gauze out of my stoma cavern so the other students could see. He handled the gauze. He dropped the no-longer sterile gauze back into the cavern. He and the student doctors left to go to the next patient's room. None of them washed their hands on the way out. I'm sure they spread disease all over the place at that hospital.

I guess I sort of know that doctors need to learn on the job. I just don't ever want them learning on me ever again.

kathy

I didn't mean to scare anyone, I was only posting my adventure several people had wondered where I was. With all the talk in the news about staph when we go to the Hospital to visit or stay it is very important that we wash our hands and keep any open wounds covered! I did have a staph and bacterial infection. I had asked my surgeon not to use staples because I had been so unconfortable after my first surgery and 16 staples. It was one of his partners that opened up my wound after 2 days and cleaned out the infection, he comited that if my surgeon had used staples instead of stiching it closed tightly it might have been easier to drain it and not open it all up. The reason for infection I believe was just because that closing up a stoma has such a high risk of bacteria getting closed up in the site. My adventure was not the norm and was handled well given the extra minor amount of small issues that made for one long stay. Just remember what your mom and grandmother said ....WASH YOUR HANDS WASH WASH WASH !!!!!