After surgery

It’s been awhile since I have posted anything. I haven’t felt like posting after my surgery. I am getting better. The nightmare of the hospital is receding. I am getting stronger and less woozy. I am amazed at how long this recovery is taking. I was supposed to be in the hospital 7 days, my goal was to get out in 5 or 6 days and do better than the average. I ended up being in for 10 days. I thought I would go back to work pretty fast, couple of weeks, it’s been a month and I don’t know how I will do yet. All the doctors tell me it’s normal, that the recovery takes time.

I have what looks like a red zipper on my belly now. It starts below my belly button and goes up to the belly button then curves out in a half moon circle around the belly button and then continues up to just below my chest.

There are always more things to wait for, but the main thing is that the primary Carcinoid tumor is gone. They say there are probably microscopic pieces left in the lymph nodes. Which means another tumor may start some where else. The good news is that Carcinoid tumors are slow growing so I may have years before having to worry about another surgery.

Next things upcoming are another Octreoscan, CAT scan, possibly another Chemoembolization. The results of a sleep study for sleep apnea and the results of a battery of tests done at the last Dr visit. Then of course regular blood tests.

I am hoping for another medical vacation, where I can pretend things are normal for awhile. A place where there is NO hospital green Jello.

Monday, 25th

John is coming home!!!
Keri

Saturday, August 23rd

John is staying a little longer in the hospital because his blood pressure and heart rate need to be monitored. They gave him a CAT scan of the heart this afternoon to rule out a blood clot. Results of CAT scan - everything looks good in the heart and lungs.
Hopefully John will come home Monday.
Keri

New Room

This afternoon John was moved to a new room.
Telemetry first floor, room #137, bed 2, pod D
602-239-4992 direct line to his room.
He was given some juice, clear soup, jello & italian ice for the first time since he had surgery.
He was also able to have a shower!
Hopefully Saturday he will come home.
Master Block sent a beautiful fruit bouquet to John, yummy, yummy!!!! Thank you! Thank you for everyone sending cards & well wishes!
Keri

2nd Update

John is still in the intensive care unit. The doctors are concerned about his severe sleep apnea. As far as the surgery, the doctors say John is doing great. Everything is progressing nicely. Because of the anesthesia, his intestines are still asleep. When they wake up they will let him have liquids. He hasn’t had anything to eat or drink since last Thursday night. He is feeling lousy and can’t wait to come home. Hopefully Wednesday they will move him to another room, which means one more step to coming home.
John will have another CAT Scan in October to check on the liver. In November (or sooner) he will have another Octreoscan. The doctors will continue to monitor him closely.
I would like to thank everyone for love shown & prayers offered in John's behalf.
Keri

Surgery Update

Hi Everyone, This is Lindsey Tieman. I just got off the phone with Keri and she asked me to post an update for John.
Before surgery Dr. Perry checked in on John. After he explained everything he was going to do he asked, "John, why are you wearing a blue bonnet?" John said, "I don't know." Dr. Perry said, "Because every things better with Blue Bonnet on it!"
Johns surgery went really well thank goodness! It was about 2 hours long. He was in recovery for about 2 hours and then moved to ICU. The Dr's had to remove about 2 feet of intestine, which really isn't bad. He still has enough to be just fine. They removed a small ball size tumor and some lymph nodes. He will be in the hospital between 5-7 days. Saturday and Sunday will be very important rest time & getting John up and moving around, so the family is asking that John have no visitors until Monday. If you would like to visit, please make sure to contact Keri first to see how he is doing. He is at Good Sam and as soon as he is in a regular room, one of us will make another post with that info.
I would like to thank everyone for all of your love, support and prayers for John. He is such an amazing person (and Cody's favorite person ever) that I know he will be able to overcome this. Thank you again.
.

Pre Surgery

Well it's been a while since I've written, I've been on vacation, not the kind of vacation where you go somewhere but the kind of vacation where you don't worry about surgeries or cancer. The kind of vacation where you don't want to face reality and write a blog. It's been nice for a month to almost feel normal. Now back to reality. Yesterday I did all the necessary pre-op procedures for surgery on Friday. I got an EKG, got blood work done, saw my regular doctor and went and visited with the surgeon. From the surgeon we found out that I can expect to be in the hospital for about a week. I will expect to be doing good if I get out of the hospital earlier than seven days.

The surgeon expects the tumor to be in my small intestines. It may be real simple where it's right there visible like a golf ball and all he has to do is yank it out, or worst-case scenario it might be like sandpaper and scattered all through my fatty tissue. We won't know until he opens me up and looks. After talking to him, Keri and I feel pretty good about the surgery. The surgery is Friday, August 15 at 10:30 a.m. We have to be at the hospital at 8:30. There's not much else to tell until after the surgery. It might take a little while to update the blog after the surgery especially if I'm in the hospital for seven days. I'm looking forward to the hospital food, man oh man! That and the needles.