Honestly, though, I have to say that except for this incident, I was treated like royalty. Some people told me I wouldn't like MUO because it is a teaching hospital. True, you don't get much rest - but then, who does in a hospital? On the up-side, every person there comes with a twin. For every nurse, there is a student nurse. For every doctor, there is at least one resident and one intern. Twice the amount of people taking care of me than I would've had in a regular hospital. I couldn't have gotten better care anywhere. I had only good experiences with everyone, from my surgeons, to the nurses to the cleaning people. Well...there was just ONE nurse who was quite snotty and did as little as possible. But she knows who she is, dont'cha Sandy? |
Rick Gardner's Esophageal Cancer Story Page Two |
Rick's Battle with The Beast |
(Continued from Page One) |
I have been corrected...Did you know that the color of the esophageal cancer awareness ribbon is Blue and Yellow? |
At the risk of boring some of you readers, I must caution there's a few more things I want to mention about my surgery experience. If you're just looking for some quick visual entertainment, just scroll down to skip ahead to the gruesome pictures. |
And they're not done hurting me yet... This is my Infusaport the day after it was implanted. We were told it would be "about the size of a half dollar" and "hardly noticeable". Also we were told it would be in the left upper chest (above the heart area). Oops? |
As you can see, it sticks out of my chest about 3/4" The green tinge is from the surgical soap. |
Just 12 days out of surgery - we attended a grandson's birthday party! I am the handsome one on the left... The Angel on the right is my wife, Robyne. |
Beneath this box is a photo of my beloved Spongescicle. This was the only thing I was allowed to put into my mouth for seven days. No water, no ice chips, no broth, no gum, no jello - no food of any kind while my "stomaphagus" was healing. This Spongescicle was kept in a glass of ice water. I was allowed just a FEW DROPS of water on this sponge, and could wipe my mouth out with it if I DIDN'T SWALLOW. As each new nurse came on shift, I was lectured again about the dangers of SWALLOWING anything. Small as it is, this becomes a symbol of one of the few things in my world I can control during this time... This, and my pain pump button. I grew so fond of it that I wanted to keep the button even after they disconnected the IV. |
For those of you who might be thinking about having this surgery...(and I bet that's what brought at least couple of you here!) and you want to know "Was it hard?" YES. and you want to know "Was it worth it?" ABSOLUTELY. When you have been diagnosed with the Big C, phrases like Today is a Gift, and Carpe Diem take on a whole new significance. What would you do to have another year with your loved ones? Another week, another minute even? You are about to find out. Here's my creed: You can't let any diagnosis or statistics ruin whatever life you have left. Any one of us could walk across the street right now and get plowed down by a truck. So, why waste any part of any day worrying about what MIGHT happen? You just do what ya gotta do. |
Post-surgery advice: You have to MOVE through the pain, get yourself moving as soon as you can and as often as you can after surgery. It's the only way to a quick and complication-free recovery. Listen to the nurses. Do more than you are asked; be a willing participant in your recovery. And don't whine. The nurses are a lot nicer to smiling patients, IMHO. Expect to wake up looking and feeling like hell, then you won't be disappointed. I had 8 tubes of different apparatus stuck into me or onto me. My wife referred to me as "FrankenRicky". I had an NG tube running down my nose draining my stomach; I had a vent tube going down my throat, breathing for me. I had two chest tubes draining my lungs - and those puppies are BIG - like 1/2" in diameter! They should be called "back tubes", cause that's where they come out of you. There is no way to get comfortable with these in. (You cannot lay on your stomach, even if you could get there.) You can feel those tubes move inside you with each and every breath. Before the surgery I was dreading having a urinary cathether. Anyone who has had prostate surgery understands why. Oddly enough, the catheter turned out to be the least of my concerns, and just as I was feeling grateful that it was in and I didn't have to get UP to go to the bathroom, they come and took it out. Yeah, you lay there and you got all this crap, er...stuff hooked up to you, and it hurts even to breathe, and then they come in and want you to GET UP. Also, they want you to BREATHE DEEPLY into this plastic meter thing every hour. Make sure someone is in your room when you do this. They won't take your word for it if you say "I just got done deep breathing 10 times". The one tube I didn't have was a feeding tube. They had prepared us for that possibility, but I guess I lucked out on that one. |
The Really Really Bad Day |
Before you can eat or drink anything, you have to pass a swallow test. They take you to X-Ray and make you swallow liquid then they watch it go down to see if it leaks anywhere. This usually happens on the 6th or 7th post op day. For me, it was just about the worst experience of the whole surgical stay. My student nurse assigned to me that day was a guy named Paul. He became my Hero, and I will forever be grateful to him. The "Transport" crew came and got me and took me downstairs to radiology. It was about 10:00 am. I was put in a corridor curtained "cubicle". My wife Robyne and Paul was with me. We waited. We waited. We waited. An hour went by. Paul went to see what he could do to move things along. My NG tube was filling up (having been disconnected from the drain before we left the room) and I needed to pee - but of course, we did not bring a urinal with us. I am sitting on this uncomfortable little gurney, leaning back against the chest tubes, wishing like heck that I was up in my room, in bed. We waited some more. My wife went up front to see the receptionist and raise some hell. Finally someone came and got me a urinal. We waited some more. We were in that corridor for one hour and fifty minutes. |
When we finally did get into the radiology lab, they put me on a cold steel slab of this table that rotated. You drink this vile liquid and then they rotate the table to take pictures of how it makes it's way through the digestive tract. Ever try to swallow something when you're practically upside down? Just swallowing was a chore, since I hadn't done it in six days. Oh - and the table does not rotate silently and smoothly. No. It jumps and jerks into position. There was a sort of foot board at the bottom of the table, I suppose to keep me from sliding down. But they neglected to make sure I was propped on it. So the first time they rotated the table, there I go, sliding down - while my chest tubes just sort of stayed in place (the way a plastic thing would when pressed against a metal thing). My student nurse - who, THANKFULLY was allowed to accompany me into the room - watched what was happening and came over between films to try to make me comfortable. The lab techs didn't even try to reposition me when they went off for 5 and 10 minutes at a time to check the films. When Paul saw me slide down the table he found a pillow from somewhere and propped it under my feet. When the torture was FINALLY over, I was moved back out into the corridor holding area. We were told to wait there for Transport to come and take me back upstairs. We waited just long enough for my wife to go to the bathroom. When she returned, Paul The Hero said "We're not waiting. They can fire me, but I'm taking you back to your room. NOW." |
When we got back in the room the Charge Nurse comes in and said "Boy, you were gone a LONG time - we were beginning to worry about you!" It was now about 1:30. The whole ordeal had taken about three and one half hours, and I was whooped. I no sooner got into bed and the Physical Therapy gal showed up. "Hi Mr. Gardner, we're going for a walk!" The Wife ran interference for me and talked them into coming back later. She knew I was all in - on the way upstairs I had told her "I hope I passed that swallow test. Because I'm never going back for another one. I'll rip these tubes out myself and go home first." And she knew I meant it. |
Honestly, though, I have to say that except for this incident, I was treated like royalty. Some people told me I wouldn't like MUO because it is a teaching hospital. True, you don't get much rest - but then, who does in a hospital? On the up-side, every person there comes with a twin. For every nurse, there is a student nurse. For every doctor, there is at least one resident and one intern. Twice the amount of people taking care of me than I would've had in a regular hospital. I couldn't have gotten better care anywhere. I had only good experiences with everyone, from my surgeons, to the nurses to the cleaning people. Well...there was just ONE nurse who was quite snotty and did as little as possible. But she knows who she is, dont'cha Sandy? |
And the journey continues. Click on the button at the right to go to Page Three. "It's CHEMO time, kids!" |
The "belly part" is the handiwork of Dr.. P. Chaudhuri, surgical oncologist at Toledo Medical University. Dr. Samuel Durham did the thoracotomy. |
I had a lot of pain in my right arm and shoulder after surgery. It was so bad I couldn't lift it for several days. I'm guessing that this came from the way they had me positioned during the seven hours or so of surgery. The arm and shoulder are slowly healing, even now, after two months. |
I first found reference to it being Periwinkle, but upon further research, it seems that color is designated to cancers of the digestive system in general, and stomach cancer specifically. (Depending on which site you read) |
