UPDATED: new incision photo
The procedure I had was a right (my right) hemicolectomy. The idea was to remove the tumor, the section of the large intestine it was in along with associated lymph nodes, and any other tissue they could visibly see was cancerous. My tumor was located in the cecum and was 7 X 5 X 1 cm. They used a midline para-umbilical incision meaning vertically down the middle of my abdomen but around my belly button. What they actually did was to pull out a portion of my bowel through the incision, remove a 36cm section including the end of my small intestine, the entire ascending colon, part of the traverse colon, my appendix and 46 lymph nodes, attach the two ends that were left, then push it all back in (in the words of my surgeon - then the bowel was placed back in its normal anatomical position) and staple it shut.
Well, not all the way shut. In the approximately 6.5-inch incision there are four openings left to help prevent infection. My staples will be removed either this week or next but I’m unclear on how long the incision will take to heal. I have to change my dressing once a day which is just like a big band-aid I have to assemble myself out of three 4 X 4 gauze pads and tape and rinse the incision with water in the shower which luckily are both pieces of cake.
The surgery was a complete success meaning all gross mass was removed with no complications. Out of 46 lymph nodes, 15 had cancer which I am told is a good ratio. I’m a little concerned about how my abdomen will look when all is said and done and I feel lucky that I can actually be concerned about that since my prognosis is very good.
What my incision looked like:
4 days after surgery
UPDATE: 11 days after surgery
On day 10 I had 14 staples removed with 6 remaining.
You can see that on day 4 my abdomen was fairly swollen.
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Ray, I just heard about your adventure and I’m glad to see that everything’s gone well. The blog is great. Keep resting, keep healing, get well. Tim McGraw
Comment by Tim McGraw — 2008.08.12 @ 9:28 am
Ray,
That’s some impressive incision line. The blog is great. Get better soon so we can take more vacations.
Love, Barbara
Comment by Barbara Powers — 2008.08.14 @ 7:32 am
hey just wanted to share my story.i am 20 year old female and i also had a tumor, it was located from my right ovary all the way up to my abdomen. it was 30 cm diameter and it weight about 30 lbs.. it looked like if were 9 mnth pregnant.
i just had surgery 3 weeks ago and im glad im healing great.
i had cancer cells developing in the middle of the tumor. but doctors doubt it spread out in my buddy just waiting for results to come in ;0)
i had 42 staples ouch i know ;(
but it was all great, it makes you appreciate life ;0)..
laura=
ang2001baby@hotmail.com
Comment by laura — 2008.10.02 @ 10:24 pm