Well, tomorrow is finally my day for surgery. I guess I am headed toward it with a mixture of fear and trepidation. I suppose my biggest worry is that they wont get it all or that the pain will be almost too much to bear....but I guess I will find out!!!

I wanted to give my sincere thanks to all on this board for your help and advice and especially to Jerry who I spoke with on the phone and give me some very helpful information.


Take care all and I will somehow let you all know how it went.

Christopher

Hello Christopher

You will be fine. They will keep you well medicated. If it still hurts Let them know and they will up your med dosage.

My biggest problem the first two days was Communication! Communication! Communication!

I Could Not Talk!

Make Sure You Have A Clip Board And 2 Pens. I had trouble the first 2 days, and then all was fine.

MY CLIP BOARD WAS MY VOICE....IT'S A MUST HAVE!

Write on one page a few things so you can just point and not have to write.

Example: Need Pain Meds, Need Urinal, Want to sit in chair, etc.

Good Luck, Petey

Sending good wishes your way. I think you will be soso relieved to finally get this over with, and it sounds like you are going to be just fine. Vaya con Dios!

We'll all be thinking of you. More importantly, we'll all be waiting to hear from you AFTER it's all over with
Much luck
Wayne

It was great talking with you the other day. You will be fine, however even knowing what to expect, the whole thing is scary. We have all been there.

I just want to reiterate that since you won't be staying in the hospital, the pain meds will only be oral and that could be troublesome. If it gets too rough, you should be able to get the ENT to get you back in the hospital so that IV meds will be available.

Good luck and we look forward to updates from you or your girlfriend.

Jerry

Hi Christopher, I will be thinking of you and praying for you, please let us know how you are doing.....Carol

Hi Christopher,

Good luck. I'd say you'll be able to talk when you go home if you aren't staying over night in the hospital. I had a good sized piece of my tongue removed, saliva glands removed and the neck dissection and could still whisper talk the following day. They didn't want me to do too much talking the actual day of surgery - but you'll be too medicated to really want to that day anyway.

Like Jerry said - the hard part will be the pain meds if they are oral. Maybe you should ask about the patch pain meds. I haven't used them b/c I didn't know about them when I had my surgery - but if I had, I'd have asked. It was not fun to swallow those liquid meds. But, the pain was very controlled and I don't remember having much of it.....so don't worry about that part.

Chris,
By now you are out of surgery and I hope everything went well. I had the same surgery and a neck dissection thrown in for good measure. I was amazed at how pain-free the whole process was. I was walking with my daughter 5 hours after surgery. I could talk well enough to be understood and most of my discomfort was in my throat from the neck node surgery. They have come a long way in controlling pain. Having my wisdom teeth removed 30 years ago was more painful. Any how, I hope you are resting comfortably and experience a quick recovery.

Chris, good luck and best wishes. Hpoe all goes well with surgery and recovery. Bob