The surgery

The surgery happened on Oct 28th 2009. All went fairly well and it took about 3 1/2 hours. My tumor was taken out with little complication, there was a small tear on a part of the pancreas but was repaired with a piece of my small intestine. My gall bladder was removed as well as my appendix. The surgeon decided to remove the appendix because it was unusually long and wrapped around my colon which he thought could lead to a future problem. Thank you surgeon!!! Recovery went okay for the first couple of days, I had an epidural and IV pain meds to keep me comfortable. I started having blood in my stool which lead to some worry that there might be internal bleeding. But after more tests, we discovered it was just old blood from the surgery and was perfectly okay. On Friday they took my epidural out and started weening me from the strong IV pain meds, this lead to disaster!!!! I was in excruciating pain in my back, abdomen and chest. They started the strong pain meds again but nothing worked. This agonizing pain lasted for 3 days. So finally monday morning the surgeon ordered for me to have another CT scan and they found old blood and a tiny bit of pancreatic fluid around the area of the incision. They inserted a needle in my abdomen and drained it out, then gave me some more pain meds. He said part of my pain is also probably from passing a leftover gallstone. This morning I had another CT scan to make sure there was no more fluid accumulated, however there was so I had another drain inserted into my abdomen. I will leave the hospital with it in. My pain is manageable now and I am starting to feel better. Yay!!! As soon as I have a good 24 hrs, I can go home to my baby, which by the way she is doing wonderfully with my sisters!