well I am home.. now the questions....
thanks for all the well wishes, surgery went fine or so it seems. I am surprisingly not hungry, so I am finding it difficult to eat anything. I managed almost an ounce last night of pink stuff( which went down surprisigly well> getting in enough fluids as well I can see is going to be difficult. still no bowel movement but whats there to move? energy level is low, but gets better every day. managed to shower and cleanbup last night after returning home from the hopsital all l on my own which felt great. no drainage tubes at all which really surprised me as I thought we all had them regarless of what type of surgery we had. only one bout of bad seepage at the hospital that first day of surgery, good thing the nurse found it and not my wife, the bed was entirely full of blood , so the nurses who were great double teamed me and redid the bandages and I sort of look like a saran wrapped person now. no more seepage after that. though getting your sheets and bedding changed so soon after surgery was no fun. roll here , roll there lift up! not a pleasant experience.
my biggest problem right now is that my uvulla was hurt during the trach tubing during surgery. the nurse who looked at it said it looked like it had an ulcer on it. what that does is make it feel twicce as big in my throat and it sits right on top o fmy gag reflex. so when I talk or eat or drink it feels like somethng is stuck in my throat on my gag reflex so I am constantly gagging. did anyone else have a similar problem who can give me any ideas of how long it will be this way?
Its true that you do wake up saying what the hell have I done?
but after that you dont have much time for those thoughts its one day at a time and I was surprised how much better it got each day out. for you post oppers how long before the pain of crunching to bend and get out of bed goes away? when am I likely to have another bowel movement? believe me I was ready to leave the hospital. after they removed the catheter but not the iv, I was forced to get out of bed every hour to urinate. I guess that was one way to make me move my sorry ass but it was no fun as there was no rest to be had, all night long managed to get about 10 to 15 minutes of sleep before I had to start thinking of getting out of bed and making it to the urinal.. well its good to be home. so start sending me all the advice your little fingers can type out now. I am not going to start on the why the hell did I do this routine as the damage is done now and its live with it and make the best of the situation which is what I was after in the first place. thanks again for all your support. Joe
Glad your home !!! Congrats, you to are a loser now!!! I'm not sure about the bowel movement I gather around 1 wk. I had diarrhea.... Just remember to move your body every couple of hours when your awake start walking soon as you can!! The water is hard to get in I got to were I timed my slips and keep the bottle in my hand because if I sit it down I would forget to drink!! I have never been a water drinker, am now ! start you protein drinks as soon as your Doc allowsit will increase you energy level too. I had a problem with them but found Unjury Choc and had to start out with using only 1 scoop to 8oz for about 2wks but got up to the full amount it is very easy on your pouch taste like a weak fudge pop. I'll keep you in my prayers for a speedy recovery.
Best to you Linda 
Hi Joe. Welcome home and glad everything went well. I slept in my recliner for two weeks and then transitioned to the bed a little at a time. I would go to sleep in the bed and some time during the night I would get up and into my recliner again when I woke up hurting. Thing is, I never took the pain medicine they gave me after I got home. It slowed down the works, if you know what I mean. Drinking liquids helps me with the BM thing. I was constantly sipping on something and found to get my liquids in, I had to have a bottle of water or glass of Crytsal Light in my hand at all times. Even my friends know now that I go nowhere without my water bottles. Sometimes I put Crystal Light in them, sometimes water. Also , at day 5, I started walking. SOme days I was on my treadmill, some days outside. At first I walked very slowly only as far as I felt I could...maybe to my mailbox and back. On the treadmill at first I was at 1/4 of a mile and did that very slowly. I have gradually increased that by walking more each day until now I am at three miles every day and I miss it if I don't get to on any day....the more I walked, the more "things" moved. I cannot say that I have had the "why did I do this" stage yet. I'm down 53 pounds with two stalls in between where I lost nothing for a week at a time and I'm just happy that I don't take heart or blood pressure medicine anymore....I guess that far outweighs any bad thoughts I had about having the surgery. Now that I don't take all that garbage, I have much more energy! Since I'm just seven weeks out and still pretty much a "newbie" feel free to email me to ask any questions you might have...I'll help any way I can!
Hi Joe,
just reading and laughing at what you wrote i had the exact same experience. My surgery was on the 19th. I'm doing great now but pretty tired alot. i thought i was better than that and went to Walmart for a few things, what a mistake that was. i got so weak. my surgery was on the 19th and i just got to where i don't have that lump like thing also. good luck Pat
Hi Joe, since I am still a pre-op, I can't answer the bm part. I had to have my wiggly thing in the back of my throat removed a year ago. No problems. It was blocking my airwave and affecting my sleep apnea. I don't miss it, but because of my small airwave now, the anthesilogist has to be informed, as the back of my throat has to be dialated prior to surgery. I am glad you are home. Take care of yourself and enjoy the new you. Love ya Kathy 
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