Preparing for a surgery

[jojo]

What kind of food (diet) would you eat the night before, so the anesthesia would wash off your body easier?

[SherryS]

I've never eaten anything specific the night before surgery...just what I would normally eat. I've never had a bad reaction to anaesthesia either so I may not be the best person to answer this question.

I do know the night before my axillary dissection I ate my meal late, around 10:00 p.m. because my surgery wasn't until 2:00 p.m. and not being able to have anything from midnight I thought I was being very smart. Not so...I had the worst indigestion by the time I had surgery!! So I learned that lesson...eat my regular meal at around 6:00 p.m. and a light snack and something to drink around bedtime. I'll be interested to check back and see if anyone else has done something specific with food the night before surgery.

[StephN]

Dear Jojo -
Are you just asking as a general question, or are you facing surgery again?? I sincerely hope not.

The day before my brain surgery this February I ate rather light - nothing too hard to digest. I ate a banana about 11 pm. Plus I drank a lot of water, wanted to be well hydrated so my veins would be accessible.
This turned out to be a good strategy as I had no stomach problems and only some gas from the anesthesia - no vomiting. The surgery was about 3 hours so they had to keep me under longer than I have ever experienced. I made a big point about telling them I am sensitive to medicine and too much anesthesia makes my blood pressure drop too much.
I guess they heard me as I did not have any trouble with aftereffects like sometimes happens 2 or 3 days after the surgery. My brain was not too mushy.

[Sheila]

JoJo
After spending years working in surgery, I have found that hydration is important, and don't eat anything too rich or spicy the night before...more of a bland diet, the banana for a snack is good to keep your potassium up...important is water, water, water....up until the time you are NPO (nothing by mouth) before surgery, which is usually midnight unless your surgery is later in the day.
What are you having done?

[jojo]

This is a brand-new thread, since I cannot find my own thread! Where did it go??!!?... So, here I am...

Anyway, yes I am going to have a craniotomy on Monday the 5th at 7:30am PST. Yes, AGAIN! :-(

As you may recall, I have been having bad headaches on & off all the past year. Steroids have kept the edema under control, but as you all know, it is not safe to remain on steroids long term. I had tapered off twice I think, but the headaches came back. :-( So, I am going in for my surgical team to remove the radiation seeds (all 24 of 'em) that are NO longer in activity (been that since last summer!) and dissect the edema for pathology analysis.

The surgeon is pretty sure that it is all just necrosis (dead tissue, not cancerous) and is blaming this on the radiation seed post-treatment reaction. I had a full-body PET scan a few months ago, and it revealed that there was NO tumor activity. Additionally, I already had HAD gamma knife done to the same area prior to the FIRST craniotomy from last year, so that probably makes all the ridiculous difference in this nasty world. :-(

The surgery should then resolve the headaches. I sure hope so! I just cannot wait to QUIT the dang steroids -- the hell drug!!

I really hope to get out of the hospital by Wednesday!! Apparently, I am not a very good patient. :-)

If any of you have had a craniotomy to remove a mass, how many days did you stay at your hospital?

Wish me luck -- I sure need it!!! Thanks!

[jojo]

Oh, I meant to say that, according to the radiologist report, there was no tumor activity in my brain.

[lindaw]

Dear Jojo

All the best for the 5th. I will be thinking of you.

love
LInda

[Maggie]

Jo Jo, Adding you to the prayer list! Hang in there and keep us informed when you can.

Maggie

[madubois63]

Jo Jo - I too am preparing for surgery in the morning. Mine is minor, but when your as sick as we are, nothing is minor. I will be praying all goes well for you. I don't go in until 10 am, so I will have time to pray...Good luck sweetie. I am eating light today and drinking lots of water, but I had a HUGE piece of cocolate, chocolate cake with rasberry syrup last night. That's how I prepare....lol!

[Barbara H.]

Dear Jo Jo,
Necrosis can also be a tough issue to deal with and as you know can cause the same symptoms as tumors, and also do damage as it continues to grow. I had a craniotomy last fall because my MRI lit up. It turned out to be just necrosis. I went into the hospital on Friday, was able to leave Sunday at noon. I took a week off from school and was able to return a week later on Monday. I had surgery in the prefrontal left cortex and healed quickly. It was more difficult for Steph. She can tell you about it or you can read her posts. I requested to get off the Decedron quickly and was weaned within a week. I could also not stand the anti-seisure drugs and pleaded to get off of them as well. They made me tired and it was hard to teach while I was on them.

Unfortunately, my post-operative changes have not resolved and the necrosis appears to have grown again, although it is stable. I recently had a PET-CT of the brain which was mostly cold, but a small section lit up. The MRI Spectroscpy was also inconclusive. As a result, I have to repeat these tests again in four weeks. I have no symptoms and the tumor board still favors necrosis, but they have to stay on top of it with these tests. I am keeping my fingers crossed that they won't want to do surgery again, because that would be the third time going into the same spot. The fact that we are so vulnerable to brain mets is what bothers me the most about this disease. I hope that now that we are living longer, that more research will be done in this area. You will be in my thoughts tomorrow, and I'm hoping that you will have the same quick recovery that I had. You will be so glad to get off the Decedron.
Best wishes,
Barbara Holz

[StephN]

This is what I am sure hoping for you, JoJo -

My stay in the hospital for my brain procedure in Feb was very short. I checked in at 5:15 am (to be first) on Thursday, moved from ICU to the regular floor on Friday and was released on Sat at around noon.

Did not know that your headaches have continued like that. A real bummer! AND they say no cancer activity, so what it causing them?? The edema??
Just hope they can get to the bottom of it.

Will be thinking of you and praying hard that the docs do a good job and you are out in NO time!
Did you get the card I sent from Portugal??

[Julie2]

Jojo,

Thinking of you and wish you all the best and speedy recovery. please keep us posted after the surgery.

Julie

[RobinP]

Hang in there JOJO, praying for you and Maryann on the 5th.

[pattyz]

this sucks, too. But I feel pretty good about the 'no met activity', so hopefully this will be the right trick to kick those headaches and Dec.

It's great to have people who've been there with similar experience to give you some head's up. yea, kindof a pun...

I remember keeping myself hydrated as well, before my total hyst a yr or so ago. In fact, I kept sipping right up to an hr before scheduled surgery... I had no problems with the anesthesia after effects. But then I was drugged up, too!

Keeping you in thought and prayer, jojo. Hope you have nothing but wonderful people surrounding you.
love and hugs,
pattyz

[lexigirl]

JoJo,

I am saying prayers for you. I hope the surgery goes really smoothe and you recover quickly.

Love and Prayers,
Lexi

[Bev]

Good luck Maryanne and JoJo. Don't eat steak. I did before last C-section and constipation was hell. Sorry for too much information. Best Wishes, Bev

[lu ann]

About 2 weeks before my hysterectomy I ate a vegetarian diet consisting of fruits, vegetables,grains, and plenty of distilled water. Twenty four hours before surgery I ate a liquid diet of broth, jello, and juices. The doctor ordered an enema the night before and I also asked for another one the morning of surgery. While the surgery was very painful, I had minimal problems with gas and constipation. I was up and walking 24 hours after surgery and was able to move my bowels without much discomfort. General anesthesia causes everything to go to sleep, especially the digestive syatem, so it's good to be well cleaned out before surgery. I hope this is of help to someone.

Love and Blessings
from Lu Ann

[Kim in CA]

Jo Jo,

I will be thinking of you tomorrow. I'm just so sorry you have to do this again. I'm thinking like Steph, that the third time will be a charm!

Take Care and please check in with us as soon as you can.

Love, Kim

P.S. Who is your surgeon this time?

[jojo]

T-H-A-N-K Y-O-U A-L-L for your wonderful wishes -- I really soaked in 'em!

As you can see how I am reacting to the eventual operation, I had only 2 hours of sleep the night before, and in about 7 hours from now, they will start my surgery. Argh!

Well, I just gotta roll up my sleeves, and put up my fighting gloves, and just go with the flow...

Another report coming, after my homecoming from the hospital later this week...

PS: Hey Steph, believe it or not, your postcard simply BRIGHTENED my day! SUCH a nice, pleasant surprise! And I absolutely LOVE surprises! :-) Thanks

PSS: Kim, the name is McDermott.

[Helen]

Good luck! We hope to hear from you as soon as you are able to. I'll be praying for you.

Best wishes,
Helen