I wonder if there is anyone who had complications surrounding their debulking surgery? I had surgery for probable ovarian cancer November 27, 2007. Everything seemed okay (although I have no memory of waking up after it) at the time. During the wee hours of the next day I was found to be in acute blood loss anemia, with internal bleeding, and something called 'disseminating intravascular coagulation' (DIC). I was rushed into surgery again and received massive amounts of blood and blood products. I ended up in a coma for about 7-10 days and in ICU for a total of 19. DIC caused multi-system organ failure but they were able to recover all functions. Since I was ventilator-assisted for over a week, I then developed 'critical illness myopathy' (CIM). This is a profound muscle weakness that left me as limp as a rag doll and able to move only my hands.
After discharge from the hospital, I went into a nursing home for rehab. I was there for eight weeks and then came home with home care for another nine weeks. During this entire time I had chemo. I only received carboplatin since my physical condition was so poor. I had numerous other infections throughout this entire time. Nevertheless, my CA dropped into the normal range.
Physically, I've completely recovered but dealing with the cancer actually was only a small part of dealing with everything else. By the time I was released from home care, chemo was over. I just wonder if there's anyone who's had a similar experience? Janet
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Surgical complications
- By Nanamom
- Posted May 9, 2009 at 12:29 pm · 9 replies
- In Survivor stories
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Asthma Cancer Surgery Nephritis Allergies Brushing Anemia Ovarian cancer Dialysis Pain Weakness Prednisone Memory Carboplatin Diarrhea
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- By verbena
- Posted May 9, 2009 at 3:18 pm
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Wow...i have to admit, any complication i've had sounds like whining in comparison because really it is.
I'm sorry you had all that to deal with...it's great you made a good recovery :)
- By lovemnms
- Posted May 9, 2009 at 3:57 pm
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My complications kept me in the hospital for two weeks, but I feel like a whiner now as verbena said.
Janet, I'm happy to hear you have recovered. : )
- By momanderson920
- Posted May 9, 2009 at 10:49 pm
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I developed a postop infection after my surgery and had an undiscovered allergic reaction to the IV nafcillin which put me in kidney failure and it was not discovered until 3-4 weeks postop. I was so sick for several weeks well after surgery which was due to the kidney failure. I was conscious during this time but so weak and nauseaus I could not bathe or get up for weeks and didn't know why, until the kidney failure was discovered. I now have permanent kidney damage due to the fact that the interstitial nephritis resulting from the allergic reaction was not treated soon enough. It took weeks of high dose prednisone to halt the allergic reaction and reverse the kidney failure. What angers me is that this was due to negligence by the resident assigned to my case and my surgeon had gone out of town right after the surgery. I pointed out a rash on my upper thighs which developed after the IV nafcillin was started and point blank told her I suspected I was having an allergic reaction. When she told me it was a side effect, I asked her how she could be sure since I had several years of nursing school and have worked clerically in the medical field and know that the cillin drugs often cause allergic reactions, moreso than many other antibiotics. This resident seemed annoyed that I would question her and again dismissed it as a side effect. No one ever checked the rash again nor did any bloodwork before I left the hospital which is why the kidney reaction was not caught for weeks. Now with kidney damage if I have a recurrence I may not be able to receive a therapeutic dose of chemo....and they have to monitor my kidneys like a hawk. My creatinine level is now chronically abnormal. I probably have grounds for a lawsuit but as I told my husband, what good would it do and it would only take money away from the very people who are helping people like me with ovarian cancer. My gyn/oncologist who did the surgery is a very good doctor. I slipped through the cracks because he went out of town right after my surgery. My advise to anyone having serious cancer surgery....don't have surgery on a Friday and make sure your surgeon is not going out of town right after your surgery.
- By momanderson920
- Posted May 9, 2009 at 10:54 pm
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Nanamom, that must have been a horrifying experience. I am so sorry you had such a terrible experience. Before surgery I was worried about the anesthesia more than the surgery, figuring people have surgeries everyday, no big deal. Since then I realize that any surgery is indeed a big deal. After my ordeal I met a lady at my nephrologist's office who went into kidney failure after a routine gall bladder surgery and now I realize any surgery is a big deal. Thank God we are alive.
- By Nanamom
- Posted May 10, 2009 at 11:42 am
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I agree "thank God we are alive!" One thing about this whole ordeal is that I've become a stronger advocate for myself. While in rehab my surgical dressing started leaking because no one had changed it because there was no order to change it. I don't know what would have happened if I hadn't been able to speak up. The entire incision was infected and it took months of wound care to get it to heal. I do know that DIC is one of those rare surgical complications that no one can predict. It's included in the "risk of death" things on the surgery consent form. If I ever need surgery again, you can be sure that I'll read more closely.
Momanderson920 I do know someone who was first diagnosed with ovca over nine years ago and had complete kidney failure due to reaction to chemo. She's in dialysis but has been treated for recurrances while doing dialysis. She is hanging in there and doing well.
Thank you to everyone who wrote. I guess this proves that everyone's journey has its own unique bends.
- By momanderson920
- Posted May 10, 2009 at 12:41 pm
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Nanamom, I have become more assertive as a result too! I don't care what anyone thinks of me, I speak my mind now since no one will ever care about my health or be as attuned to my body as much as I do/am, except maybe one of my family members. I do not blame the hospital for the postop infection since I know that you can develop a postop infection from your own body's bacterial flora, but the allergic reaction that caused my kidney failure that was overlooked and has resulted in this kidney damage could have been prevented. Had they changed antibiotics as soon as the reaction occurred and monitored my kidneys, treating them immediately, I would most likely not have kidney damage. I don't even blame them for the reaction, but I do blame them for overlooking it and misdiagnosing it as a side effect.
I am so sorry to hear about your friend...that is so sad. They can treat you even with kidney damage but the dose is significantly less to accomodate the kidneys which means you may not be getting as therapeutic a dosage. At least that is what I have read and it makes sense. Unfortunately all of the things we are exposed to with cancer bear risk, but what choice do we have.
On the bright side, I have not had the terrible dips in blood counts that others have had and have been very fortunate in that regard. I did have some infections due to the immunocompromise I had and lost a few teeth and had several bladder infections, but other girls I know have had far far worse even on the first go round of chemo, so in many respects I feel blessed. And I am alive and have been in remission for 9 months and I am thankful to God for that. My surgeon performed a good surgery and my current oncologist has been wonderful....I have many blessings. But I feel an obligation to let others know what happened to me so perhaps it won't happen to someone else. I am sure you feel likewise....whatever lessons we learned from our experiences may help others. My advise is to speak up if you feel that something is not right....a rash, a reaction, whatever, and if you don't trust the answer you are given, get a second opinion.
- By verlinda
- Posted May 10, 2009 at 2:25 pm
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I, too, have learned that being "a nice girl" isn't always the right choice. My first CT scan came a few weeks after chemo and showed a large nodule on my thyroid. Because of the ovca, my doctors advised me not to trust the biopsy results but to have thyroid surgery (partial thyroidectomy). Despite my watching the preadmission nurse type into my chart that I was allergic to ALL plastic tape, including the hypoallergenic type, and my telling every single person I encountered that I was allergic to it, my presurgical nurse used it on my arm when she put the IV in (She did a great job with the needle insertion.). When my arm started burning a few minutes later, she came in, saw no redness and told me the anesthesiologist would give me something for my nerves. As the burning intensified, I sent my husband back to the nurse's station for her. She refused to come check on it, telling him to tell me the anesthesiologist would arrive soon.
Ten minutes later I sent him out (reluctantly) with the instruction to quote me as saying, "If you do not come in here immediately and check this, I will rip this IV out of my arm myself."
She was furious! She stalked in and said, "What do you want me to do, take the IV out?"
I said, "Ma'am, I've had numerous IVs over the past few months and never had one feel like this. Yes, if that's what it takes, take this out."
As soon as she removed the tape, all burning stopped. I said, "I don't know what you just did, but all the burning has disappeared. Thank you so much!"
She snapped, "Well, I took the plastic tape off, but it was hypoallergenic tape!"
"I told you I was allergic to that," I said.
"I guarantee they'll put it on you in surgery!" she said.
"Well, they may," I answered, "but I'll be asleep. so I won't know it, will I?"
I cornered the next nurse who walked in and said, "Would you please check my chart for me? I want to see what was entered about my allergies."
She said, "I'll get your surgical nurse for you. She's supposed to be the one to deal with everything concerning you."
"No," I insisted, "she's the one who ignored what I told her, and I want to be sure my allergy to plastic tape is in my chart."
The second nurse checked for me. I apologized in case I'd caused friction between the nurses and complimented the first nurse on her painless needle insertion. The second nurse assured me the first nurse didn't even know I'd made the request.
I wish I'd had the nerve to tell the surgeon what happened when he came in to check on me before surgery. When he walked in and asked me how I was, I burst into tears! He was very understanding, but he thought I was nervous about not getting sufficient pain meds. I should have told him what happened, but I was afraid that the nurses would view me as a difficult patient (my oncology office's opinion because I called them on never folllowing through on my receiving all my asthma medications during my hospital stay despite repeated requests).
I had absolutely wonderful floor nurses when I had my ovca surgery. They did their best to advocate for me, especially when my oncologist's nurse practitioner insisted on sending me home with pain and nausea meds that had been tried and were ineffective. Unfortunately, it took several ugly episodes before the oncologist reluctantly changed my pain meds, ironically to a milder, but better for me prescription.
It's sad, ladies, but the medical staff is under hospital pressure to use the hospital's preferred drugs. It's called protocol, and it can be difficult to get them to use something else.
To all you wonderful nurses out there, I'm sorry to sound so bitter, but I can't tell you how many people have told me of their concerns being brushed aside as being just one more overreacting cancer patient.
My salvation was the local hospital's oncology nurses. They did my intermediate bloodwork during chemo and my port flushes. They were the ones who would take the time to answer my questions instead of brushing my concerns aside with, "Oh, you don't need to worry about that!"
- By Nanamom
- Posted May 11, 2009 at 12:50 pm
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I think when one has a lot of encounters with the medical field it is not uncommon to run into people who make things difficult. I had a nurse in rehab who told me I was diabetic - she said my blood test said so. I had had a CBC, CA 125 and a creatinaese and I knew that I hadn't had a fasting blood sugar. I told her my doctor hadn't said I was diabetic. The thing was is that I was on some kind of insulin protocol that had something to do with helping me heal. I got a daily insulin shot and then my blood checked twice a day. This nurse was terrible with the finger sticks; often she had to stick me twice just to get a usable drop of blood. I really didn't trust her care at all but I was there for so many weeks and literally could not get away. I didn't want to make life more difficult for myself by really getting on her bad side. I just had as little to do with her as I could.
At about week 6 I developed C-diff - a horrible bacterial infection that causes gruesome diarrhea. I was just then able to go with assistance to the bathroom and she said that I would need to use a bedpan because they didn't want me infecting the bathroom. The rooms were double rooms and they had just moved a woman into the other bed the day before. I knew there were empty rooms so I asked if they could move her. The nurse said no. I just think she was both lazy and a little mean. The thought of using a bedpan again (since I had needed one for almost two months previously) was so overwhelmingly demoralizing to me not to mention that they are very uncomfortable. She worked the evening shift. When the night shift can on they took me to an empty room's bathroom by wheelchair during the night and then moved me to the empty room the next day. The night shift people were great and really seemed to care. They said that one would have had to empty bedpans anyway and that carries the risk of infection.
My ICU nurses also were wonderful. I'm pretty sure they saved my life. I, too, am allergic to tape but paper tape is okay.
- By abbaschild
- Posted May 11, 2009 at 12:59 pm
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Janet, I am so sorry you had to go thru all of that :( It makes me very thankful even more so now that I've heard about your complications that mine went so well...and I thought it was hard! We don't really realize how very dangerous our surgeries were until we hear your outcome. I, too, feel like a whiner in comparison.
So glad to hear you have recovered. You deserve a medal of valor! I mean it! You are my hero!
Blessings and hugs!!!
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