Last Thursday, finally, my dad had his operation. To summarise: he had a colonic stump which was causing problems removed.

It was a pretty long job, as the tissue removed still had signs of the ulcerative colitis which was the reason for the emergency work done in late 2010. He had been taking care of himself since the previous operation, and was doing long walks daily in the park where he lives. This has given him a head start with the recovery process for the recent operation, and he is on an accelerated recovery programme as a result.

I saw him yesterday, and whilst tired and still groggy from anaesthetics and epidural, he was on good form. He was telling us that the problems he was having beforehand were gone, and he wasn't having to worry about it any more.

Yesterday, he was being encouraged to start sitting in a chair when he felt up to it, and today, the epidural was taken out. I expect he'll be started on walking tomorrow. It seems that pain management is being reduced pretty quickly.

The other good news is that he's allowed to have his mobile phone with him, and so I can phone and text him, which is excellent news. Last time phones had to be off.

Tomorrow, the surgeon will be checking in on him - he's actually on holiday next week, but he wants to take some time to see how my dad's doing. No news as to when he'll be home. The mumblings are Wednesday, but that seems a bit soon to me, and my dad's concerned that may be a bit early too.

We will see. However, the good news is that he's making a good recovery, and that now he can fully recover and get back to the things he likes - his violin playing being one thing that has suffered over the last year.

Excellent news

^^ This.

Yes, it's refreshing to hear some good news these days, best wishes to your dad for a speedy recovery!

ditto ...

+2

I've been told that he may be sent home as early as tomorrow if the circumstances are right. He's been unplugged from everything now and has been walking around today. Even if he's not able to go home so soon, he's got some mobility now, some won't be confined to a bed.

It does seem that the text messages I've been sending him have not been getting through, which is annoying.

Going home today! Blimey that was quick.

Update: he’s home and in bed having a nap.

Quite right

Indeed. It was a bit of a marathon getting him home. He's naturally very weak and full of painkillers right now, and getting from hospital to car and then from car to bedroom up a flight of stairs was difficult for him. Anyway, he's on the mend, and I'd expect that by the end of the week he'll be up and down those stairs because he'll want to do it.

I am surprised by the speed he's been treated and sent home. He'll be visited by a nurse to change his dressings, and to check in him, so I'm glad he's going to have some kind of home visits to keep tabs on him. I'll try phoning him tomorrow when he's more awake.

Oh, crap. The district nurse noted that the wound was not healing well, and suspected infection. After the out of hours GP service totally failed to turn up when they said they would, he's being re-admitted to hospital.

Also it seems that for some reason my text messages to him are not getting through (according to my sister who is there). Other people are getting my text messages, and he is getting messages from other people, so I am unsure what is going on there.

That's not fun. I can fully understand the reasons to get people home after surgery (home environments are often better for recover, freeing up bed space for other cases, and so on), but they did seem to want your Dad home rather precipitately.

Fingers crossed everything will be okay.

Sorry to hear what's happened. Sounded like he was making good progress. The fact that he had a wound infection isn't surprising - they can be quite common despite the surgery being performed perfectly. Really crap about the out-of-hours doctor not turning up. Did they give you a timeframe? I do some out-of-hours work as part of my training and all home visits must be done within six hours (priority ones done in two hours). I'd think about putting in a complaint so it triggers an audit process and hopefully prevent this happening again.

Sending home patients is something that's heavily pushed by managers. I recall one patient (the mother of a retired surgeon no less) who had been admitted for a chest infection and started on intravenous antibiotics. Next thing I know, she was placed in the discharge lounge for discharge home. At no point did anyone medical make that decision! This is why I hate managers. They basically ignore doctors - that includes consultants. We are seen as "obstacles" to running the NHS.

Hope your dad gets well soon.