S1Ep9 Surgery and CRC AKA "Chopped Liver"

Welcome to the ninth episode of Care Partner's Compass: Navigating CRC where I talk about my wife Kristine's liver surgery.Her liver surgery was in January 2022. There is a lot involved in a loved one getting to surgery, and care partners can help them prepare for this challenging time. I also talked about staying in the hospital room to help her (and help distract) as well as during recovery and healing.Full transcription can be found on the website (http://carepartnerscompass.transistor.fm)Host, producer/editor, and composer: Elsa LankfordKristine - You're so much more than chopped liver to me (ba dum bah!) ❤️Please remember to share, subscribe, like, and rate the podcast.Helpful links related to this episode:Colontown.org - this is the group where I met new great friends who were CRC patients or care partners.Preparing for Surgery - from the American Cancer Society is a helpful resourcePrehabilitation Resources from Cancer Research UKClinical research showing that prehabilitation for CRC surgery is beneficial - hopefully this is something that can become standard of care for any CRC surgery(01:38) - Getting scans to see if she could get to surgery (02:09) - It was a go! (02:36) - Getting over the fear of surgery (03:36) - Preparing for surgery (04:52) - "I am ready!" (05:27) - Getting the house ready (05:42) - Helpful for carepartner to get involved in cancer groups (06:26) - The day of surgery in January 2022 (07:36) - 2nd opinions - they are so so important (08:15) - The day after the surgery (09:10) - Getting to stay in the room - and why it's so helpful for a carepartner to be there (10:03) - "Look over there!" how distractions can be helpful (10:42) - A couple of helpful items for after surgery (12:11) - The importance of walking (13:51) - Getting back to normalcy (14:30) - Meeting again with the liver surgeon (15:21) - Surgery is so important