I had no idea that I was going to have a drain and was even more surprised when they said I would be going home with it. It was not horrible though. I emptied it a few times a day and kept track of how much I emptied. There was a safety pin on a tab on the top so I pinned it to the inside of my pants. I was able to take a shower, I wrapped my midsection in saran wrap. 5 days after I was discharged the drain was removed in the doctors office. Now everyones pain thresh hold is different. I thought the removal hurt, just for a second or two. It was more of a weird feeling, having this tubing pulled from my stomach. My only advice is to take a deep breath before it is removed. On the plus side, once the drain was out any discomfort I had was gone. I wasn't in pain while it was in, just discomfort.