Surgery In A.m.! A Little Freaked Out!

[medicgipson 0]

My surgery is tomorrow. I know it is normal to be really nervous, but I just needed to talk it out. My biggest worry is pain. I have never done well with pain medications in the past. They always seemed to cause so much nausea that it was worse than the pain. I have only taken pain medications (anything stronger than a advil) only two or three times in my life. So, I need to mentally prepare myself for what to expect. I want to know exactly how much pain you all experienced. And please don't hold back, I need to be prepared. That is just how I work. Thank You!!

[ProudGrammy 8,322]

Hi Medic

NOT holding back at your request about the pain.

The one thing we all have in common, is that we're all different. Everybody's pain is different.. Many many people are very lucky and have absolutely no pain at all. Seriously no pain.

In the hospital, i was a little uncomfortable, couldn't move that well in bed, so i had some pain. I spent 2 nights. I was quite ready to go home on the 3rd day. But I would say i was lucky too with little pain.

Its not that i can't take meds, they just honestly don't seem to be effective. If you don't want to take anything stronger than advil or something tell the nurse, but you might try stuff they can give you through the IV that would be helpful.

Sure i was sore, I just had surgery, but it wasn't terrible. I have a very low tolerance to pain. I felt ok though, so that must mean that others would have felt better in my shoes. My pain improved daily. I was home Saturday morning, I improved daily, the main problem i had was sleeping. My incision side had the big cut in it, so that side hurt, and even laying on the left hurt me too. sleeping was my hardest thing.

As far as the next stage, people who had more pain, well they would have to tell you there stories. Sure people have other problems, pain is a result of their problems - but this too shall pass. And they all lived to tell about it.

take care and best wishes for your successful surgery and smooth recovery

kathy

[his2my2our4 120]

Just wanted to send good vibes your way for tomorrow!! Your concerns are valid and I think totally normal. I will say that everyone's story is different but for me, once the first day passed, I found the pain to be much more tolerable. I did use my pain pump the first day...and a little the next morning. It didn't make me queasy but it did knock me out...something that I really didn't want. After he pain pump thing I'm not exactly sure what I took but I do know that my first dose was around 9am (2nd day) and my last dose was 6pm (same day). After that it was Tylenol. You will be in pain, but hopefully it will be short lived. My advice to you is if you need it, take it. It's much easier to keep it under control if you stay on top of it. Take care of yourself...I'm sure you're going to do great!

[Amanda 3.0 140]

Not holding back here.

The first two days, I had horrid surgical gas pain. I don't know if you have ever experienced this before, but it is in the shoulder area, and is the result of remnants of the gas they use to "inflate" you to make room to move about in your abdomen (so I understand). It feels like a nail sticking in one shoulder. The answer to this is to walk, walk, walk, and let that gas reabsorb into your system and pass the natural way. Also, apply a heating pad (I took my own).

My first ice chips hurt too. Until the bariatric coordinator spent some time with me on posture, and gave me the little measuring cups to help with sipping, I was not a happy camper. The posture helped the most. When swallowing anything, stick those boobs out and sit up straight, head up.

Also, on pain: A day can make a huge difference. I wasn't doing great getting things down, so they kept me one more day. The morning I left I was in ZERO pain and a happy camper.

My incisions/abdomen have never hurt at all. Sometimes I get an odd feeling and I think maybe there is something healing in there. I still have some residual gas pain from time to time. Heat and walking help.

I was given a morphine pump and rarely used it.

I hope your day goes smoothly. You can do this. Be sure to check in after you are able to type!

[Lissa 2,631]

I didn't have much actual pain. My thighs hurt way worse than my tummy because I was trying to compensate for my tummy. It wasn't anywhere near as bad as my c-section pain from having my kids!

I took pain meds the first day and wanted a dose the 2nd night, but I didn't know my conversion from mL to teaspoons, so I didn't take any pain meds that night. I haven't needed any since. I have an unopened bottle of loritab liquid that I keep trying to give to someone, but the pharmacy won't take it back (even without giving me a refund) and the police dept here stopped accepting old meds.

Anyway, back to pain... gas pain can be pretty uncomfortable, and so can the pain from over-filling your sleeve with liquid as an early post-op. So, sip slowly to get the liquids in and walk a lot to get the gas out. Even if you're only capable of walking around the coffee table, it's going to help.

Good luck on your journey!!

[keybold64 43]

My surgery is tomorrow. I know it is normal to be really nervous, but I just needed to talk it out. My biggest worry is pain. I have never done well with pain medications in the past. They always seemed to cause so much nausea that it was worse than the pain. I have only taken pain medications (anything stronger than a advil) only two or three times in my life. So, I need to mentally prepare myself for what to expect. I want to know exactly how much pain you all experienced. And please don't hold back, I need to be prepared. That is just how I work. Thank You!!

My surgery is tomorrow, too! Yes, I'm still nervous but it's more of a calm nervousness at this point. For me, I think I'll just be sooooo relieved when it's over that I'll be able to handle whatever comes after that. I hope it goes that way for you, as well. Good luck!

[peacequeen 434]

Hi medic..I am also having my surgery tomorrow. I've had several surgeries before and I'm pretty confident the medical staff will keep us as comfortable as possible. They don't want anyone suffering. I'm a little nervous but more out of fear of the unknown than the surgery itself. I'll be praying for all of us tonight