Anyone else end up with injured Spleen? How long to heal?

[Elizabeth21 176]

Hello. Found out today at ER that I have a lacerated Spleen from Sleeve surgery. I'm 3 weeks post-op. Anyone know about how long it should take to heal? And OUCH!!

Thanks.

[BeagleLover 1,020]

What?! I imagine your surgeon would have known(?)

Edited January 3, 2015 by BeagleLover

[MarylandCrab 25]

Oh no! I'm sorry that happened to you. Are you in much pain? How are they treating it? I hope this doesn't happen, but if they decide to remove the spleen to fix the problem, please feel free to contact me. I had my spleen removed 9 years ago and can tell you about some of the after care. I

[Elizabeth21 176]

@@MarylandCrab They are not removing it. It should heal on its own. The worst part is that the injury irritated my phrenic nerve and so I was having muscle spasms to the point that I could not breathe. My surgeon did not figure this out because he said he'd never had someone with this kind of pain at 3 weeks out. My own internet research helped me figure it out. So I took some anti muscle spasms meds and that finally interrupted the cycle allowing my muscles to settle down. It is not unlike back muscle spasms, only in this case when it was flaring up I could barely breathe. The pain was right up there with labor pain. On a scale of 1 to 10, a 12. Once the spasms settled some, then percocet could address the actual muscle pain. So finally after four days of suffering, yesterday I began to feel some relief. It has taken a lot out of me though. I had originally hoped to go back to work this week with shortened hours, but, now I am going to try to reschedule appointments and just try to work from home. Hopefully by the end of the week I'll be much stronger because next week's schedule is not very flexible.

Thanks for your support!

[Elizabeth21 176]

@@BeagleLover Nope. The surgeon has disappointed me with his knowledge in this regard. (See my answer above.) Thank God for the internet!

[BeagleLover 1,020]

@@Elizabeth21, so sorry to hear of these troubles... sounds very painful. I hope this passes quickly.

[MarylandCrab 25]

Oh @Elizabeth21I'm sorry you have to go through this pain. I'm studying massage therapy and am familiar with the location of the phrenic nerve. That has to be excruciating. I'm glad some of the meds are starting to help and I'm glad they don't have to remove the spleen. Nine years ago they found a cyst on my pancreas that was so large it was crushing my splenic artery.....while I don't think I felt any pain in my spleen, I know there is a very specific pain when an organ is lacerated or traumatized with injury or growths. That's why I jumped when I saw your post. I can sort of relate!!

Hope you're continuing to feel better!

[Elizabeth21 176]

Thanks for the support!

[Aerohead21 4]

I had my surgery 3 days ago and my spleen was injured too. I'm telling you, the pain is excruciating. I keep reading and seeing how recovery isn't bad and you'll feel pretty good. Yeah NO!! I'm glad you found out about the muscle spasms. I'll have to keep that in mind.

Edited January 8, 2015 by Aerohead21

[Elizabeth21 176]

@@Aerohead21 I am so sorry to learn that you are going through this too. And yes, my stomach recovery has gone okay, but the spleen has been awful. Hopefully since they have discovered yours sooner you will get faster relief. Let me know how it goes for you!

[Aerohead21 4]

I just can't believe your surgeon didn't tell you. The spleen is an organ that filters blood so it bleeds super easy. You can't miss it if you lacerate it. My doctor told my mom, then said no blood thinners after surgery as it would increase the chance for internal bleeding. All I know is I feel horrible. I can't wait until it gets better.