Day 4 Post Op, major pains lower left side

[charlie24 4]

Extreme lower left pain, below rib under stomach fold, very severe. I did some research below and explained my story: Has anyone on this forum had these issues and how did you find it best to treat?

Hi, basically I felt like I was slowly improving and on a path to easy healing. That all changed day 3 of my recovery. I was having no problems with my incisions, just pain here and there from laying in weird positions and stuff. I had my ON-Q pain relief still attached to my chest and it only hurt after my dog trying to cuddle with me and then jumped off the couch attempting to take the pump with him. On day 3, I woke up with a dull pain on my lower left side a little bit below my ribs. As the day went on it for worse and worse. Instead of a max of 3/10 pain I had felt previously, my pain was slowly getting worse. I assumed this was from lack of bowl movement and only a few occasions of passing gas. When we took the pain pump out, the left side jumped from bad to worse. After going to the bathroom before bed, which really ached my left side, I took oral pain medications and positioned my self for bed, a few hours later it was excruciating. My father had to helped roll me in positions and set pillow, ice, heating pads on and around me since I actually looking move without feeling like 10 knives stabbing my lower left side. After more hydrocodone, I started to do research, many people had similar pain and when they told their doctors they would send them to the ER for testing and unless it was an extreme case of leakage, ulcer, cyst, hernia etc, they realized it was from the incisions made on the left side to remove a portion and move around the stomach. Many people said it took them a few weeks to feel better, but the pain stayed pretty bad and taking strong pain medicine was crucial to get through the day. Other said compression binders saved the day, holder the stomach and muscles In place to minimize pressure and pain.

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[#9grammy 274]

Oh my I hear your pain as I too had this excruciating pain. It took me 2 weeks before it eased up enough that I didn't need vicodine. My dr ordered the liquid 7.5/325 of vicodine. No one can tell you what you have to do, it's totally up to you. I can tell you for me it was from the stomach coming out that hole! I called my surgeon and he told me I had one of the largest stomachs he's pulled out! I was like really? It was 38" he said most are like 36" or less. Why was mine so big? I really don't know.

My love was a heating pad on med with a pillow to my belly I hung onto. Then the walking gosh it hurt so bad, but passing all that gas from surgery was a welcomed relief.

Remember your stomach was cut on down to make the size of a med banana. That's what my surgeon told me and all the staples put in. Was going to take 4-6 weeks to heal, yes it's gonna hurt but not excruciating pain as your referring to. Good luck

[Seagull 140]

Mine did not go away until 5 1/2 weeks

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[gettingsleeved1 79]

I'm almost 2 weeks post op and still have a lot of pain. I spoke to my Dr and he said since it was the hole he pulled the stomach out of, I had to have my muscle stitched back together as well as subdermal stitches, so they take longer to heal.

I wear a binder, that helps. And when it's starting to hurt I just apply pressure and that seems to help. For me I think it's the weight of my belly pulling down that is causing most of the pain, the rest is positional.

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[charlie24 4]

Hi! Thanks so much for the replies! I started sleeping in my recliner and now it's easier to get up. Other than having a lot of trouble moving when I woke up this morning, I've been able to function when I take the liquid hydrocodone that was prescribed to me before I was discharged. I'm sleepy and dazed on it, but I make sure to do my walking and any little things right when it kicks in and before it puts me to sleep!

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[SimplySheavon 22]

I'm a little confused because my understanding is that the hole for the stomach removal comes from the right side as mine did. I've heard that extreme left side pain can indicate a leak....not always I'm sure.

[KristenLe 5,979]

@@charlie24 I am pre-op but any pain that is as bad as you describe should be discussed with your surgeon. Let them decide if it's"normal" or not. There's far too many complications that if you aren't sure what's going on - ask your surgeon. It could be normal but could also be serious (blood clot). Don't take any chances.

[Kari1985 70]

I'm a little confused because my understanding is that the hole for the stomach removal comes from the right side as mine did. I've heard that extreme left side pain can indicate a leak....not always I'm sure.

My larger incision where the stomach was pulled from is on the left.