Pain

Thanks so much. Yes they did a number near my left ribs. Pain is bad. Glad you are doing so good.

I'm sorry you're having pain.

They used to call the first week "hell week" around here. No one really talked about it prior so many weren't expecting it. There is literally nothing you can do except take your pain meds, walk and sip, sleep. Every day you get through is a day closer to feeling better though so hang in there. For some of us days' two and/or three were the worst; they were also the turning point.

It absolutely does suck. But it also ends. Hang in there and remind yourself how happy you are to be over and done with the surgery.

Thank so much for the encouraging words. It's a little better than yesterday.

Welcome to the losers bench Shannon :)

You sound like you are doing well with your movement - keep it up as it helps shift the gas build up. Re the pain, its major surgery as the others have said... be kind to yourself and rest as much as you can. Keep your pain meds and fluids up and you will find that each day gets a little bit easier.

I found my pain got better each day and that it helped to support the cut that they took my stomach out of as I got up to walk. By the end of the first week, I was a different girl and the scales started dropping.

Take care

Shirley

Very reassuring! Thank you so much. I will definitely stay on top of the meds, fluids, and walking. So glad to be going home tonight.

I took my tylenol with codeine around the clock for two days and had zero issues with pain. Are you taking your pain meds??

Yes, I'm taking them around the clock. I have major soreness everywhere over my incision sites. It's worse on the left, where the doc said the liver retractors were. So much pain that I had to crawl from the toilet back to bed this morning because I couldn't get off the toilet (husband is out getting me an elevated toilet seat as I write this). Hurts to cough and even pass gas's (sorry for the TMI). The good news is I'm getting my fluid and protein in.

I recommend asking your surgeon for something stronger. You should not be in this sort of excruciating pain.

He did give me dilaudid, and I'm taking Tylenol with codeine for breathrough. They just take the edge off. Still having a lot of trouble. Pain is usually intensified with me, I swear I have fibromyalgia. Not officially diagnosed, but I have all the symptoms. On top of it I'm menstruating, which usually exacerbates all of my pain issues.

It's counter-intuitive, but some people don't have as good of pain relief with the synthetics as supposedly "lesser" pain relievers. Dilaudid didn't touch my pain post-op. Luckily my pain started subsiding very quickly and I was able to deal with just the tramadol. I'd had morphine with my knee reconstruction, and it works great for me. I was honestly surprised when dilaudid did virtually nothing since it's supposed to be many times more effective than morphine. I have a good friend who a couple of years ago had a bad bowel obstruction, and dilaudid did nothing for her but morphine worked.

So it might be worth seeing if the doc will trial a different opioid for you.