Pain post op question

I was prepared for much more pain than I actually experienced.  The doc and staff at the hospital got an A+ for pain control.

I learned pretty early what felt normal and what didn't.  But every twinge was the start of something horrible.  I left the hospital with some anti-anxiety meds for exactly that purpose.  I really really needed them the first month to get my past some of my head issues.  As far as symptoms go, I had them all cataloged in my head.  The biggest ones I looked for was a sustained high pulse and fever.  I never had a fever, and my pulse would go up with the anxiety but after losing myself in a book for a few mins it would come back down.  If you're concerned about anxiety levels, talk to your doc about something to help.  

Normal is pretty different for each person. I was miserable right after the surgery, in the hospital. I felt like I'd been kicked in the gut by a horse, multiple times. Three weeks later and I'm still miserable; not as much, but the stomach muscle pain is still pretty present, I get sharp, crampy pains in my stomach when it thinks it should eat, whether I can get anything down or not. That said, I also had a bowel blockage after surgery in the hospital, and it didn't hurt at all. I just threw up feces, which indicated a problem. (let me tell you, that was gross)

You may luck out and be relatively pain-free, or you may end up like me, there's no way of knowing ahead of time. If you don't think it's a life and death situation, ask the boards. Chances are someone can help you pinpoint what's going on. If you're really worried, call your doc. That's what they're there for.

I think it's normal to be anxious about surgery.   When I was pregnant with my second daughter, I knew I was going to have a c-section (she was almost 12 pounds) and I knew that they would close me up with staples.   When I'd had the first daughter, they hadn't invented those surgical skin staples, so it was totally new to me, and I obsessed about them.   I wasn't afraid about the surgery.   I wasn't afraid about having a new baby!   I wasn't afraid about how my 5 year old would respond to having a new baby sister.   Noooooooooo....   I was scared to death of those staples.

My c-sections were much more painful to recover from than the DS.   My DS was open and I'd have to say that the second day after surgery, which tends to be the worst, was about equivalent to the second or third week post-C-section, pain-wise.  

Your surgeon will go over with you the signs and/or symptoms to watch out for and be sure to report to him straightaway.   You won't go home unarmed with enough information to take care of yourself appropriately.  

Dennie