Jackson Pratt Drain

I had surgery on Tuesday and have had a smooth transition from then until early this morning. My Jackson Pratt Drain is KILLING me. I called my surgeon and he will see me tomorrow morning and probably take it out (thank God, he is a doll) but I'd just like to be comfortable. Did anyone else have this problem? If so, was there anything you did to make it hurt less? It's gotten to the point where I cannot lift myself out of bed anymore and I'm hunched over when I walk. Don't know if ice or heating pad would work better. Kinda wary of heating pad because I know heat helps with circulation.<br />
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Thanks for all your input!

 I had HORRIBLE pain from my JP drain.  My doctor was, to say the least, not sympathetic.  Once it was out, instant pain relief.  Luckily I got mine out in the hospital.  I wouldn't use the heating pad.  Are the narcotics helping at all?

They are for a couple of hours and then back to square one. I don't really feel comfortable taking tons of meds because I'm on dilaudid (have been for years so he didn't switch me after surgery) and it slows breathing down considerably if you take it too much. I'm just going to lay in the air and try to sleep until tomorrow I guess! He wanted it in until Thursday to take it out but said if it's that bad he will take it out tomorrow so it's a waiting game

How often are you taking the dilaudid?  I  hope you aren't going without pain medication because you are afraid to take it.  You should be able to take it every 4 hours.  After my RNY I was sent home on liquid morphine from my pain management doctor and I took it every 4 hours and after my exploratory surgery 5 months later, I took dilaudid and I took that every 4 hours and had no problems with that.  The longer you wait to take pain meds, the longer it takes for them to work and the longer it takes for you heal.  The doctors want you to take your medication.

Oh yeah I've set a timer for every 4 hrs but it seems to wear off before then. This JP drain is going to be the death of me! The dilaudid kinda just knocks me out and when I wake up I have no sense of time. It's 11p and I could have sworn it was closer to 2am. I'm trying to keep the pain in check as much as possible.

I woke up from surgery with mine in my hand like some kind of squeeze ball... I squeezed it a couple times in my post surgical delerium, lol I had to get a new gown and all new sheets... but I can really only barely remember any of that actually....

Meanwhile, the only reason mine bothered me was cuz it was heavy and pulling on me... So, they safety pinned it to my gown so the weight was on my shoulders instead of my abdomen and that really helped me a lot... I was one of the lucky ones too though and I had mine removed before I left the hospital! 

Hopefully the doc will take it out for you tomorrow!! :D

Huggles!!
~Sarah~

Oh my that made me giggle! Sounds like something i would have done lol!

Mine is pinned to my pants right now. I was told it had to be below the incision site for it to work correctly. Its not too heavy though because it's draining more into the gauze then the grenade.

Thanks for the laugh!

Sorry to hear your drain is giving you problems.  The only pain I have is a sharp stick under my rib at times and it's from my drain.  I just reposition and it goes away.  My drain has not been functioning since I came home.  I called the on call surgeon and she said not to worry about it, since I am scheduled to have it removed Monday afternoon.  Although my drain is not working...clogged internally, where I can't strip it, I am still having drainage.  It's a real pain in the behind because I have to keep changing the pads around the drain instead of being able to just dump the container twice a day.  
Hope you get to have your drain removed tomorrow too!!  :0)  If it weren't for my drain, I don't feel like I had major surgery on Wed.  

Yep I feel the same way! Everything was perfect until this damn drain started acting up lol. Mine is draining all around instead of in the grenade too but the surgeon said that was more than normal. I hope mine comes out tomorrow too.. Good luck!

Fingers crossed for both of us!!!  :0)