6 days out of surgery and still dealing with a ton of pain.

Congratulations on your surgery and on the first chapter of your new life!

I am so sorry that you are in so much pain. I can absolutely emphathize with you. My surgery was almost 9 months ago, so I have had a chance to have some distance, but I remember it very well.

You are probably in a lot of pain due to the length and extent of the surgery, especially with having to maneuver around all of the scar tissue. My surgery was about 2 hours or so, but I woke up with a ton of pain in and around my left trocar site. I was told that is where most of the instruments and camera were placed, so there was a lot of moving around and manipulation.

Now, I have always thought I had a high pain tolerance. I had lap gallbladder removal in 2009 without any difficulty, so I thought this would be comparable, maybe a bit more painful, but comparable. Um, no...not at all. I was in severe pain for awhile, like several week with severe pain and up to 7 weeks with moderate pain (I took Lortab those whole 7 weeks). Apparently I had bled into my abdominal muscle on the left side and had a large internal bruise (hematoma) on and around my muscle and those take a helluva long time to reabsorb...oh, and they hurt like hell. ;)

I was irritated for the first few weeks after reading about *everyone* recovering in mere days, up walking miles right after surgery, ditching their pain meds, etc. Why wasn't that happening to me, too? I couldn't walk upright for about 10 days and had to use a walker. There was no treadmill or neighborhood walking for me...no, I was doing great to walk up and down my hallway a few times a day and not cry or scream just attempting to sit/stand from the bed, couch, toliet...and trying to roll in bed, forget it.

So, I complained here and was given support. I set an alarm on my phone and diligently took my pain meds every 6 hours, even during the night because you really don't want to get behind the pain...just don't, trust me. I sipped, weighed/measured, shuffled up and down my hallway, and most of all RESTED and let my body recover from the huge surgery it had just endured. Fortunately, I had taken 6 weeks off from work because I needed all of those days! Oh yeah, I also used a heating pad and that helped immensely. Check with your surgeon before using because some docs don't like you to use them, but mine encouraged it to help with the blood reabsorption.

Hang in there! It DOES get better, I promise. In a month or two this will be a fading memory. You'll think back on it and smile because you'll realize how strong you are, how much you are willing to do for yourself to achieve your goals, and how far you have come. Even though the first almost two months sucked for me in regards to pain issues, I do not regret one single day...I'm almost nine months out and have lost 135 lbs (and still losing), and gained a whole new lease on life.

Hugs and best wishes!

PS - you might also want to try an abdominal binder. It was so helpful for me because every time I stood up, it felt like everything internally was being ripped apart.