Left torso pain

Hi. I had my surgery on Feb 20, 2004. After about 1 1/2 weeks, I stopped taking the pain medication. Everything was great for 4 days. Then, all of a sudden, I started having this sharp pain in my left torso right in between my small incision and the 2-inch wide incision (I had lap RNY surgery). It has not gone away yet. I feel this pain whenever I sit in certain positions or lay on my side. I am always needed to readjust the way I am sitting! Also, when I apply pressure to the area that is hurting, it goes away until I let go. The pain feels like I am being stabbed. Does anyone know what this is???? Thanks,

Sherrie, you really should contact your surgeon and explain the problem to him. I hope you learn what the problem is and are able to resolve it soon. Mary

Sherrie, I also had similar pain, and had to get a refill of the narcotics 1 time because the pain was so intense from my ribcage to my belly button, only on the left side. I would call your surgeon. I was told prior to and during my hospital stay that I could potentially feel pain in this area for 1 month after surgery. Most of the work is done in that area and muscles need to be moved around, etc. I could not sit up too straight, or lean straight over while sitting. I also could only sleep on my back. I just had my 1 month anniversary and the pain is GONE. Good luck.

Sherrie, I also had this pain. I used a little pillow I got from the hospital to apply pressure and it seemed to help until my arm would get tired from applying pressure. You may want to buy a binder from a medical supply store. My surgeon told me that the pain is from the largest laproscopic instrument being put through that area (you probably had bruising in that area also (I did)). This is the incision through which they moved your liver out of the way and stretched or cut through muscle tissue. This is normal for lap surgery and it does go away, but you have to be careful to not lift things that are too heavy or activities that cause too much pain there. I found that if I continued to walk, the pain got less (even though it hurt a little when I first started walking). Because of this pain, I wore a binder around my abdomen when I was walking or doing activities. By 3 weeks post-op, I was barely feeling the pain and by 4 weeks, it is mostly a memory. Good luck, hope this helps, it does go away, Dorothy 5'8" lap rny (2/17/04) 325/283/165