DS - Your first surgery?

 Thanks for your tips everyone!  Jazz - I'm hoping for a PCA pump!  The only downfall is falling asleep and not being able to use it.  Becky - I'm not using Dr. Smith.  Unfortunately, it's just too expensive as a self-pay.  I don't blame Dr. Smith.  His surgeon charge isn't much more, but the hospital charge is many thousands of dollars more.

 It was my first surgery unless you count wisdom teeth.  It wasn't nearly as bad as what I was prepared for.  Didn't really have a lot of pain, just discomfort.  I was on one of those pain pumps and I hated it.  I wanted to just get a shot so I could sleep for a few hours instead of having to wake up to hit the button.  It never gave me enough meds to get rid of the discomfort completely.

I had a knee scoped about 3 months before my DS, but that is all that I have had in my 64 years of life. I read the thread about what to expect in the day following surgery, about the ride back to the room etc. I was lucky, I DON'T REMEMBER ANY OF IT! My DS surgery was at 9AM and it took 3 hours, the family says that I was in recovery another 2 hours.
  They SAY that they were all in my room when I was brought up but I do not remember a thing until about midnight when a nurse woke me up to walk. On my board were FAILED a couple of times when they tried to get me up. I think that I was lucky that I don't remember those first few hours because I did not have that feeling that I "got hit by a truck". I walked a mile the next day and then another mile the day after (16 laps around the ward is a mile) I did one or 2 laps at a time but got them in. By the third day my calf muscles were so sore that I could hardly walk.........

I felt more disoriented than anything, kind of in a state of confusion most of the time, even for a few days after I came home. I blamed it on the pain meds but I have since heard that the Lovenox will do that to you.

Remember everyone is different but I feel that I had a good experience!

Honestly, I expected MORE pain and nausea than I had!  When I was semi-aroused, I do remember pain and nausea...mainly in my upper gut.  Its like you got sucker-punched.  I could only manage one word at a time so I'd wake up and say "PAIN" and the nurse would be right there to give me something.  Then I'd go back to sleep for a bit.  Wake up and say "NAUSEA" and he'd give me something else.  Back to sleep.  It went on like that for several hours.

By the time I was up to my room, I actually didn't feel all that bad.  I was up walking an hour or so after I was back to my room.  The main thing you'll want to be reassured of is pain control.  They should be, and stay, on top of it.  They did come in and give me pain and nausea meds every 4 hours or so.  I did not have a pain pump...that I recall!

I was off all pain and nausea meds after day 2.  I left the hospital on day 3.  There was no intestinal pain at all...which somehow I thought I'd feel down there?  I think the worst residual pain was my abdominal muscles.  After everything I'd come to expect, I left feeling like I'd done 1000 too many situps!  I was off work for 2 weeks but, from the day of surgery, was back to work after a week and a half.  I have an office job and sit a lot so I figured I could be there and get paid.  I think it really helped speed up my recovery!

I am one of those who tend to recover quickly and without much pain.  Maybe I have a high pain threshhold?  I think I had more issues having my gall bladder removed!  For me, this surgery was a breeze but, then again, I had an awesome surgeon!  :o)

 Darcy, it sounds like you had a great recovery!  Here's hoping mine will be as low key as yours.   I'll stick to my mantra: Plan for the worst, hope for the best!

The DS was for all intents and purposes my first surgery.  I had my tonsils out when I was 7, and I gave birth to my son naturally...so those were really the only other things that I could potentially compare this to.  After I had my son, I felt terrible.  He was a very big baby (9lbs, 5oz and 22 1/4 in long), so I basically gave birth to a toddler...imagine that!  BUT...it did not prepare me for the DS at all!!  When I finally woke up after my DS, I felt like I had been run over by an entire convoy of semis, it was the worst I had ever felt in my life.  I'm totally not trying to scare you, because I would do this whole thing again in a heartbeat if I had to.  I also had my gallbladder and appendix removed when I had my DS.  I wouldn't classify myself as a person who has a very high pain tolerance, and everyone is different.

I had my appendix out when I was young, can't remember what year so who knows really how old I was, basically DS was my first surgery.

I said I didn't hurt after the surgery but the next day I got very aggravated about not being able to sleep.  I was next to the nurses station and the light stayed on 24/7.  Come to find out I just needed a little pain meds, I had a pain pump, but no one told me I had a pain pump.  Needless to say I pushed the button and felt much better.  Also my surgery sites didn't hurt as much as my legs.  I was one of those rare birds who had numb and overly sensitive upper thighs.  Sometimes just the sheet touching them hurt and sometimes I couldn't feel them at all.  It took a year but the feeling went away.

Hope this helps.

Betty