Should I hurt this bad?

I got my lap RNY early on the morning of 11/4.  My abdomen is so sore when I try to walk.  I know that I just had surgery but there are a lot of people that don't experience pain on this level ever.  It is bad enough that I want to whine with every step.  While in the hospital I had the feeling that the pain killer they were sending me home with didn't work that great.  I don't know.  I also am afraid to take a shower and to take my binder off.  If I am sitting down I am okay the pain is just when I am up and getting around. 

Does this sound familiar?  I thought I had a high pain tolerance.

I'm kinda hoping someone else can relate to this.  I really had minimal pain after surgery.  I only took the liquid oxycodone at bedtime the first night home.  Otherwise I just used tylenol at bedtime. 

I was quite sore on my right side where they did the liver biopsy and had a lump (hematoma), but nothing like you describe.  I also didn't wear a binder.  My surgeon only uses them for open rny. 

You might need to call the MD.  Sorry I can't offer more advice.

-Dawn

Well I did call the doc and he still says that everyone is different.  The only thing I can think of is that since I have been wearing the binder from the start that the sensation of it coming off seems very uncomfortable to me.  He did say that the binder is typically for people that get RNY but I had one on when I woke up.  He assured me that pain is normal but I feel ike I am in my own little world of pain. 

I had minimal pain but when I was uncomfortable I used a heating pad.  I took pain meds for the ride home (2hrs) and I used tylenol or heat when I got home.  I had pain more so on my left side when they took my drain out.

I hope you feel better soon!!!

 Welcome to the feeling of getting hit by an 18 wheeler!  I told people that as the weeks passed the size of the truck got smaller and smaller.  I wasn't one of those people who had no pain.  Unfortunately it took about three months before I felt "right".  I hated reading about these people who bounced back from surgery because I thought I was wrong for feeling so miserable.  But if you look through all the "I felt wonderful after surgery" posts, you will see that some of us had a rough time post-op.  All that being said, I never had buyers remorse.  I did get aggravated that I wasn't feeling better sooner, but I knew feeling better had to come one day and that day did eventually happen.  Now I am twirling with stamina and don't even think about the days in the beginning!  You can do this and when you turn the corner you will take off like you never did before.  Good Luck!

Clinell

I did not have much pain at all after my rny - much less than previous surgery to remove my gall bladder or fix my broken arm. However, after I had complications (2 weeks later) I was in  horrendous amounts of pain. I think it depends on how your body is and also how much your insides had to be manipulated. I hope you feel better soon! It took a little while in my case, a few weeks, before I didn't hurt at all, but the really bad pain only last a couple of days.

It has only been two days!  I think being real sore sounds pretty darn normal to me.  Are you taking pain medication?  Please do.  Have someone hang out while you take a shower and wash your hair.  You will feel so much better.  Before you shower wash out your binder and hang it above a heater vent to dry.  After all this you will be very tired.  Curl up in the recliner and rest until your binder is dry.  Wear it if it makes you feel good.  Don't be hard on yourself.  Hugs, Loris

I am in horrible pain on my left side. I have a big stomach and I have to lift it up when walking. I am 9 days out of RNY. I wasnt given a binder , so hubby went out and bought one. Havent tried it yet. Keep up with Pain Meds. It will help.


Sunny

I was miserable after my surgery!  My tummy hurt when I was doing anything but sitting, and even then sometimes it bothered me.  I couldn't drink enough to stay hydrated, I couldn't bear the thought of food, and frankly I wondered what the heck I'd done to myself. 

I took liquid Roxicet (think it's the liquid version of percocet) regularly for a long time, in part because I had a post-op infection.  If it hadn't been for the infection, I probably would have been able to wean myself back to regular tylenol after 10-14 days.  But after 3-4 days?  No way! 

I used an abdominal binder to make myself more comfortable when I walked.  Don't worry about taking it off to shower; you will be fine and you can put the binder back on when you are done.  Also, I'd recommend taking a dose of pain medication about 30 minutes before you get in the shower; that should help minimize any pain you'll have from taking off the binder. 

We all react differently to surgery and have various degrees of tolerance for pain.  Just focus on what you need to do to be comfortable and take it a day at a time.  It gets better pretty quickly -

Kellie

IS there any chance one of your incision sights may be infected?  I had that happen to me. There was kind of a lump in the incision area and it hurt when I got up or walked. 10 days of antibiotic did the trick. I never had any kind of binder, so I can't respond to that part.  Take care and hang in there!  HUGS  Jeanine