Couple of Questions: Pain Meds and Labs (xpost)

Hi All,   I had my revision from lap-band to DS (lap) on the 29th of October.  I traveled from Denver to Salt Lake for the surgery.  My staples and drains were removed on the third day (only because I begged them not to take them out on the 2nd day) and replaced with steri strips. I was in the hospital for 4 days.  I was discharged with 4 days of pain meds (percocet/20 pills, once every 4 hours as needed).  I traveled home(by plane)  the following day.  I have one incision that is approx. 3 inches long.  I believe this is where my band was removed.    

The day after I got home I split this incision wide open and it bled significantly.  I called the surgeons office and they told me to replace the steri strips, go to my pcp, or an emergency room.  I went to my pcp and she wouldn't touch it.....she referred me to a general surgeon.  By placing a significant amount of pressure on my abdomen and inserting his finger inside my incision approximately another 1/4 cup of old blood (or as he referred to it "grape jelly") from the incision.  He assures me this is not new bleeding and I do trust what he is saying.  At this point the incision is still open and he could not stitch/staple/etc. this far out.  It is still oozing old blood, but at slow rate.  There is no foul smell, redness, etc.  It does appear to be healing.    

Here's my question (sorry it took me so long to get there but I thought some back story would be helpful).....When I called my DS surgeon I also asked if he would prescribe me more pain meds.  I was told that he would not do this.  Now I do know that there are some laws that prevent doing so over the phone (or so I've been told), however I requested that he speak with my pcp and recommend to her that prescribing more would be acceptable.  It's not going to happen.  Am I being a baby?  Should I have been able to wean myself off this early out?  I have some left over pills from a prior procedure that I have been using, but those are nearly gone.  I'm still in significant pain and not sure how I will be functional on Tylenol alone.    

Secondly, my DS surgeon said that they will do labs in a year.  I've read repeatedly that I should monitor at 3 months, worst case 6 months.  I know I have awhile to go before I need to be concerned about this, but how do I go about getting these if the surgeon doesn't order them?  

Thank you!

I'm sorry you're going through all this and that your surgeon isn't going along with what so many know to be good practice regarding labs. You may need a new PCP, one that will listen to you regarding labs. Or, you can go on your own to www.directlabs.com. Did you get a copy of your pre-op labs?

--gina

Hi Gina,

I have a follow up with the general surgeon today so I think I will ask him about the pain meds.

I am going to try and educate my PCP on the procedure.  I hope that will be compelling enough for her to be willing to support me in getting the labs that I need.  I do have a copy of my pre-op labs. 

Tina

I would ask the general surgeon for the pain meds, since he was in there probing around.

For labs, Ive had my PCP do them during my annual physical.  If your PCP is not willing to cooperate, it's time to find one who is.

Thank you Valerie, I'm going to talk to the general surgeon today.

Tina

hope you are feeling better, your surgeon is not going to RX you a controlled substance over the phone.  you had your DS on 10/29 and you are still taking pain meds?  that is a very long time, especially for a DS.  Percocet is for pain (severe) which is beyond the prescribing for DS, if anything you should be on OTC if you still need anything.  Pain and pulling are very different, have you tried tylenol (be careful not to over dose on acetominophine max per day)  I would personally not wait 12 months post DS to have blood work ordered, that is not acceptable after having a procedure like that, you wont know how your body is adapting to the malabsorption.   my surgeon didnt order my blood work, pretty much the surgeon is just that, they dont take care of us after the procedure, they are the cutters, not the followers.  get a pcp or and endo to order your follow up blood work and follow up care

Unless you are going to see your DS surgeon you probalby won't get more pain meds from him. The general
surgeon is your best bet.

I would try and get your PCP to run labs at 6 months. Looking back I'm not sure I learned anything from my 3 month labs.
there should have been pre-op labs. Get a copy of those so you can compare the next set with them. Ask for actual
copies and don't be satisfied with the "everything is normal" answer. Even if everything is fine you want to be able
to look for trends from one set of labs to another so you can be pro-active with your vitamins.

Welcome to the DS and I'm glad that incision seems to be healing. Sorry to say your story doesn't fill me with 
confidence in your surgeon but you can get through it one way or another.

Pete