Let's talk pain..

I did not have much pain at all.  I remembered the awful gas pains I had when I had my twins C-Section, so I was very afraid of that.  I was fortunate and did not have gas pains at all.  I used the pump pain med one time and that was it. I think one of the things that helped me was I moved alot.  I changed position in bed as many times as I could throughout the first night and next day. And walked the halls with my iv pole as much as possible.  They ended up pulling the pump and sending me home a day early.  I slept in my daughter's bed (she moved away recently), so I wouldn't disturb my husband moving around in the middle of the night. I used a wedge pillow (I had been using that for a while to help with snoring/apnea) and that helped to elevate my head/shoulders on my back or side. They sent me home with Tylenol 3, which they insisted I had to take to keep blood pressure down, so I took it a few days, but didn't like how it made me feel.  It can also be very constipating.  

So, as others have said, everyone's pain is different. I feel I was very fortunate, but also feel that movement and activity helped me get through it quickly. I spent one week off work, worked the 2nd week from home (very tired, but manageable), then returned to work after 2 weeks. That is a bit early and I was very tired. I ended up taking an hour of sick time at the end of the day each day for a week, then napping for a couple of hours when I got home. When I said something to the doctor about it, he said, "I told you that you could go back to work, but I didn't say you wouldn't be tired."  In hindsight, I could have used another week off, but it worked out OK for me.  

Good luck.

I took morphine in the hospital the first night, but switched to Lortab (liquid Vicodin) the next morning in the hospital.  Percocet was what I took at home for a week. 

The gas pain was the worst problem, so I found lying on my side instead of my back helped tremendously.  When I was home, I slept in my recliner for the first few night, them moved to my convertible bed. Lying flat hurt, but with my head up I was ver comfortable.

I am 2 weeks out today from my surgery and back to work.  After my surgery I had an IV with Morphine overnight, they started to give me oral Dilaudid the next day and sent me home with a script.  They get you up in the hospital every 4 hours to walk, I got up to walk every 2, then once my catheter was out I walked the halls every hours. The more I walked the better I felt.  Pain I thought was minimal, the first night home I slept in the recliner, the next night in my own bed, laying flat and on my side. No pain after that. I have not used any pain medication since the night after my surgery.  Just walk, walk, walk.... It helps with the nausea, and the gas pains.

Good Luck!!!!

Dr Morales did my surgery three years ago. At thàt time he used the On Q pain system which was a catheter with holes in it that was barely under the skin and contained a numbing drug that automatically released into the skin around the incisions. Because of this I had really no pain except gas pain in the shoulder area. Gas pain goes away with walking so bug bug bug your nurses to let you get up quickly and walk. I was out in the hall an hour and a half after I got to !my room. I got myself up every hour if awake and walked in the hall. They would remove the pain catheter before you left for home or you could remove it yourself at home when the bulb was flat. My husband pulled mine the second day I was home. It felt weird but didn't hurt. I  had a prescription for pain meds but never took anything stronger than Tylenol.

Good Morning, Karen.

Forgot to ask you....once you had your three screening meetings, how long from that point until they were able to schedule and you had the surgery.  My meetings are late next week, and when I count the weeks ahead I see the holidays maybe becoming a factor.  I am so anxious to get things moving as weighing 256 as I do even at 5.8inch makes doing normal everyday activities difficult.  

Pain in the hospital is usually kept under control! After I got home I was fine, took pain med (percocet 1/2 dose) at night to sleep. About two weeks later got the worst pain ever! I am not new to surgery or pain but it really knocked me on my butt! The big incision on the left side has nerves all around it that go from your spine around to your belly button. While that incision is healing it bothers the nerves and burns and hurts like hell! No pain med will help! I went to the ER to found out what was wrong cause it was so bad. They did the IV drugs and nothing! At my four week appointment with the surgeon he explained that it was the nerves and meds don't help and when the stitch dissolves on the inside around five to six weeks I would wake up a whole woman! He was right on the mark! I woke up feeling great one day about a weekish later. I was an extreme case, some have no pain there, others a little bit and people like me who think their skin is burning from the inside out!