Question:
How Much pain is there after you come out of recovery? Roux-NY
My surgery date is 9-26-06 I am just a little nervous about the pain when you come out of recovery and the first couple days . I would like to be fully aware of the pain level I will be having and what to expect. i have had 3 disectomy/ laminectomy's on my back and that was only bad for about a day or two by the third surgery. Anyone who would like to coment or please help me out with an opinion asap - no sugar coating please- straight and to the point. I have asked this question before and everyone says oh you will be fine it's the long term health that you want to think about, that's wonderful that people are so nice and want to be supportive but i want the down to the line truth please. Thanks so much!!! E-mail answers please @ [email protected] thanks again! — jolim (posted on September 12, 2006)
September 12, 2006
Only pain I can really say hurt the most was the gas right after surgery in
recovery then the first time you have to walk is the hardest but that is
what pain meds are for.
— armywife123098
September 12, 2006
When I woke up, one of the first things I remember is the recovery room
nurse asking me, on a scale of 1-10, how bad my pain was. It was about 4 or
5, so they gave me something that took care of it. Then when I got to my
room and was more awake, I had a pain pump that I could hit the button on
myself to control the pain. My surgeon sent me home with liquid Vicodin.
Just remember to "stay ahead" of the pain. Don't wait until
you're in real pain to take your meds.
Good luck!
— LisaHillsinger
September 12, 2006
I just had my lap surgery on Aug 31st. I had some pain when I tried to get
out of bed a few days or if I twisted too much. But I had the pain pump and
used it and havent really had any problems other than the first few days. I
was operated on Thursday and released on Sat with some liquid pain medicine
that I used for several days then stopped. I have been walking and moving
quite a bit and still no problems...and have lost 21 pounds in 13 days.
Good luck!
— Freddy
September 12, 2006
hey check out my journal hopefull that will help u out
— louiedoesit
September 12, 2006
My Lap RNY was 6/13/06. I am a chronic pain patient in a pain management
program already, so I'm always in a state of pain. Honestly, when I woke up
in recovery I was at a 6 but the nurse kept up with it and I had a PCA pump
as well. They kept me on the morphine drip until the morning of discharge,
which was 2 days later.
After I went home, I did have quite a bit of pain but I was on liquid
percocet and was able to chase it off quite well. It *is* going to hurt but
I don't think I was ever higher than a 6 post op.
Good luck! As a prior poster said.. keep ahead of the pain. That's the
secret!
— oceanrayne
September 12, 2006
When I woke up in the recovery room after my lap RNY, my first thought was,
"Oh, no! They didn't do my surgery!" I had to feel my abdomen to
see if I could find the punctures. I had no pain at all. I had a PCA pump,
didn't use it much, and got my butt out of bed as soon as they would let me
and started walking. And I stayed out of the bed as much as possible. Once
I got up the morning after the surgery, I didn't go back until midnight
that night!
— koogy
September 12, 2006
I am 2 months post op RNY and I have to say that the day after my surgery i
was asking myself what have I done, because I was in so much pain. Latter i
found out the pain i was feeling was the gas. Walk as much as you can. My
IV caused my arm to be really sore for some reason, so that didn't help
either. I say get that out asap! other then that I was fine, I was walking
2 miles 5 days after surgery. Take the pain meds they give they will really
help you rest and make you feel better. GOOD LUCK
— Jenney
September 12, 2006
Hi, this is what the pain felt like to me.
When I woke up I felt like somebody took a boxing glove and punch me in my
stomach, I could not breath for a few moments, until I realized where I
was. After that I did not let the pain pump go (lol). The first time I
had to get up and walk I felt the pain in my sholder it was very sharp and
it was my left side so I paniced, the doctor said it's the gas from
annestesia. The next day the pain started to go away, but the gas pain
remained so the more you walk the sooner the gas pain goes away. I hope
this helps.
Good Luck and God Bless
— olga8
September 12, 2006
I won't lie ... I was in a lot of pain right after surgery; my throat hurt
the most as my surgeon puts tubes down in the stomach to empty its contents
and then another one down to check for a leak afterward. Anyway, I was off
pain meds after about 12 hours ... It hurt a little, but IV pain meds make
me nauseous. I'd rather be in pain. You'll get through it. Drugs help a
lot.
— peacefuldaizy
September 12, 2006
I tolerate pain pretty well and had open RNY in August of 05. Once out of
surgery I was on a morphine pain pump after the second day the IV came out.
I used the pump as much as allowed as it would only give you so much at a
time. When the pump came out the nurse put me on liquid vicodin which
tasted awful and after that I did not use it again. During my entire
hospital stay my pain level was only a 1 and that was more of a discomfort
due to needing to move differently to do things until healed. The only
thing I would do different is use the liquid pain medication when going to
bed to get a good night sleep. Although during recovery I was like a baby
and only slept and ate every few hours but a good nights sleep would have
been better. I think if you are aware of your surgery technique and your
limitations you will be ahead of everything. Those limitations will be
your biggest issue in how you get up, about, and get things done until you
are healed.
— 1968 Loser
September 12, 2006
when i 1st woke up from surgery i felt like i got hit by a truck. but the
nurse came by asked me how much pain i felt and she gave me Demerol.
Demerol was my friend for 2 days... I love Demerol... lol
Once I left the hospital all I needed was liquid Tylenol, the pain ws not
that bad, just the disconfort from the gas.
— Ulises Robles
September 12, 2006
Joli, I never had any pain whatsoever. The soreness was the biggest
problem I had, but I asked to get up ASAP. I was able to walk it out. My
surgery was an awesome experience. Good luck...judy
— juju524
September 12, 2006
I HAD MY SURGERY ON 5/17/06 - LAP RNY AND WAS IN THE HOSPITAL FOR 2 DAYS.
I DONT REMEMBER HAVING ANY PAIN AT ALL - IT WAS MORE OF A DISCOMFORT. I
ONLY RECEIVED PAIN MEDS THE FIRST DAY AND WAS FINE OTHER DAYS WITHOUT
ANYTHING - IT WAS MORE UNCOMFORTABLE TO SLEEP IN THE HOSPITAL BED THAN IT
WAS ANYTHING ELSE. I WAS SENT HOME WITH LIQUID LORTAB AND ONLY TOOK IT AT
NIGHT TO HELP ME SLEEP - THANK GOD MY SURGERY WAS A BREEZE AND DOWN 63LBS.
— Stephanie517
September 12, 2006
If it's open, it's pretty bad for the first 24-48 hours and then gets
gradually better each day. If it's laparoscopic, it's much less severe.
Quite frankly I always advise people to prepare for the worst and hope for
the best. Everyone has a different pain threshold. I insisted on being
off morphine after a couple of hours being I prefered the less trippy
Demerol shots. I always insisted on getting out of bed and walking within
24 hours. Not a lot of people do that (I had open RNY). Since you've had
surgery before (as have I), you know that the pain becomes a fairly
distanct memory once you start feeling the positive effects of the surgery.
As soon as I saw the pounds starting to melt off, you could have cut me
open again without anesthesia quite happily and I wouldn't have cared! ;-)
— j_coulter
September 12, 2006
Now would we sugarcoat you? ;o) That'd only make you dump. ROFL. Here
it is - no sugarcoating, nor even a dash of Splenda: Everyone will have a
different experience. Draw on your previous surgeries for how well you
tolerated things as a base. For me, I was open and seriously had no pain.
When I was in the hospital I kept doped up to sleep through the thirst but
I laid there like a bump and got up when they made me. I was amazed at how
little pain there was and even asked my surgeon why. He said that the way
he performs the surgery (open) he doesn't cut through muscle but just
separates it. Anyway, I had surgery on Wednesday and was released on
Friday. I did not take *any* pain meds out of the hospital at all. I had
my liquid Tylenol there if I needed it, but I didn't. I could feel the
tugging of the staples and I knew I had to be gentle with myself, but I was
fine. Now when I had my gallbladder out years prior by lap I was in a lot
of pain from the gas. It went into my shoulders and that was agonizing for
me. I do have fibromyalgia though and think that exacerbated it. That and
the morphine did nothing for me, so they moved over to Demerol....ahhhhh,
much better. So like the person before me who said open was worst, I had
quite the opposite experience and couldn't believe how good I felt after
being cut open stem to stern. Now when I had my g-tube removed, that was
painful. Most folks said they didn't feel anything but I did. It felt as
if I had been stabbed but it went away within 5 minutes. I suspect that
perhaps when he pulled it out maybe a little gastric juices dripped out and
that is why it hurt so much. Most don't feel it, but a few of us did. Not
a lot of docs use the gastric tube though, so you may not even have that.
Hope all these answers help. By far I would say to look to your own
history first. Yeah, it might not be the same, but maybe it will tell you
how you deal with pain in general and what your pain threshold is.
— Dinka Doo
September 13, 2006
I have had much worse pain from other things, so I did not think it was
bad. Right after the surgery, I had a self-controlled drip medication, so
I could have pain-killer whenever I needed it. When I went home, I got
pain pills.
I walked the first day in the hospital, and I think it wa more discomfort
than pain.
— Novashannon
September 13, 2006
I TRULY FELT THAT CHILD BIRTH WAS MUCH WORSE. THE WORST PART OF MY PAIN WAS
THE UPPER LEFT SIDE, WHICH TO ME WAS ONLY BAD WHEN I WOULD GET UP. OF
COURSE MY PAIN GOT WORSE 3 WEEKS LATER BECAUSE I RIPPED MY INSIDE
STITCHES...NOW THAT HURT!!!
— tllcal
September 13, 2006
Joli,
Pain is really a relative thing, but, I can tell you my experience. Right
after surgery, the pain was fairly manageable with the pain meds. It
usually just felt like someone had kicked me on my left side really hard.
I'm now 4 weeks out, and still have some pain on that side, but now it is
more of a pins and needles type feeling that only occurs when I bend down,
which my doctor states is the scar tissue forming and to use heat, tylonol,
or if really bad, the narcotic. I usually only use heat, and that seems to
work. Mine may be a little worse than others, however, because I have a 21
month old to take care of by myself with no help (he weighs 32 pounds!!),
so I am lifting more than you are supposed to, but I limit it to taking him
in/out of his crib. I hope this helps. Good luck on your big day!!
— Eryn G.
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