Question:
Which hurts worse..the incision or the rooto rootering?

Im just wondering..Is the pain from the incision itself or is it from the cutting of the stomach and small intestine? Can you feel post-op that your stomach and intestines have been sliced and diced?    — mastrnservnt (posted on October 23, 2001)

October 23, 2001
I had absolutely no internal pain. My incision is 4 inches and the pain was not fun. I could think of worse pain :0) My pain was essentially gone by week 2. I never rated my incision pain above a 1 or 2 after they took me off the epidural and I would just take regular tylenol caplets as needed. Hope this helps.
   — Kristin R.

October 23, 2001
Hi! I am a post-op open RNY distal and had to have my stomach stretched back out at 5 weeks because of partial closure. The incision is definately more painful that the rooter rooter process. 3 hours after having my stomach restretched, I was eating tuna in the hospital bed. It was nothing...the spray tasted awful....no pain at all
   — Joi G.

October 23, 2001
I am 1 week post op and the thing that keeps amazing me is how I don't feel any different inside, at least as far as feeling cut up or anything. The external incision is of course felt, but inside--nothing! The main thing I feel inside is occasional gas bubbles from gulping (old habits die hard) under my left breast, and this is getting better daily. The main thing with the incision is the stretching it feels when I stand up...
   — Anita J.

October 23, 2001
My incision didn't hurt at all. It just itched some. I think most of the pain is muscular from having your ribs pulled back and such.
   — Meredith A.

October 23, 2001
I had an open rny and I had absolutely no pain. In the hospital I had a PCA pump and I had no post-op pain. My doc gave me a prescription for med meds when I was discharged. I never even had it filled...I had no pain at all. I had a little soreness at the incision site; but it only lasted a few days and didn't keep me from doing the things I wanted to do. This surgery was so much better and more comfortable than my hysterectomy.
   — [Anonymous]

October 23, 2001
I had a Lap VBG done and I have to say that when I woke up from surgery, I was hurting! I had a morphine pump though and while I was laying in bed, had no pain. Although, when I had to get up and move around, that was a whole other story. I was up and walking 8 hrs after my surgery and the most pain I had was muscular. My incisions never really hurt, it just felt like I had done a million sit ups. My recovery was very fast. I had surgery on a Monday, was released on Wednesday and could have easily gone back to work the following Monday. All the nurses were stunned that I was walking around only 1 day after surgery (granted, it was painful). I guess they hadn't really seen a lap patient before. I hope that answers your question! Good luck!
   — Amy E.

October 24, 2001
The insision hurt the worst! Absolutely NO doubt on this. I don't remember my insides hurting, but with all the pain on the outside maybe I could'nt notice it. And I have also had a hysterectomy (12 years ago) and the Open RNY was DEFINATELY WORSE than that too. No doubt on that one ether.
   — [Anonymous]

October 24, 2001
I don't know if most people know this or not, but when your insides are cut, you do not feel pain on those parts. I believe it has to do with lack of nerve endings in our gall bladders, etc... kidneys, stomachs, gall b The things that hurt are things like incisions (where nerves are) and perhaps ribs (where pressure would have been applied and muscles would be painful).
   — [Anonymous]

July 10, 2003
I am so surprised that no one has posted on the type of pain that I have experienced since day one after the surgery. I had lap done and as soon as I tried to get out of bed to start my walking in the hospital, I started feeling a horrible pain left of my belly button. At first I thought it was the incision getting infected. But after comming home on the third day the pain was horrible. Ineeded help getting up and when I did I would HOWL with pain. After being home 3 days, I went back to the ER at the hospital where I was operated because I just knew something was wrong from the magnitude of this pain, it even hurt in my back, both back and front. So they did all the testings, a CAT scan with die inserted in my veins, blood work - everything - and did not find a thing. So the doctor said it was probably trauma pain to the area since all the tools used for the operation, some huge, were inserted through the small incision in that side. So I went home and it's been a month and I still have a lot of pain. It's hard to explain, it's not the same hot, searing pain as before but it's very uncomfortable where I am very limited to what I can do. I cannot be standing up or walking for more than a few minutes. At the grocery store I manage by leaning on the shopping car but still I need to get in and out as soon as possible. When I am sitting, it feels better but I always feel it. It's both the front and the back. I have an appt next friday with my surgeon, and I plan on getting to the bottom of this. Has anyone else suffered with this kind of pain. I am so scared that it will never go away.
   — YOLANDA R.

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