Question:
Does EVERYONE get an epidural?
I know this has been asked before, but I don't believe it has been fully answered....thanks for the help — barbara A. (posted on August 14, 2002)
August 14, 2002
At my pre-surgery class with the nurses, they said there are 3 types of
pain management used. Most opens get Epidurals. Some get morphine pumps.
Most of their laps get pain injections in their IVs. My surgery is
schedule for tomorrow, so I'll see if this is correct.
— Cathy S.
August 14, 2002
I did not have an epidural, my Docs office stopped doing it because they
said it was an unnecessary risk.. I think it was because of cost or
something. Anyhow, I think the morphine pump was sufficient. If you are
concerned talk to your doctor, before they stopped doing it my docs office
gave us a choice.
— smedley200
August 14, 2002
Barbara, An epidural may be refused by anyone. I wanted one with my
lap-rny though. It was wonderful. If you've never had one, it only a
little uncomfortable because you have to sit slumped over with your back
arched, and the catheter going into the dural space makes your hips ache a
little. Other than that, It is really no big deal. It should allow you to
get up and moving quicker because the pain is better controlled. I had a
self-controlled pain pump for mine, and anytime you need a little extra,
Pain management can come in and program the machine to give you a little
extra dose. Hope this helps.
— Tina B.
August 14, 2002
I didn't have an epidural for my RNY. I just had a pain pump and whatever
they put in my IV. It was sufficient. I was asleep most of the time and the
worst pain I had was from lying on my back on the operating table for
hours. I DID have an epidural for my c-section and it was GREAT! They used
some kind of hybrid epidural that had a combination of drugs in it. I
didn't feel appreciable pain for about 36 hours. I was up and walking no
problem. Which was good because my daughter was in the NICU and if I wanted
to see her I had to do it on my own steam . . .<p>Epidurals are tough
for MO patients because it is difficult to bend over far enough to get a
good space for the needle to go in. I spent some time in a clinic in Mexico
and saw an epidural from hell on an MO woman who was pregnant. After they
had stuck her like 20 times she just totally zoned out like she wasn't even
there any more. I questioned the anasthesiologist closely before I had mine
and did not have any problems--they got me first stick. If the hospital
routinely uses epidurals for WLS patients they are probably aware of the
problems and skilled at sticking MO folks. Otherwise I would be really
leery of it. If they place it wrong you can really get a killer headache!
— ctyst
August 14, 2002
I've had them by themselves. That is surgery with only an epidural. THIS IS
WHAT I PREFER! I've also had epidurals with general anesthesia. Actually
once the epidural is in, I like it. It helps as far as pain control and it
helps cut down on the amount of general anesthesia too. But to answer your
question, NO. I did not have the epidural with the RNY.
— Danmark
August 14, 2002
No, no epidural with lap RNY. Pain meds thru the IV and then a wonderful
pain medicine pump with morphine for the first day.
— Cindy R.
August 14, 2002
My surgeon never even mentioned it.
— jen41766
August 14, 2002
I am 6 weeks post op (Open) and only had a IV pump. Since I had mentioned
to my doctor that I didn't do very well on morphine after my C section,
they gave me a Demoral pump. My pain management was excellent in and out
of the hospital. On my third day in the hospital they removed my IV and
began giving me shots and oral pain meds. They have you rate your pain on
a scale of 1 to 10 and I never made it past a 4. Getting in and out of bed
at first was my only real painful experience...my suggestion is to WALK
WALK WALK!! Limber yourself up, the more you move the better you
feel...stiffness equals pain. Definately talk to your doctor if you've had
prior surgical experience, if a pain med or plan worked or failed you
before he will most likely take that into consideration when deciding how
to manage your post op pain. I've said it a MILLION times, the MOST
painful part of this entire surgery is the WAITING FOR SURGERY!! =) Good
Luck to you!!! Tonya
— Tonya H.
August 14, 2002
My surgeon never mentioned it either. I had an IV line and a pain med pump.
I would have been worried had it been an epidural..I tried an epidural with
my last child and it gave me relief for about 5 minutes on only one side of
my body even though they tried it twice...talk about disappointing! :)
— Jennifer G.
August 14, 2002
I personally had the morphine pump as many others on here have said they
did. My mother who had surgery 2 weeks after me had an epideral. I think
her pain was managed much better then mine in the hospital for that reason.
But, when they took her epideral out she complained of a lot of pain which
they brushed off as being "normal" cause she hadn't had ANY
before that. The problem was that she was really having pain. They
scraped her spleen during surgery which they found out later when she had
to go back to the emergency room. Which mind you is an hour away. So,
what i'm saying i guess is if i had a choice i would take the little bit of
pain i had versus the problems my mom had. Hope i helped in some
way.....good luck to you
— deborah D.
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