Re: 12 days Post Op Laparotomy..Still in alot of pain
From: D.N. (anonymous@obgyn.net)
Mon May 17 10:52:26 2004
Hi Christina,
I am sorry you are still having so many problems. If you think you
still have an infection going on, you really need to see the doc again.
I know it is scary not knowing what they might do, but the alternative
is even more scary. As far as pain goes, It is normal to still have
some pain 12 days post-op. It takes about 8 weeks to heal from surgery.
I remember having some very strong localized pain that made me feel like
I had to support my stomach while I standing. That did eventually go
away.
As for pain, everyone feels it differently. For myself, I got on to
extra strength tylenol before I left the hospital after both of my
laparotomies. I hate how pain medication makes me feel. My doc
prescibed Vicodin, but I didn't take it. It could be I have a high pain
tolerance, I don't know.
I am not sure what to suggest for the pain medication problem. I know
it is hard when you are dealing with narcotics. Some docs can be hard
to deal with on that. I would think that if he does need to drain your
incision, it would be reasonable to have something for a time after
because it seems like that would cause more pain.
Were they able to get the endo out? What did they find? Did you have an
ovarian remnant?
I don't know if this info will be helpful, but I sure hope you get your
incision checked out. You don't want an infection to go systemic.
Best wishes,
D.N.
At Mon, 17 May 2004, Christina wrote:
>
>Hi everyone,
>I posted back on May 7th regarding my new discovery of Endo back 6yrs
>after Hysterctomy. Well that was very hard to accept, but now I have
>more troubles.
>I developed a really nasty infection in my incision last Sunday.
>Everything became really red, hot, and started seeping pus. I also
>began to run a low grade fever, and increased pain.
>I called the surgeon on Monday, he prescibed Keflex, and said to come in
>if no improvement. He said if it didn't improve I would have to have my
>incision drained, but he didn't explain how. Well I looked that up on
>the internet and it scared the heck out of me..Sometimes the internet is
>not my friend when I am frightened about a medical diagnosis!
>LOL...Anyway most everything I could find suggested another minor
>surgery to drain the abcess. I was so scared of that, I even downplayed
>the symptoms to my husband who was very worried. In secret, I
>sterilized a pair of jewelry plyers, took an extra pain pill, and
>decided to take out a few staples myself and let my incision drain.
>This worked pretty well, I was grossed out and astounded at the huge
>amount of pus that came gushing out. By the next day the redness and
>heat was gone, but my wound was still seeping LARGE amounts of pus. The
>pain had gone back to the way it felt the first day or so after surgery.
>I was really worried. We called the surgeon back Thursday, and told him
>there had been some improvement, but I was still in alot of pain. So he
>had me come in this past Friday. He was actually very positive. He
>said my incision looked pretty good, and I had done the right thing
>draining it myself. He said that if I finshed my antibiotics it should
>clear up soon, he removed my staples, and gave me a final RX for
>Percocet. He gave me 40 more 5mg tabs. This is my 3rd script for pain
>meds, but I have been having to take 2 almost every 4hrs to deal with
>the pain. If you take them as indicated every 4hrs, thats potentially
>12 percocet a day. I didn't take that many everyday of course, but as I
>said the pain had gone WAY BACK UP, after this infection started. So My
>doctor indicated this would be my last RX for pain meds, I needed to
>start wheening off of them. I hoped that would be the case as well, but
>now I am really starting to hurt badly again. I'm afraid he is going to
>cut me off, and I am just going to have to suffer.
>My incision is STILL seeping alot of pus, a whole week later. I have a
>spot in my incision where there is a pretty good size hole, that hasn't
>closed up yet. I seem to be having alot of pain in that area. Also
>just to the right of the top of my incision near my bellybutton.
>Everytime I move it feels like my guts are going to fall out. This
>weekend has been really difficult with pain management. I have been
>trying my hardest not to take pills as often as I have been. It's so
>hard to sit here in pain though, just because I'm afraid my doctor won't
>give me anymore percocet. I would even be willing to try a less potent
>pain pill if it would make him feel better about it. I'm not a pain
>pill junkie! I swear...
>What do you guys think? Is it that wierd to still need pain meds 12days
>post laparotomy? ( I have an 8inch vertical incision from bellybutton to
>below pubic bone) Even without this nasty infection it doesn't seem that
>unreasonable to me to still be on them. Also with this setback
>regarding the infection.. shouldn't my doctor be more willing to
>continue to give me pain meds until my infection heals at least?
>Does anyone know anything I can say or do, to claim my rights for pain
>management? I would appreciate any suggestions. Thanks for listening
>again...
>~Christina
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