Re: 12 days Post Op Laparotomy..Still in alot of pain
From: Christina (anonymous@obgyn.net)
Tue May 18 03:46:11 2004
I find this doctor to be rather uncaring...It's very hard..But he said
if I kept having severe pain this week, he would bring me in for an
ultrasound. Hopefully things will improve. He wants me to come in on
Thursday if I am still having alot of pain. I will keep ya
posted..Thanks for your support : )
~Christina
At Mon, 17 May 2004, Endo wrote:
>
>Cristina! What is wrong with your doctor? First you're draining your own
>wounds and now your keeping incision closed? I dont mean to sound
>alarmist, but I would demand he or his RN see you. I've already been in
>to see my doctor once and the RN once also. All I have is some little
>old bladder pain post op (also laparotomy). Good luck and please write
>back and let us know what the outcome of your visit is.
>
>At Mon, 17 May 2004, Christina wrote:
>>
>>Thank you so much for your kind words of support. It feels so good just
>>to hear some encouragment from anybody. You begin to feel like an
>>island after a while... You won't believe what happened shortly after I
>>posted last night. My incision split open. I coughed and the bottom of
>>my incision split open about 3 inches. I have this gaping hole now. We
>>panicked and called the surgeon, who was completely unconcerned. He
>>said to pack it with wet gauze and tape it closed. Ever since it opened
>>I am having shooting pains down there. Man I feel like I am going
>>crazy. I want this to be over so badly... My doctor just says to leave
>>it alone, he doesn't need to stich it, it will heal from inside out.
>>Does that sound as wierd to everybody else as it does to me? I guess
>>theres nothing I can do, but wait and hope it works out okay. One good
>>thing, my husband called the doctor this morning, and got me some more
>>pain meds..I don't know how I would manage otherwise. Thanks again for
>>your support, it helps more than you can imagine.
>>~Christina
>>
>>At Mon, 17 May 2004, D.N. wrote:
>>>
>>>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
>>
>>--
>>What is the difference between God and Doctors?
>>
>>...God doesn't think he is a Doctor
>>
--
What is the difference between God and Doctors?
...God doesn't think he is a Doctor
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