Getting close....scared again of pain

Tomorrow is my preop and then TAH on July 8th. I read and copied so many of your supportive responses to my fear of pain. I am mainly scared of waking up in severe pain, so the plan is to have my surgery done with an epidural and 24hour morphine epidural to keep me pain free. I will feel better when I can confirm all this with the anesthesiologist...I hope he/she is nice! Now I am wondering how bad the transition will be when the morphine wears off and I am put on oral meds. Most of you who have been thru this have said the pain is very tolerable, mainly discomfort. Can you tell me again your positive stories....sorry to be such a baby!!! Thanks.

take a deep breathe, its not nearly as bad as you think its going to be. Its okay I was the same way, very scared and then upset with myself for working myself up the way I did.

For me, TAH also, the worse pain was when I got up for the first time and walked. I didn't know about the burning pain I would feel across my belly, for me if I know ahead of time then its a lot less painful. I ended up not being able to walk very far cause of the burning. However the second time wasn't too bad, this time I also held a small pillow to my belly and this helped alot. Each time you get up and walk around is a little easier than the last time.

As for how it will be going from the drip to oral meds, I didn't see a really big difference. Also my doc had me on ibufuron every 6 hrs, for the swelling. Then the pain meds every 4-6 hrs as I requested them. Honestly I had more pain from blocked gas than the incision.

Wishing you a speedy recovery.

Hi there! I am now 11 days post op and the pain is very beareble! I woke up just after the surgery was over in the OR and moving me to the gurney for recovery was painful but mostly like really bad mentrual cramps!! Funnisest feeling ever when you think about it! It's all gone..how can I be feeling this? They gave me ashot in the behind as soon as I got to recovery and then set up my Morphine pump as soon as I got in my room. The shot actually lasted and I didn't feel anything more than just a mild discomfort agian. I even scooted myself from the gurney into my hospital bed with very little assistance!! They started me on 800mg of Ibuprofen the next morning and also Tylox after they took away the morphine. I was most scared about having the orphine as I have heard horror stories about it but I actually had no problems and it really worked awesome for me!! I came home with Ibuprofen and Vicodin but have only used the Vicodin at bedtime for 3 days now. I noticed more soreness appearing as the pain meds have dropped but again. nothing I can't handle and work through! I find that moving alittle more each day really helps and resting when my body says to!
Good luck and I am sure you will do just great!!
Vickie

Hi - after the first day or two the pain really wasn't all that bad. Just keep on schedule taking your pain meds for the first week - if the prescription says 'ever 6 hrs" take one every 6 hrs even if you don't yet feel pain. After the first week you can start to taper off by going longer and longer between doses. After 10 days I was using nothing but ibuprofen. After 2 weeks I was taking the ibuprofen only at bed time. After 3 weeks I didn't need any pain meds at all and I really started to enjoy my recuperation to its fullest. It was all fun but it wasn't nearly as bad as my imagination made it out to be.
All the best for your surgery and recovery

	Quote:
Originally Posted by bear lover Tomorrow is my preop and then TAH on July 8th. I read and copied so many of your supportive responses to my fear of pain. I am mainly scared of waking up in severe pain, so the plan is to have my surgery done with an epidural and 24hour morphine epidural to keep me pain free. I will feel better when I can confirm all this with the anesthesiologist...I hope he/she is nice! Now I am wondering how bad the transition will be when the morphine wears off and I am put on oral meds. Most of you who have been thru this have said the pain is very tolerable, mainly discomfort. Can you tell me again your positive stories....sorry to be such a baby!!! Thanks.

You're not a baby! You are venturing into an unknown area of your life. For me, it was like this....in the castle, morphine drip; I'd feel discomfort and pump more in me. The morphine pump is metered so you can't o.d. yourself. On my release day, my gyn gave me scrips for dilaudid (the pain killer) and 800 mg ibuprofen. I had my DH fill those a.s.a.p. The day I got home, however, I had otc ibuprofen and took 800 mg of that every so many hours til the next day. I was happy and fine and no pain on the dilaudid. Just achy with the ibuprofen. The most difficult thing for me was the getting in and out of bed. My biggest ordeal with overall pain, swelling and fatigue was actually 7 weeks later, when I went back to work half days. I won't say it's been easy, but I will say, what I have dealt with now is a sure sight better than what I dealt with a year ago, hemmoraging at the most inopportune times!
Best wishes, I trust you will do well!