worried about pain afterwards

Be proactive with the pain meds. The pump seems to work pretty quick. Once I became more coherent I would push it a few minutes before getting out of bed, up from the chair, etc. Before then I think I was just pushing it whenever I thought of it.

When they took me off the pump they told me the pills were not being given on a schedule other than I had to wait 4 hours between each dose. They also told me that they would take about an hour to kick-in to so I should ask for them when I could feel the prior dose starting to wear off and not wait until I felt pain.

One thing I learned (too late ) was that you can ask for the pain meds to be administered on schedule overnight. My biggest problem once I was on the oral meds was I would wake up in the middle of the night needing to go to the bathroom. Problem was it was usually about an hour after the pain meds wore off -- ouch! :cry:

Good luck and best wishes for a speedy, uneventful recovery.

s

I too was very worried about the pain before my hyst. They took my pump away the morning before I went home. I had no pain while I was on the pump. Before my hyst I was in a great deal of pain all the time, after the hyst the pain was nothing compared to the pain I had before the hyst. I can tell you that the gas was the worst part for me. I took lots of gas-x, drank lots of water, and walked which helped tremendously with the gas pains. Trust me you will be fine and like the others don't be a hero take your pain meds they will play a huge part in how your recovery goes. Good luck and wishing you an uneventful surgery and speedy recovery. God bless!!

Dear Eastbourne;

Good luck to you at the Castle tomorrow. My TAH is the date after yours, the 11th. I also wonder about the same and I'm also scared about the pain after. Please let me know when you get home how you made out. My prayers are with you !

I was suprised at how little pain I had after my TVH, I had a spinal block which I think helped the post op time, and the morphine pump made me feel quite sick so I didn't use it much, I just had anti inflammatries but stopped those after a few days.
I have felt discomfort , sort of like period pains, and lots of fatigue but other than that it has been a lot easier than I expected.
I wish you all the best
Sue

By the time you read this you will be home after your op. Hope it all went well.

I had a lavh/bso 22/6/05 about 15 weeks ago, and the gas pains were the worse thing about my recovery, but it does pass.

You need to get plenty of rest now, drink lots of water and you will soon be upto speed again.

Hazel.

Hi Ladies,

I'm not so much worried about the pain as I am the surgery. Im am on an emotional rollercoaster !
Ok one minute....... crying, or freaking out the next.

Let us know how you do, and Bless you !

Dear Caraway... what I do is ""keep telling myself I'm doing the right thing"" ... I've been on a rollercoster but I try to be strong. Work on getting all your things ready for before and after the surgery.. Also make sure you have all your insurance and beneficiaries in order,, just in case. My TAH is tomorrow... Good luck to you!!

I can relate to everyone about the fear of pain. I have a pretty high tolerance for pain, but I'm really worried about what will happen. I haven't talked to my doctor yet (will at the pre op appt) and I don't know which type of anethesesia(SP) I prefer. Having an abdominal hyst. I worry about being awake with a spinal, but worried too about general and all the problems coming out. I have taken vicodin in the past and it does NOTHING. I feel like I want to have a one on one with the cocktail man to make sure he does it up right. I'm scheduled for Nov. 9th and it seems that no one is concerned about it in my family. I think they all feel it's no big deal. Hopefully they'll come around afterwards. Should I make sure someone is there in the hospital the first couple of days?