time to freak out?

i had my preop appt today and i am a little freaked out now. i am getting a little nervous (surgery is wednesday). did any of you that have already been thru this have a pca pump? how was the pain control? i am nervous about post op pain.

i feel pretty good about the surgeon, he is wonderful. not to mention the surgery nurse is a good friend of mine and will be attending the event with me.

hope everyone else is doing okay. give me some feedback
thanks

Hi jleblanc1970;
Of course you are nervous. That is okay but I am sure you will be just fine!
I had a PC-Pump and I could press it every 10 minutes for pain control. I kept forgetting to push the button though! I know I was pretty out of it most of the time for a couple of days but I do remember them changing it so I could press it every 8 minutes. I eventually developed some awful itching (from the morphine) and they took me off of it all together. Then I took a pill they gave me called roxacet <SP?>. I could have one or two every 4-6 hours.
Hope this helped!
Best wishes and a speedy recovery!

I had a pump...thought it was great. I don't know how often I could press it, I just did every time I woke up. I"m sure you know that it won't deliver any medication if it is too soon. For me, it totally controlled the pain. I only had it for the first 15-18 hours. Then I was switched to pain meds through my IV. On my 3rd day, I was switched to oral pain meds. The only narcotic meds I had was through the pump...all others were prescription anti-inflammatories (I did not want the narcotics if I could avoid them but I was given the option). All controlled the pain very well. I, too, was afraid of the pain, but it was not nearly as bad as I feared.

Just make sure you stay on top of it and don't let it get bad before you request something. Also, if they don't offer it, ask the nurses for advice on how to move, walk, get out of bed, etc. with the least amount of discomfort. I had a nurse who had had the same surgery two years ago and she was wonderful...the pointers she gave me for getting out of bed were invaluable.

Good luck...I'm sure you'll do just great.