Scared of the pain after TAH

I really feel like I am in the right place to have my questions answered and my fears eased. I didn't have a pre op appointment with the doctor or anestesiologist. They just couldn't fit me in. I did meet with the doctor on the 29th of Feb and that was the day we discussed doing this. I am all for the surgery and can't wait to have it done, but am a bit unsure of what to expect. I did make and appointment with my primary care doc to discuss the surgery and really feel that he will help me out some too.

My biggest fear is the post op pain. I deal with pain on a daily basis and am on a fair ammount of pain medication daily so am a bit worried about pain medication working well for me post op. I am aware that this is something I need to work out with the doctor and I did let him know what I take. He promised me that he would controll my pain, but I am scared. I am also worried about the stiffness that I get from being in one posistion for any period of time. I sleep about 4-5 hrs a night because I can't bear to lay there any longer than that. The thoughts of being in bed really don't appeal to me. (I am sure I am not alone in these feelings)

I am also affraid of the bloating and gas pains from the surgery. I have been joking about it with my family and tell them that my last pre op meal is going to consist of fiber and beano...lol.

I think I would really like to know what to expect pain wise. What does it feel like? What kind of pain is it? How long does it last? Is it intense? How long before I will be up and moving around? Is the gas and bloating as bad as I think it is going to be? What can I do to avoid some of the discomfort from the gas?

I have had a tonsilectomy when I was 19. That is the only surgery I have been through. I just don't know what to expect.

I do understand that some of my questions will need to be answered by the doc, but would appreciate any input you have for me.

I have to say that my husband has been great about this, and seems to know better what to expect than I do. He has been through this with his ex wife. I don't feel that I can do much to prepare him.

I am in hopes that I have almost all my pre op shopping done. I have read here that I need to pick up a small pillow, but am not sure what size I need. I don't want to be carrying around a bed pillow with me all the time.

Thanks for being here, and for letting me ramble a bit. (I do that a lot...lol) I look forward to hearing from you.

Sara

It's understandable to be scared. How can they not fit you in for pre-op though?? Taht's when all of the tests are performed to make sure you are healthy enough for surgery?

I would call your doctor and make them fit you in. Plus you will need to sign all the release forms with him/her.

Hey there Sara! I just had my TAH on 03-04, so I am right in the first week of recovery. I will try my best not to sugarcoat things for you, and be very honest what I am going through. I was in pain for like 3 years prior to my hysterectomy. I have always thought of myself to be pretty tolerant of pain, but these days I'm thinking maybe not so much lol. Here goes, I had a general anesthesia during the surgery, and although the anesthesiologist promised he wouldn't let me be in pain, b/c I heard you can wake up in lots of pain, I WAS definitely in alot of pain when I woke up. They gave me like 7 or more shots of morphine and toradol alternating, and they just weren't working, because I have been taking pain meds quite often. So, after seeing that they were doing nothing for me, they promptly gave me the option of having a spinal block. I gladly accepted it. They were very quick in the decision, they didn't let me just sit there and suffer, so don't worry about that. So after the spinal, I felt soooo much better. That gave the other narcotics time to catch up with the pain. The pain in the hospital was managed well with Toradol and vicodin at first, then on my 2nd day there they took out the IV and managed it with ibuprofen and vicodin alternating. It still hurts, even then, but it isn't intolerable. My description of it was that I felt as though I had been hit straight on by a mack truck lol, just a really sore achy feeling. I am at home and 6 days post-op now, I am still alternating the vicodin and ibuprofen, I have been able to cut back to one 500mg tab of vicodin and one 600 tab of ibuprofen alternating them. I still hurt some, but I can tell I am getting better slowly. Your only concern should be getting better. Honestly though, even though it hurts pretty bad sometimes, there's nothing like the feeling that I have knowing that this will only last a few weeks, not like prior to the surgery. I am so excited and positive about how great I'll feel soon. About the gas and bloating. For me, it seemed like the 2nd and 3rd days were the worst for gas. It's pretty crazy that you can feel the gas bubbles moving all around in your stomach. But again, the hospital staff helped me alot with that too. They gave me Mylecon on a regular schedule, and also let me have a dulcolax suppository when I felt the gas was getting too bad. That helped ALOT. Basically it just lumped the gas into one huge "pass" lol. Boy do I mean huge too haha. It was not unbearable, at it's worst it was pretty uncomfortable, but it seems like you are no stranger to pain so I doubt you will have many problems with it. As far as moving around, they made me get up and took out my catheter the morning following my surgery. I was encouraged to get up a couple times that day, and the next day I was told I had to take at least 4 walks down the hall. From the day that I got home at the hospital, I have been out in the livingroom socializing with my family, and on the porch, and back in bed. Just kind of alternating between them all. So you won't be completely bed ridden. One thing that has helped me ALOT is using a cane!!! I am 26 years old and it seems pretty silly looking for me, but it has been my lifesaver. I know that bed doesn't appeal to you, it doesn't me either, but when after this surgery you will get tired really easily and you'll likely learn to enjoy your little naps during the day hehe.

I found a great little pillow at Target. It is a rectangular shaped throw pillow, I found it on clearance for $3.74!! It is the perfect size too! It is the width of my hips and about the height of my abdomen area! It helps SOOO much! Also, if you don't have one already I got a body pillow and I am loving it for post-op sleeping!

I hope that some of my experience here can help you sweetheart! Everything will be ok, so far, for me it's pretty worth putting up with all of this for a few weeks! Good luck and best wishes!

Hi
If you get a choice of anesthetic, opt for the epidural over general anesthesia. Its much better for pain control in those first hours after you wake up. You should be meeting with the anesthesiologist in the hospital if not before, soyou can discuss it then. (That's when I met w the anesthesiologist.) On the other hand, I completely agree that you should ahve a post op. My doc has implied that not all docs do them, but she clearly considered it poor medical practice. DO you have a hospital pre op to get your blood typed, pressure checked, medical history etc? They may figure they will get all the info they need from that...but really your doc should check it too and also answer any questions you have.

Hi Sara. I am like you... I am scheduled for april 16th, and soooooo scared of the pain factor.. I have the lowest tolerence for pain.. I had my apendix out a couple years ago and I seirously thought I was going to die!!!I can only imaginewhat I am going to be like after this.. I know that my doc will help with pain control and everything but its still the "unknown" Heres hoping all goes well for both of us and to all other sisters who are going to go through, have gone through this, and a speedy recovery to all. Please post to me after, once you are able to to let me know how everything is going. You are in my prayers, as are all sisters.
take care and many blessings.

your sister
trufrend

I have to agree with policymuse. I had a spinal with morphine in addition to general anesthesia, and when I woke up, I did not experience the kind of pain others have. Try and see if you can speak with the anesthesiologist and your surgeon prior to your surgery, and voice your concerns about pain management after surgery

Hi Sara,

I am a chronic pain patient as well. My 'baseline' meds that I take everyday are oxycodon and morphine right now but if you name a med, I have been on it I am sure from narcotics to anti-depressants to end nerve stabilizers to steroids to everything. I was fairly concerned as well because I know with my history if they give me the 'usual' my body will laugh at it and spit it back at them.

So I made an appt with my pain doc and discussed this surgery. He made sure I talked with anesthesia and gave them a full rundown of my history and meds and we had a plan for not only post-op pain but periop pain where they manage how you transition from anesthesia to waking up to the post-op pumps and such. An epidural was not an option for me this time since my chronic pain stems from multiple tumor removals from my spine. I can tell you that waking up from anesthesia is a disorienting feeling and if you didn't have to do that, you probably will be better able to manage your pain and tell them what you need. I am day 13 today and overall the pain from the surgery itself has been manageable (I ended up with dilaudid IV continually with a PCA pump for intermittent needs in the hospital and went home on hydromorphone in addition to my baseline meds). The pain from elimination of urine, gas and bm has been very hard so make sure you discuss that with your doc and have a plan. If I could do it over I would make sure I was good and cleaned out before the surgery and then get right on softeners and milk of magnesia (MOM).

If I could, would I go back and opt for the surgery again? You betcha because it is going to help with my chronic pain and that means getting my life back and I will do just about anything for that. But that is for me in my situation, you need to find what will work best for YOU in YOUR situation. I do understand the absolute mental, emotional, family, psychological and yes, physical drain that chronic pain can have and am here if you ever want to talk. Take care, best wishes to you!

Hi cowsrock

I'm a bit of a wimp and was worried about pain...

I'm 13 weeks post-op. I also had the epidural pain relief. The most pain I felt was the canula being put in...

I had no pain when I woke up, just a bit of a sore throat from the interbation tube. The follow few days were spent in hospital.

My main advice would be, simply stay ahead of the pain. Take your prescribed medicine. I went home after 3 days on ibruprofen, and stopped pain killers about 3 weeks(until I got a gum infection, which hurt more than the hysterectomy!!).

Make sure you do as you are told and rest, rest, rest...and you will be fine.

Hope this helps
x

	Quote:
Originally Posted by Lolee8 Hey there Sara! I just had my TAH on 03-04, so I am right in the first week of recovery. I will try my best not to sugarcoat things for you, and be very honest what I am going through. I was in pain for like 3 years prior to my hysterectomy. I have always thought of myself to be pretty tolerant of pain, but these days I'm thinking maybe not so much lol. Here goes, I had a general anesthesia during the surgery, and although the anesthesiologist promised he wouldn't let me be in pain, b/c I heard you can wake up in lots of pain, I WAS definitely in alot of pain when I woke up. They gave me like 7 or more shots of morphine and toradol alternating, and they just weren't working, because I have been taking pain meds quite often. So, after seeing that they were doing nothing for me, they promptly gave me the option of having a spinal block. I gladly accepted it. They were very quick in the decision, they didn't let me just sit there and suffer, so don't worry about that. So after the spinal, I felt soooo much better. That gave the other narcotics time to catch up with the pain. The pain in the hospital was managed well with Toradol and vicodin at first, then on my 2nd day there they took out the IV and managed it with ibuprofen and vicodin alternating. It still hurts, even then, but it isn't intolerable. My description of it was that I felt as though I had been hit straight on by a mack truck lol, just a really sore achy feeling. I am at home and 6 days post-op now, I am still alternating the vicodin and ibuprofen, I have been able to cut back to one 500mg tab of vicodin and one 600 tab of ibuprofen alternating them. I still hurt some, but I can tell I am getting better slowly. Your only concern should be getting better. Honestly though, even though it hurts pretty bad sometimes, there's nothing like the feeling that I have knowing that this will only last a few weeks, not like prior to the surgery. I am so excited and positive about how great I'll feel soon. About the gas and bloating. For me, it seemed like the 2nd and 3rd days were the worst for gas. It's pretty crazy that you can feel the gas bubbles moving all around in your stomach. But again, the hospital staff helped me alot with that too. They gave me Mylecon on a regular schedule, and also let me have a dulcolax suppository when I felt the gas was getting too bad. That helped ALOT. Basically it just lumped the gas into one huge "pass" lol. Boy do I mean huge too haha. It was not unbearable, at it's worst it was pretty uncomfortable, but it seems like you are no stranger to pain so I doubt you will have many problems with it. As far as moving around, they made me get up and took out my catheter the morning following my surgery. I was encouraged to get up a couple times that day, and the next day I was told I had to take at least 4 walks down the hall. From the day that I got home at the hospital, I have been out in the livingroom socializing with my family, and on the porch, and back in bed. Just kind of alternating between them all. So you won't be completely bed ridden. One thing that has helped me ALOT is using a cane!!! I am 26 years old and it seems pretty silly looking for me, but it has been my lifesaver. I know that bed doesn't appeal to you, it doesn't me either, but when after this surgery you will get tired really easily and you'll likely learn to enjoy your little naps during the day hehe. I found a great little pillow at Target. It is a rectangular shaped throw pillow, I found it on clearance for $3.74!! It is the perfect size too! It is the width of my hips and about the height of my abdomen area! It helps SOOO much! Also, if you don't have one already I got a body pillow and I am loving it for post-op sleeping! I hope that some of my experience here can help you sweetheart! Everything will be ok, so far, for me it's pretty worth putting up with all of this for a few weeks! Good luck and best wishes!

Hello Lolee8

So glad you're on the mends and you have such a great attitude. So nice to hear positive feed back from my post-op sisters.

My TAH is April 14th (if nothing changes) and I have no idea what to expect

I'm 46 and this is my first major surgery. I had ACL reconstructive surgery in 2003 but I think this will be a little different

Anyway, Gods Blessing to you. Here's to recovery!

Thank you all so much for the support and information. I am really feeling a lot better about this now than I was. Atleast right now. We will see what the next week brings.
I had a pre op with the anestesiologist's nurse today. I thought I was just going in for a blood draw, but it turned into a full hr appointment. She did an EKG because I take blood pressure and cholesterol meds, and I was glad to know that it looked good. I had to answer a million and one questions, ok, so not really a million and one, but it sure felt like it. She also was able to answer some of my questions. One of the biggest fears was waking up paralized from the medication, even for a short time. She said that anything is possible, but she has never heard of it happening in her 20 yrs of being a RN. That made me feel a lot better.
I really feel like I can get through this. I feel like it is going to be so worth it, to not have to deal with this pain anymore. No more losing days at a time to being curled up in bed in pain.
Thank you all so much for helping me through this. 7 days to go!!!!

Sara