1 week post-op with castle story and some questions for you warriors:)

Well, glad to say I am still alive! Went into the castle on the 19th and by the second day I literally begged my doc to "just knock me out, just hit me" cause the surgery/gas pain was sooooo bad and could not be relieved! (No she didn't hit me, plead as I may!)
Apparently I am allergic to most narcotics because my face kept swelling up and I was overwhelmed with nausia. They tried a bunch of didn't meds both IV and orally but to no avail, so I was stuck just taking Motrin.

I left the hospital on Sunday with catheter still in but went back in on Monday, as I still couldn't pass gas yet and the pain was just unbearable. They removed the catheter but I couldn't void on my own so the darn thing is back in. They gave me nausia meds and said drink milk of magnesia, take colrite, and do an enima in the morning if I didn't have a bm by then. I was just miserable but did as I was told.

So now its wednesday and I still have yet to have a bm, but i do pass a little gas and have had a few episodes of the runs. Is this normal? From what everyone else has written here I was expexting to be farting up a loud storm by now. I wish i would to relieve the bloated feeling.
Also I tried walking about the house yesterday, or at least be sitting up for a few hours. By dinner time the pain in my pubic bones was unbearable, similar to pain I used to get after having my babies and walking on hard floors for a couple hours. Is this normal?

I havent seen any walking restrictions on here, everybody seems to say walking is a must so am I over doing it or am I just a weakling. I still feel the pain today even though I have only been up and about the house for about 2 hours. So when people say make yourself walk do they mean just a few minutes every few hours?

Hi Meg, My heart goes out to you dear. Really it does. I was in your boat for 2 weeks. It was the evil Percocet I was taking. I reallly hadn't had any med problems before. So I wasn't expecting so many problems either. For 2 weeks I walked with severe pain, took stool softeners, laxs and drank water. I looked and felt like I was going to explode. Sometimes I got lucky and would get the runs. But as soon as I ate again. Here came the bloating and pressure. Now I was only taking ONE percocet at night for pain but that was enough apparently. Just in the last 2 days I have managed to dump that monkey off my back. I went an entire 24 hours without the pain meds. Only Motrin. Finally the next morning, glorious relief. Midway thru the day, a BM like I haven''t had in a year. I felt great. But by midnight my hyst site was starting to hurt. So I took 1/2 a Perc. This morning you should see the bloat. Not as bad mind you but oh brother. So I don't care, no more perc
for me. I see the dr. tomorrow for the 2 week checkup and I will ask him for something stronger than Motrin but not like the Perc.

I soooooo feel for you. You are NOT alone. You can call your dr. and ask for help. Sometimes I have actually talked to my pharmacist first for alternatives and then asked the dr. offfice for that.

Good Luck....

I had my surgery on a Tuesday, was out of the hospital Wednesday morning and didn't have a bm until Sunday. I tried drinking juice and lots of water, etc. and nothing helped. At this point I was ready to try anything, and I finally bought some beer and chugged down 3 of them and it worked. I learned this off a previous post on this sight. I also had a lot of gas pain and had trouble even sitting up for periods of time and walking also, but that all went away after the bm. I still did have the gas pain up in my chest whenever I sat up, but it gradually went away. My advice to you, chug some beer. Good luck!

Can you take Gas-X or simethecone drops like they give to babies? Those can help break up gas and make it easier to pass.

To get the bowels moving, I had to do Milk of Magnesia one day, Citrucel the next for about a week. Eating lots of raw veggies and fruit and then some oatmeal helps too. If you just can't tolerate prune juice (which is always a winner in the race ) you could try carrot juice half and half with apple juice. If you add a dash of ginger and whir the whole thing with crushed ice, it's a somewhat smoothy that will clear the decks in about 2 hours. And do be sure to drink PLENTY of water regularly.

Also, if you can't take most pain meds - have you tried icing your abdomen to reduce pain and swelling? A first aid ice pack or a bag of frozen peas (or niblet style corn) for 20 minutes at a time can do wonders. Just mark the veggies with a big black marker "X" so you don't accidentally eat them after they've been thawed and refrozen a couple of times.

I broke my walking up into little 10 minute intervals about an hour to 90 minutes apart. Also, when you lay down, try your left side with your knees and hip slightly bent. If you need a pillow under your tummy to help you feel comfortable, that's okay. I don't know why this works for relieving gas pain, I just know that it's the left side that the doc puts you on for a colonoscopy (I've had a couple of those) and it's extremely easy to pass gas in that posture whether you think you need to or not

I had my TAH on the 17th, Tuesday. Would have gotten out on Thursday but for my ability to vomit in spite of medications to prevent it! Also did not pass gas until Thursday night.
My doctor told me to do small walks more often rather thand sitting for a long time and then trying to walk for a long time. Only problem with that plan was that at first the transitions from sitting or laying to standing were so difficult.
Everyone heals diffrerently and every surgery is a little different. I was lucky that I had few adhesions and no endo (got to keep ovaries!) so they didnt have to do a lot of poking and scraping in there. For me, the more I can be "up" (its a relative term at this point) during the day, the better chance of catching some quality sleep at night. I tend to feel a burning sensation around the incision which lets me know I need to rest.
I have had digestive issues so my intestines were jumping around and active for a while before they got organized enough to pass gas, and later a BM. My dr did prescribe colace to help with the process. It does tend to produce more sound and fury and a bit of the runs from time to time until everything ets back on-line. I agree that movement and avoiding any meds you dont absolutely have to have helps too. Also second the laying on left side !

Greetings!

Walking -- don't let me even think about that...

I so over-did it from weeks two & 1/2 thru weeks 5. I started developing scar tissue -- that's why I was always so achey.

I read where you should walk, walk, walk. I did that and it was not wise in my case.

Take it very lightly! Don't pressure yourself about anything now!

Best of luck to you! Sincerely, Michele in Jersey

By walking, we usually mean little walks around the house every 2-3 hours with lots of resting in between. Yeah, you can over do walking in the first few weeks and it can also lead to adhesions. I agree with the ice packs but would go easy on the beer! I took walmart brand stool softeners but did double up for about the first 3 weeks as I had a horrible time when I first came home and wasn't going to chance a recurrence. I am 5 weeks post op yesterday and still take my stool softner but only one in am and one at dinner. Maybe something one of us has tried will help but if not, get on the line to the doc again. Persistence will pay off

Thanks for all your helpful replies Yep, I tried the gas-x while in the hospital and it didn't do a darn thing. Tried Mylanta gas at home and not any help either. Oh my gosh I can't imagine drinking 3 beers!!! I'd be drunk out of my head given how little i eat lately. If I could just get them to take the catheter out I think I'd be in a lot less pain at this point.

I don't know about you, but I'm not a very good burp-er....so... beer GIVES me gas!