TAH: Surgery Tuesday, So Nervous!

Hello, I am new on here. I have 5 kids, 30 yo, and finally am hopefully going to start feeling better after years of pain. I don't know why, but since yesterday I have become so anxious I can't stand it, I was really excited before that to be getting this taken care of. The reason for taking my uterus is adhesions and pelvic pain. I have had multiple surgery for Crohn's and complications from the disease. One of my reasons I'm nervous is, after my c-section, the gynecologist would not give me anything for pain, he said I had a pain ball put in and I shouldn't be having pain, but when the nurse went to take it out, it wasn't there! Anesthesia hadn't done it, or the doc had forgotten to write the order? It was the most painful days of my life. I will be getting cut along the same abdominal scar they have used for all 5 of my surgeries, the last 3 surgeries flud collected at the bottom of the scar and it came open, and I worry it will be worse this time. I am tough to deal with as far as pain relief and I'm worried there will be nothing I can take. I cannot take Toradol or NSAIDs because of Crohn's, no Tramadol due to seizures, and I have had multiple bad reactions to morphine. I am a huge baby as far as pain, any advice?

Dear Sister,

you've been through a lot!

Talk to your doctors about the pain medication. After the surgery, no matter what: rest! No lifting weights (pots and pans), no cleaning the house... if something needs doing, so be it. You have to prioritize and you're priority number one.

You won't necessarily have a lot of pain. I only needed medication the first day (dafalgan).

After surgery, lots of us have bowel problems (constipation). Talk to your doctor to know what to do in advance (stool softeners, liquid intake, etc). You don't wanna be pushing it in the loo (sorry for being gross).

I wish you the best possible outcome to your surgery, and a much better recovery than mine.

Hugs!

I agree with HappyAfter: talk to your doctor about pain control options given your medical conditions. Everyone is different on what they can tolerate, and there are many options out there.

Being anxious about your surgery is normal - after all this is MAJOR SURGERY with removal of an important organ. We were all nervous before our surgeries - we know exactly how you feel. We are here for you and will support your.

Good luck with your surgery. We will be waiting for you on the other side.

(((Hugs)))

I recommend talking to your family doctor about pain control. He/She is the one who knows all your medical issues. I too, have similar problems with pain management due to a bad liver and GI tract. There is always something you can take or something that can be done. If not, you will survive this surgery. I have had some truly horrific surgeries in my time (my appendectomy was the worst), but you do survive and it does become a distant memory. Just remember the reasons why you are doing this surgery and that it is worth it. Sometimes you have to feel worse before you can feel better. I am sorry for all your suffering and I do hope they find a solution for you. I will be praying for you. Good luck!

Hi! I have Crohn's Disease too, 33 yrs old, 2 kiddo's (18 months and a little man that just turned 5 last week). I had my TAH/BSO on Feb. 14th. I had an epidural that did not work. It numbed my right leg great. They could have possibly threw a towel over my face and cut it off w/o me feeling it! Dh was having to actually pick it up and move it so I could turn over b/c I just could not get it to budge. But it did nothing for the incision site. Was very frustrating. My dr came in right after I got moved into my room and I was still sleepy from the general. I told him and he said that the anesteologist (sp?) would be in soon and he would get me fixed up. When I left on day three he had still not showed :/ I complained and complained about the pain. Surgery was at 830 and was 2.5 hours long. By 230am I was in tears b/c the nursing staff would not do anything but bring me a heat pack and give me benadryl for pain. I asked for the dr to be called but oh no they couldn't do that. I called bs and asked for the charge nurse. Finally threw a big enough fit she was in there around 4am. They called the dr and within 1.5 hours they took out the epidural and hooked up a PCA pump with demarol. Life was good. The charge nurse was not happy and sent the unit supervisor in the next day. I'm told the situation will be investigated and plan to detail it in my patient survey along with the RN's name. Like I told the nurse, this is my 6th open abdominal surgery, this is not right!

When I had my first colon/ileum resection (I have the long incision that runs all the way down my abdomen) they gave me morphine through a PCA pump. I guess the reaction I had was not severe but to me it was awful. I threw a fit til they took it off. Been using demoral every sense and I recommend you requesting it. What morphine caused for me is everytime (and I do mean every time) I dozed off someone close to me died. It was very vivid and seemed so real. I seriously woke up feeling like my heart was breaking. Was bawling, took a bit torealize this is the medication. This surgery I remember one of my drs asking the nurse in recovery how is she doing? And she says "everytime she wakes up she says do not give me morphine. She is really worried about it" lol I don't remember saying it but don't doubt one second I did haha

I did take advil b/c inflammation was causing me to not be able to empty my bladder. I am now kinda flaring but it was try it or get to have a cath at home. I took 5 doses and honestly think I can handle this flare better than toteing a cath at home with the kiddo's. For pain management after the PCA pump was removed and I was sent home they dr used tylox (oxycodone) and it more than managed my pain just fine.

They did give me 2 doses of stool softners at the hospital but honestly you will most likely not need them especially if you are not in remission with the Crohn's & do bowel prep (which you should). Gas is wicked and don't really have a good suggestion for that. All my tricks for previous surgeries just are not cutting it but I think it is from taking the NSAID and it causing a flare those making it hard to really get the intestines fill b/c everything is passing so quickly.

Good luck to you!

Thanks for the encouraging words and catgiggles, that scares me because it sounds a lot like what I went through with my c-section. I think that experience has me more worried than anything, it was awful, and while in the hospital at that time, my husband and I were told one of our twins needed heart surgery. It was truly traumatic and I think it's having a bad effect on me now going into this. Only a little more than a day left and I can get this over with! I can't wait!