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what will the dr do if you are in alot of pain at post op appt

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Posted 4/5/2010 7:20 PM (GMT 0)
As you all know tommorrow I will be 2 weeks post op  of lap gb removal. What will the dr  suggest as I am still in alot of surgery pain  and my pain meds are becoming less effective . Will he just dismiss me and say to take otc meds or will he give me something prescription wise for a few days.   I was going to call the surgeon   office but my appt is tommorrow afternoon  so decided to wait it out.  any suggestions? what is the standard practice of dealing with a low healing patient and severe pain.
Posted 4/5/2010 7:37 PM (GMT 0)
Hello Kimber! Well it is anybody's guess, but I would think that if you are truly in pain from the surgery, and this does not surprise me at all, because I had my surgery 4 weeks ago, and I'm still in surgical pain. My surgeon has given me enough pain meds to take me out for 30 days. I really do consider your surgery a major surgery, so again you need to remember you really just had the surgery, and I would think it would take at least 30 days or more to get to feeling like your on your way to healing.

Has your Surgeon cleared you to use Ibuprofen? This may help to reduce the swelling, that may be causing some of your pain. Make sure you ask him or Her this tomorrow when you visit them.

I have been trying to reduce my need for my pain meds, but still struggle with it. My scar is rather large, and is at least 10 inches long, and my pain is clearly coming from the area underneath it.

Take care, and I hope your visit goes well tomorrow.

SE
Posted 4/5/2010 8:18 PM (GMT 0)
Hey Kimber,

Sorry to hear that you are still not feeling better yet...

I think I had written in another post a few days ago that your surgeon may not choose to prescribe any more meds as they usually hope/expect a patient with this type of surgery to be lowering their dosage each day and go off the meds after a period of time...as well as they "pass the baton" onto a Pain Mgmt. Dr. for any other pain issues or long term pain...

It's just not something that Surgeons specialize in or like to do very much..

So..it might be best to already plan an appt. with a PM Dr. (can't remember if you see one already for your other issues)....and then this way you can tell the surgeon you are going to see your PM and could he maybe give you some until your next appt.

That way, he knows that you have a plan in place...

Let us know how it goes
Posted 4/5/2010 8:24 PM (GMT 0)
I dont see a pm dr anymore for my back issues for over a year the only thing I took was ibuprofren . I just hope he prescribe me enough meds for a few more days . I should of asked what he does in slow healing patients. He seems like an understanding dr hopefully he will give me some pain management for just a few more days but if he dont I will just have to start on ibuprofren again and suffer I guess.
Posted 4/5/2010 8:31 PM (GMT 0)
Oh, ok..

If you don't think you will need any more pain meds for this or any of your other issues than just a few more days...then I would just tell him exactly that...that you have been healing slowly...

He may be more receptive to a small prescription to gradually start to wean down the next few days then..

Good luck
Posted 4/5/2010 8:33 PM (GMT 0)
The pain Im feeling right now is surgery pain and not my chronic back pain so dont understand why he would pass the buck over to a pain management dr. But if he does i will just have to go back on ibuprofren . I dont plan on seeing a pm for surgery pain .
Posted 4/5/2010 8:33 PM (GMT 0)
Kimber, all I can suggest is that you be honest with your surgeon on the amount of pain you're still experiencing, and asking him if he would extend your pain prescription for another 30 days. As SE suggested, ask about ibuprofen as well, as that could make a difference.

When I had my gallbladder out, it was an emergency surgery and I was already on pain meds prior, but I still had surgical pain for about 6 weeks (mine was laproscopically done as well). My surgeon was happy to continue my prescription after taking my entire health situation into consideration. As he said to me, his goal is to help heal, not to help hinder.

Good luck tomorrow and I'll be thinking of you and sending warm thoughts your way.

hugs,
Pam
Posted 4/5/2010 10:36 PM (GMT 0)
Kimber,
I think as others have said the best thing is just to be honest with your doctor about what you're feeling. While it's true surgeons don't like to get into long-term pain management, I do think you're not yet in that "long term" category. I think the first few weeks most surgeons are pretty understanding - especially if you had significant surgery, as you did.

I would ask about the ibuprofen because it can be hard on the stomach, and maybe he'd prefer another OTC med if you go that route. Best thing is just to be honest and ask.

Maybe try to relax a bit, too. Just my thought, but I think you may be letting some anxiety get the best of you. You're not doing anything wrong in what you're requesting of your surgeon, and as many have said healing is a very individual thing.

Now if it's a couple of months down the road and you're still having the same amount of pain, that would need to be investigated as to what's causing it. And then maybe PM would be appropriate. But you're not there now.

PaLady
Posted 4/5/2010 11:01 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks Palady. I thought it was a little early to be considered chronic pain as of yet . I thought it was still considered to be surgery pain and the surgeon still is suppose to treat it. I agree if my pain lasted that long it would be time to see a pain dr . I guess I am a worry wart and I wont know til tommorrow afternoon what he will do even though I only seen him twice once for consult and once before wheeled off to surgery. I think he will give me atleast one more refill on pain meds . Thank you for your advice. I hope you have a low pain night.
Posted 4/5/2010 11:21 PM (GMT 0)
I think I misunderstood and have thought that you were having chronic pain besides the gallbladder issues..I have only been here a few months so don't know everyone's stories yet....that is why I made suggestions about a PM to take over...so sorry for the misunderstanding on my part..

Just wanted to clarify...and I agree with PALady...trying to work on the emotional side of our pain is very important...As SE talked about in another post...a surgery can bring up a lot of emotions because it takes a big toll on our body...along with the medications like anesthesia/pain medicine...

So..I hope that you can just have a relaxing evening...try to not think too much about it..and just go in and talk with him just like you talk with us here...Maybe even ask about what types of things you can be doing to help recovery in addition to the meds...like light stretching, exercise, any type of dietary restrictions, etc..Just getting out and going for a nice walk can help calm your mind as well as be healthy...sometimes just sitting/reclining too much can get us down too..

I hope it all works out for you and most important...that your pain starts to get less and less each day!!
Posted 4/5/2010 11:46 PM (GMT 0)
Snow,I do have chronic back pain but I was referring to the surgery pain from my gallbladder surgery that is bothering me .I am just not bouncing back as I should and still experiencing alot of surgery pain where they performed surgery on . I am sorry if I was confusing you . In my mind I was suppose to be feeling better from the surgery in a week was my understanding from the surgeon and Im just as much pain as when I woke up from the surgery but i have no more gb pain I am talking about the surgery pain . I didnt mean to confuse you.
Posted 4/6/2010 7:47 AM (GMT 0)
Kimber-
When I had my gallbladder removed I didn;t heal very quickly either. At my 10 day check he asked how the pain was and I told him it hadn't improved much. He wrote me another prescription and had me return for another check up in 2 weeks. I don;t believe you will have any problems getting a refill. Some people take much longer to heal than others.

Take care,
Bill
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