question re. pain mgmt. & surgery

I don't have any advice sorry....I didn't have an epidural. (Never had one for childbirth either). I was up walking (begrudgingly) the day after surgery. I had the pain pump thing that I pushed when I needed a "shot" of Dilauded. And that worked fine for me. Do you have to have the epidural? I'm sure someone will come along that will be of more help with that. I know I've heard people say it's a good thing. I just didn't want it. I have a crazy high pain tolerance!

Ps- my hubby had a nerve block for his shoulder surgery and that worked great. Not sure how they do that for abdominal surgery though.

I had an epidural for my proctocolectomy. It was brilliant. As I didn't come out of surgery until 10pm I was up walking the next day. It was removed on the 5th day post op.
Its slightly higher than a childbirth epidural in that your legs are ok. I had an epidural for the birth of my daughter many years ago and couldn't walk at all then.

Yeah, if they are giving it, don't refuse it! Like I said, I have a crazy high pain tolerance so no one can go by what I say! They'll get you up and walking when it's time.

     It just never ceases to amaze me how different all these surgeries can be.    I remember my surgeon saying to the anesthesiologist that he wanted me to have an epidural, but, they had just given me Heparin shots and he said it was too soon after the Heparin shots to give the epidural.  Then I went out like a light, so I have no idea what went on..lol.  When I woke up, I was already in my room.  I was so groggy that when the nurse came in and explained about the morphine pump, I didn't get the drift of what she was saying.  I was afraid of ODing on morphine so waited five hours in between giving myself a squirt of the morphine.  When the night nurse came on and asked how often I was using the pump and I told her once every five hours she looked like this .  Honestly, I don't remember being in much pain, but like Bye Bye UC...I have a high tolerance for pain.

     Your surgery is going to be more involved than mine Eva.  I didn't have a fistula and my anus is not sewn closed.  The surgeon had me up and walking the next day.  I recall that being a tad difficult because of all the gadgets that were attached, but, I managed.  They still gave me the Heparin every eight hours though, even though I walked more and more every day.  I had a few complications...eating too soon after surgery being one of them and upchucking that delicious lemon cake, so down went the ng tube again...but...all in all, it was worth it.  I was hospitalized 11 days.  Did they say how long they would have to keep you?

My surgeon said 5-7 days, barring complications. Well, I'm relieved to hear that quite a few of you have had epidurals & lived to tell the tale! I don't mind the thought of one, but would like to be able to help speed the healing process along, with the walking. You know, another cool thing- I had a wafer on me for the first time EVER yesterday! (won't be the last.... ). The WOCN nurse put one on to help with the placement. Part of it practically covers my belly button, comes right up to the edge of it, which at first I wasn't too keen on. But we did talk about trimming the wafer edges. And when she pulled off the tape, the whole thing just... stuck! It was cool. And not uncomfortable either, I really could barely feel it. We talked about the new Mio- she had just gone to a dinner with the Sensura people. I can't believe it- 10 more days! My surgeon is having another surgeon assist- I guess I'm ok with that, 4 hands are better than 2, no? And- way to go, ks!

        JOdy...it was me who thought I could OD on it .   The night nurse who came in to ask how often I was using it told me I couldn't OD on it....after it hanging there since 1 pm...lol.  Oh well, I really must have been half out of it anyway cause I didn't need the pump.  Even the next day...no pump or pain meds.  They insisted on giving me a Percoset on the third morning. I didn't realize it WAS a Percoset until after I swallowed it and then the nurse told me what the meds were for.  That was the day I ate and upchucked the entire meal.  The resident who came in to place the ng tube back down, because my surgeon said I would continue to upchuck (he was correct), said "The word on the street is that the lemon cake was the culprit".  You know, I never did eat lemon cake after that and it's been four years.  But, I blamed that darn Percoset and...maybe I did eat too much, too soon.  Ng tubes are not fun but wow did that baby bring up the bile!  Two entire viles full! I needed it, that is for sure.

       The reason I thought I could OD was that a close friend died in one of our local hospitals, here in south Jersey, after receiving a "shot" for relief of his pain following hip replacement surgery.  That scared the BeJesus out of me.  He came out of surgery fine, just complained of pain.  The nurse said.."Oh, we can fix that."  Came back in the room with a needle.  He went to sleep and never woke up.  His wife should have insisted on an autopsy but the entire thing was sort of swept under the carpet very rapidly.  That is the main reason I didn't want my surgery done locally.  Oops sorry this is long.

If you are anything like me you are going to be freaking out from now until surgery day. I was worried about everything surgery related and non surgery related (my family).

I know it's hard but try not to think about it. Keep yourself busy....pamper yourself a little. Maybe a spa day. I did that the day before my surgery and it helped me relax a lot.

The nurses make very sure your pain is controlled. I was really impressed with how on top of everything they were when I had my surgery.

Eva,

You'll feel so much better once you get your colon removed. Your QOL will go up dramatically.

I woke up from surgery after having my colon removed and even with all the pain meds I could tell that I felt so much better. After 4 months post surgery I felt so good that I didn't want to go for my step-2.