13 days post Nissan..still have pain

Hi Surfergirl,
Hey, girl...13 days post op isn't very many! Give yourself a break! It was surgery, after all. It's very normal to have some incision pain. I had really severe pain in my left rib area for a LONG time. It didn't help that I was recovering from a lung infection, and was coughing terribly hard. After that incision started feeling better, I started getting some pain in the one just above the belly button. These types of pains are VERY NORMAL.

I doubt you did harm to yourself by working at real estate this weekend, other than tiring yourself, and increasing your soreness. Now if you went to work at UPS and were lifting heavy boxes, that would be a different story altogether! Many people go back to work after 2 weeks, so you're close. Just be sure and get some extra rest now to get yourself feeling back to normal. That pain you're feeling could be residual gas that was pumped into your belly to allow your surgeon to have a clearer view of your stomach when he was doing the surgery. Many people get it in their shoulder, but for you it could be behind your breast. Just mention it to your surgeon when you see him/her.

After surgery it was quite a while before I felt comfortable wearing jeans or tighter waistbands, because of that incision near my belly button. Just pick a bathing suit that doesn't hit right at incision level, and you should be fine.

It would probably help your possible gas pain and your breathing to get back to normal if you could do some walking/fitness exercise at this point. Keep in mind you're just two weeks post op, so you'll want to take it a bit easy and increase your distance and speed gradually as your body can handle it.

How is your eating coming? Don't be surprised if you have some swallowing problems at about 2 weeks, because that's peak swelling of your wrap. It subsides over time, and should be just fine for your trip to Hawaii. I'll bet you're getting excited!

Although going to work is fine, (Obviously you'll talk to your surgeon about how much activity you can handle at this point) be sure to get lots of rest in between.

Hope you sell lots of houses! We just listed ours, and had our first open house on Sunday. What a lot of work getting it ready to sell!
Take care, rest, and chew, chew, chew!
Best wishes!
Denise

Hi Cheryl,
If you haven't had any swallowing problems up to now, you shouldn't have them. It is common, though, to have a few rough days around week two. After that, the healing continues and the swelling subsides. If you don't get it, great!

I have a very reactive stomach, so it adds a bit of a challenge to my recovery. Since the wrap is part of my stomach, when it reacts, my whole stomach gets going. This isn't a new thing. My family doc says mine is the most delicate/reactive stomach of any of his patients. Fortunately, he takes good care of me, since he understands my stomach issues.

I've had "cocktails" since surgery, and have had no problems. We took a family vacation, and I enjoyed some beer and Malibu and pineapple juice. The pineapple juice was a bit acidic for my crazy stomach, but I tolerated one drink. I don't have problems with beer generally.

I hope you have a wonderful trip! I think you'll find you can eat anything as long as you take small bites and chew until it is a liquid. Most things will chew to liquid, so I'm sure you'll enjoy lots of delicious Hawaiian foods! Have you ever been to Hawaii before?

Hang in there. You're doing great!
Any questions, don't hesitate to ask!
Denise

Hi Guys,

 Thanks so much for all of your advise.

Here is what happened on Wed. I went for my 1st dr. follow up visit.

First off everyone in office had to wait for 2/12 hrs. because he had a surgery overlap.

So when he finally came in he took out my staples and said that I can eat anything now. He told me that I could go into the ocean in Hawaii  when I go. He also told me to get some sort of girdle to help hold in stomach area.???? Get one that is high on stomach area. Now I am guessing that he said that to help minimize the pain???? He seeemed very rushed since he was so late to get to all of his patients.

I told him that I was having pain in a different area now and he didn't say anything??

 My pain is now to the left of my  in that area. Sometimes a little above belly button and to the left. I did call and the nurse told me that it was my nerves or muscles that were sore and not to worry unless there was redness or had a fever, or if the area was hot to the touch.

So at 16 days post op. I need you guys expert advise.

Is this true what she was telling me? Has anyone else felt pains in these areas. It seems wierd to me because its not by any of the incision sites and it really hurts almost every time I stood up yesterday in that 1 area. i am just afraid that I might have strained something??

Another question I have is about bloating. Almost every time I eat I get super full fast and bloated feeling. Pretty much miserable. So I guess I am eating to much at 1 sitting. Even though its only about 1/2 cup of say "Shepards Pie"

So all in all I guess I was wondering when is the pain going to go away and when will my tummy stop hurting every time I eat.

I know that its probably different for everyone but i need a guideline.

Thanks,

Cheryl

 

Surfer girl, now that I have had my surgery I agree with others that you need to slow down. I'm an electrician and my surgeon told me it will be 6-8 weeks before he even thinks about releasing me for work.

How often do you excersise your lungs? Though it hurts to take a deep breath for me, I do it as often as possible. I dont know if its because of the anestisia or because of the pressure the lungs create in the chest but I never imagined that taking deep breaths would be so hard to do.

That pain might be because you over did it. I had all my innards inflamed so I know I will be in pain as everything gets back to normal for quite some time. 13 days is really a short amount of time.

But I imagine its hard when, being a real estate agent, you might depened on you work a bit more than some of us do.

Take is slow. Hope you feel better soon!

Rafael