For the Ladies...

[sarahsunshine]

How does the pain in having your chest tube removed compare to child birth?

Skyler has asked me for years about what it feels like to have a baby… His grandmother connected the two ideas. Now I’m asking for evidence. Is there even a comparison?

 

[bradvo]

I'm all man but I can answer this, baby wins.

 

[Greg a]

i'm all man but i can answer this, baby wins.

uh huh:eek2:
totaly agree

.................................................​

 

[tobagotwo]

All accounts I've seen put the baby in an entirely different (more painful) category.

Like the others, I can only repeat what I've read. Fortunately, I'll only have to endure heart surgery...

(By the way, nothing gets a thread read by more men than indicating it's only for the ladies.)

Best wishes,

 

[Jkm7]

My first surgery, I had three chest tubes and it was horrible pain when they were removed. I have a pretty fair tolerance but I yelled out in pain from it and I have never done that before or since.

My second surgery, lucky me, I had four tubes. You can imagine my trepidation waiting their removal. I spoke with everyone who stood still long enough to listen to me about how awful my first experience had been with tube removal. Finally the person who was to pull them (not all in one day) assured me it would be a lot better this time and he would see to it. He was an angel. He did two on one day and I barely felt it and the next day one fell out on it's own. (That won me an additional chest x-ray). When he pulled the last one, I felt a small twinge but it was tiny in comparison.

My message..... speak up. Tell whoever it is that is pulling them that you want premedication. Tell them you're nervous about it. Tell them anything to make them be as gentle as they can be. Clearly they can be pulled without pain at least in some/most ? cases.

 

[yotphix]

Clearly they can be pulled without pain at least in some/most ? cases.

Ditto. I found the feeling somewhat odd, but there as far as pain goes, it was less than some of the tape that got pulled off of me over those days. No big deal for me.

 

[bradvo]

My first surgery, I had three chest tubes and it was horrible pain when they were removed. I have a pretty fair tolerance but I yelled out in pain from it and I have never done that before or since.

My second surgery, lucky me, I had four tubes. You can imagine my trepidation waiting their removal. I spoke with everyone who stood still long enough to listen to me about how awful my first experience had been with tube removal. Finally the person who was to pull them (not all in one day) assured me it would be a lot better this time and he would see to it. He was an angel. He did two on one day and I barely felt it and the next day one fell out on it's own. (That won me an additional chest x-ray). When he pulled the last one, I felt a small twinge but it was tiny in comparison.

My message..... speak up. Tell whoever it is that is pulling them that you want premedication. Tell them you're nervous about it. Tell them anything to make them be as gentle as they can be. Clearly they can be pulled without pain at least in some/most ? cases.

I agree to make the staff aware that your nervous and don't want the pain, I made that clear with the chest tubes and the one down below. For me it was a non event. I was pretty nervous about the catheter because the nurse told me it was coming out, I asked if she was doing it and she said no, it would be a PA doing it. After waiting almost all day she came in and said she was doing it.
Now I have had bad experiences with this tube pulling in the past down their, most times they pulled it out like tearing a band aid off , she was gentle and made 3 small motions and it was out. I was relieved as all heck.

Brad

 

[Allisoninoz]

Well I had my daughter by c-section so didn't feel much at the time (but it hurt later!). I had two heart surgeries as a child and my third 10 months ago. I was so scared of the tube removal as I remembered it all too well from childhood, but it wasn't nearly as bad as I remembered. Weird and twisty more than painful. Mind you, I wouldn't be first in line to get it done again ...
It's over with quickly ... unlike childbirth usually ...

 

[Ovie]

I would of never even thought to of asked for premedication prior to removal. When I play Blackjack at the Casino I tell the dealer to be gentle, I may have to do the same with my nurses. I learn something new everytime I come here.

 

[Chris M]

For me there's no comparison because I did not find the tube removal painful. It was a rather peculiar sensation but only very mildly uncomfortable. On a scale of 1-10 where childbirth = 10 then this would be a 1.

 

[sarahsunshine]

Thanks for the comments "ladies"!

I'll pass the info on to the 12yo who thinks that the tube removal was the biggest pain that could ever be endured. I don't doubt that it hurt, but he was pre-drugged (as several have suggested) at the same time. I maintain that he is just a wuss who has been trained to greatly fear and panic about the slightest pain in his chest for his 12 years (by his mom). Yes, he has had various serious issues related to his heart, and yes, I am likely less sympathetic about pain than his mom who babies him quite a bit. Then again he hyperventilates and screams to have his twice daily enoxaparin (heparin) injection (unless you tell him to shut it and he can't play PS3 if he doesn't control himself).

I think (not sure) that much of it is attention-seeking. Curiously, the nights that mom was att the hospital he had terrible pain that required medication. The nights that dad stayed at the hospital (and they alternated), he had no pain at all. Very odd.

I guess I have a hard time telling what pain is real and what isn't with this kid, despite being around him for 6 years.

 

[AgilityDog]

I won't lie to you. Tube removal didn't hurt. The dang TUBE hurt, especially the big honking one in the middle that I swear ran between my heart/lungs and my backbone. That stinker's as big around as a man's thumb, and 2 feet long.

After both surgeries, that was my major problem. And I do mean major.

I never had a kid, but I'd rate MY tube experience as bad as my worst gallbladder attack (which felt like someone stabbed me with a butcher knife), and it lasted the entire time the tube was in. DAYS! Bless morphine.

I understand I'm a little unusual, though. Even though I have a high pain tolerance, the drainage tubes made me yell whenever my drugs wore off.

Other people have no problem with the tubes.

 

[escargome]

Don't really remember any huge pain at tube removal. However, after 2 babies au natural "no drugs" I can truly say that the baby delivery was decidedly more painful.

 

[Madsometimes]

Tube removal didn't hurt at all for me. I had a weird pulling sensation, and it was not pleasant, but didn't compare to childbirth.

However, I think that I would feel differently if I was a child. I remember being terrified of blood tests when I was young. Heparin injections are not particularly nice either, so I can see why he fusses about them. I have an 11 year old daughter, and it is a difficult age. They are still children, but not small enough to be cute, so we can expect a lot from them. My daughter hates having her annual echo, and I know she would react very badly if she needed any procedure done, and especially a major operation.

 

[Jkm7]

Thanks for the comments "ladies"!

I'll pass the info on to the 12yo who thinks that the tube removal was the biggest pain that could ever be endured. I don't doubt that it hurt, but he was pre-drugged (as several have suggested) at the same time. I maintain that he is just a wuss who has been trained to greatly fear and panic about the slightest pain in his chest for his 12 years (by his mom). Yes, he has had various serious issues related to his heart, and yes, I am likely less sympathetic about pain than his mom who babies him quite a bit. Then again he hyperventilates and screams to have his twice daily enoxaparin (heparin) injection (unless you tell him to shut it and he can't play PS3 if he doesn't control himself).

I think (not sure) that much of it is attention-seeking. Curiously, the nights that mom was att the hospital he had terrible pain that required medication. The nights that dad stayed at the hospital (and they alternated), he had no pain at all. Very odd.

I guess I have a hard time telling what pain is real and what isn't with this kid, despite being around him for 6 years.

Please don't call him a 'wuss'..... seriously.
I am a hearty sort and the pain I experienced from tube removal my first surgery was EXTREME. No one knows what someone else's pain is. It seems we all experience much about heart surgery differently and tube removal is no exception. My second experience, same hospital, same surgeon who placed the tubes, same CICU unit, same step down and my experience the second time was very different.

 

[Luana]

The pain, if any, in having a chest tube removed lasts a few seconds. I don't have any children but my understanding is labor can be an awfully long process.

I had no pain when my chest tube was removed and I was quite apprehensive as many here have posted of the pain. I felt nothing.

 

[sarahsunshine]

Please don't call him a 'wuss'..... seriously.

OKAY, okay!!!!!

You know, I believe that it hurts! I'm not that insensitive! If he couldn't stand up straight with the tube in, then you better believe it hurt! I do. I have no idea how much. And he asked if he could keep it in rather than have it removed because of how much it hurt the previous time it came out (though he couldn't stand up straight).

No, he's not a wuss on that account... Anyone who has gone through heart surgery should wear a star of pride for what they went through (especially those who have done it several times).

It's the other things that make him "wuss-worthy"... And I put in this category items that everyone experiences - stubbed toes, broken nails, chapped/split lips...

I find that his extreme reactions to these minor things make his reaction to the more major things less believable. On a scale of 1-10, I would put his reaction of the tube being pulled at a 27, and the hang nail at 25. This is why I call him a wuss...

But as you say, people feel pain differently. I just can't understand it with this kid.

 

[kfay]

I've had two babies and two heart surgeries. I would say the pain from the babies was hands down much worse. I had drugs with the tube removal and drugs with childbirth and the childbirth was still worse. I agree with Laurie about the pain while the tube was actually still in though. I kept mine for a week, and they made me extremely uncomfortable, much more than the actual pulling. They left me on a Fentynal pump for pain the whole time I was in the hospital and I don't think I would have needed it if they could have pulled my tubes earlier.

Also, it's important to remember that each of us experiences pain differently. If my daughter gets a hangnail, she carries on like she just had her hand cut off. However, my gp tells me that my 10 on a pain scale would be like a 15 to most people.


Kim

 

[Ovie]

Please don't call him a 'wuss'..... seriously.
I am a hearty sort and the pain I experienced from tube removal my first surgery was EXTREME. No one knows what someone else's pain is. It seems we all experience much about heart surgery differently and tube removal is no exception. My second experience, same hospital, same surgeon who placed the tubes, same CICU unit, same step down and my experience the second time was very different.

Couldn't agree more, this child is 12? Take this as you will but I find it a little insensitive to even question how he may feel. 12 years old and going through heart surgery, what a trooper. When I was his age I cried when I got a shot..also I felt more comfortable with certain people growing up, he may have pain with one parent and not the other due to a degree of comfort.

This may have come off as rude and I apologize, but really..questioning a child's pain after surgery? Unless I have my facts wrong. Poor kid..

 

[sarahsunshine]

Sorry I came across that way. Please read my response to Jkm7's comment above. I'm not questioning that it hurt. I just wonder to what extreme.

I'm simply trying to find a way to explain the pain of child birth to a 12 yr old boy. To do that I'm trying to understand what type of pain he endured. As I explain above, his reaction to a hangnail is ridiculous (I would say 25 on a scale of 1-10). so I'm trying to understand something that he's experienced to help explain. I understand there's huge variation now.

I think that he had terrible pain from the tube being in, and the first time the tube came out it was horrible. How horrible is what I'm trying to understand. I guess I can only tell him that it's probably like tube pain, but lasts for longer... probably.


P.S. I grew up in a house where to admit pain was extremely wussy, so I had to learn to control it to the level of an Apache warrior. If you even whimpered, it had better be serious! I have an even harder time dealing with other's extreme reactions due to this. I am better than I used to be, believe it or not.