Incision pain management

[Janie]

Hi!

Overall, I think I'm doing pretty well. I was told in Cleveland that minimally invasive and robotic surgery does heal faster but it is more painful as they go through so many muscles and between the ribs ets. My main incision still really hurts and its making it hard to sleep etc. I have about 3 pain meds left. Any advice from those that have experienced this? Thanks!!

 

[jax]

if you feel that you need more pain meds than by all means go to your family doctor and get them. i got a mini-invasive in cleveland but not the robot and they don't give you enough pain medication when you leave. so definitely call your doctor and get more if you feel you need them. you will heal quicker if you are not in pain. and hopefully before you know it you won't need the pain meds.

 

[Mary]

if you feel that you need more pain meds than by all means go to your family doctor and get them. i got a min-invasive in cleveland but not the robot and they don't give you enough pain medication when you leave. so definitely call your doctor and get more if you feel you need them. you will heal quicker if you are not in pain. and hopefully before you know it you won't need the pain meds.

I concur. Call your doctor and get medication to help you through the worst of this. It seems like it will never end, but it does with time.

 

[Tbone]

Ask for the really good stuff, just do not drive. I hope it gets better quickly for you.

 

[Jkm7]

Do you have an appointment with your PCP post op? What about your cardio? Call either's office to request a refill on your pain meds.

Hope things are going well for you other than still suffering discomfort.

 

[hall]

I agree. Stay ahead of the pain. Get some meds from your cardio or PCP. Best of luck to you.

 

[Janie]

Thanks for the help!

I just got off the phone with the cardiologist's office and they are refilling my scrip. Thanks for everyone's advice.

This forum helps because I don't feel I'm on this journey by myself.

 

[barb]

I came home on Vicodin after taking Percocet in the hospital and it was a mistake. The vicodin didn't help me so I called the doc to reorder percocet which he had no problem with. The only problem was that they cannot call narcotics into the pharmacy. My husband had to go back to the CC to the floor I was on to pick up the Rx. For this reason you will be better off calling your pcp or cardio near your home rather than trying the docs at the CC. Maybe you already know this but it was something I didn't realize.

I played around with trying not to take pain meds because I thought I felt pretty good. Well, I found out quickly that I felt good because of the pain meds and had a pretty miserable day or two. I have 2 incisions and the smaller one where they hooked me up to the bypass machine is and was much more sore than the big ole sternum incision. I think this is true for the reasons you mention. There they had to cut through much more muscle. I can only imagine in your case , going between ribs as well would leave you very sore. You will heal much better if your pain is under control. I vote for getting your pain meds refilled. Once you have them you will likely find that you don't finish them. Letting yourself sleep comfortably is very important. I needed to use pillows to get comfortable.

I hope you are more comfortable very soon.

 

[Janie]

Thanks for that Barb. We sound lot alike. I am not a good "medicine taker". The pump for pain while in the hospital made me nauseous. It was awful. They switched me to the percocet and that is what the cardiologist said they would refill for me. I am just waiting for the call to confirm.
I too thought I felt pretty good but when I started to take less of the pain meds I wasn't feeling so great and sleeping wasn't good. My surgeon told me that they had to make my incision larger than normal because of smaller arteries so I have 3 spots that give me pain, all on my right side.
I've decided its time for me to accept the meds and give time to heal. Sleep should be my friend, not my enemy.

 

[SMS]

Janie, I had the same surgery as you, and was also told in ICU, that robotic hurts more but heals faster, and hurt it did till I got my pain pump dialed in. It was great! I finished my initial script of vicodan, then switched to tylenol. Sleeping lying flat hurt too much for about 2 weeks, so I slept in my recliner. I still have some numbness under my arm, but I feel completely normal again. Good luck.

Steve