Pain opinions needed, this is wierd

[Michellemar]

Is there as school of thought that believes, if it hurts it's good for you, I mean that. I'll push or whatever they want, I have bgwm taught NOT to move into pai, to deaden it if I must, and THEN push, but that's it. I could go on about thing after thing... What experience have others had??? Thank you
Michellemar, just stepped down from ICU, AV porcine, minimally invasive. 7th day in hospital

 

[WandaW]

My experience after an Aortic Mechanical replacement and repair of an Aortic aneurysm was to advocate loudly and persistently for better Pain management in the hospitsl. They cut my chest open and then ordered my pain meds as 5 mg or 10 mg every 4 hours PRN, which means I had to ask for it. Now if I was sleeping and missed the 4 hour time I then woke up in MORE pain and it took more then an hour to get ahead of it again. I am an Occupational Therapist and Pain control is critical to getting our patients to move safely. That is my only complaint for my surgery or hospital experience. I recieved better pain control with my rotator cuff surgery. So, thanks for letting me get that off of my chest, you need to advocate for yourself and have your family help, tell your doctor exactly how you feel and how it is impacting your progress. My doctor had a much different opinion from the nurses. My doctor quickly changed my meds when I got to talk to him. I found Open heart surgery to be a big deal, but with good pain control it was possible to get up and get moving. After 3 weeks I was able to move to only Tylenol Arthritis strength and no Pain meds even at bedtime. Hope this helps,

 

[Jkm7]

My nurses at Mass General told me, both OHS, they consider pain control as important as blood pressure and temperature etc When I requested pain meds, I received them promptly and can honestly say I felt they kept me comfortable almost all the time..... one outstanding exception but they remedied it quickly with morphine.

 

[cherylchapa]

I distinctly remember not being able to hold my 5 month old baby because he was in so much pain after his first OHS. On the second day after the surgery, they already had him in intermediate ICU and were putting him on regular strength Tylenol. The nurses said he was fine but he cried incessantly! I could tell he was in a lot of pain. I insisted and he was given one more day of morphine and that made all the difference. Any with holding of pain meds is akin to torture and I will not allow it with my child. You should demand the same for yourself. JMHO.

 

[normofthenorth]

I can tolerate a lot of pain as long as I know I'm in control of the situation (and can stop it when I choose). Several times that's worked out to my benefit -- like knowing when a dentist was over-heating the tooth he was grinding down for a crown, e.g..

I had very little pain post-OHS/BAVR, so I didn't have to tolerate anything to drop the narcotics (and then the Tylenol) as soon as my health pro's permitted that, which was soon. The one shot of Morphine I had post-op (which I'm pretty sure I didn't need, either -- it was for drainage-tube removal) gave me weird visual auras for hours afterwards (which I ALSO didn't need! ).

The hospital's resident Cardiologist felt strongly that I should be taking narcotics all along, because I would never use the spirometer aggressively enough, and would never regain lung function quickly enough, if I felt the feelings. I persisted (partly because I was afraid I'd OVERdo if I did NOT feel the feelings), and a day or two later, she admitted that my lung function was very good. While that dispute was still going on, and I was still on Tylenol, one of the actual surgeons came by for rounds. He asked me and the nurses how my pain was, and they told him, in surprise, that I had turned down the narcotics, and was just on Tylenol. That's when he said I didn't need to take the Tylenol either, if I didn't need it. I did take two regular strength Tylenols after that, one per night, because I was having trouble sleeping and thought they'd help. (I'm not sure they did. My sleeping was mostly in 2-hour snatches for a few weeks post-op.)

Just as I dug in my heels to AVOID pain-killers I didn't need, I don't think I'd hesitate to insist on pain-killers I thought I DID need. But in general, I'd usually rather be somewhat conscious of what feels great and what hurts.

 

[kfay]

This is plain and simple, if you are in pain, you need to speak up. There is absolutely no reason for you to be in pain, they have plenty of drugs available to help you with that. I definitely think it will inhibit your ability to get up and walk if you are in so much pain and that will hurt your recovery. I was luckily hooked up to a fentynal pain pump up until an hour or so before my discharge, so I never had to ask for pain meds, and then the nurse came in with a shot full of it to give me right before I left the hospital.


Kim

 

[Mileena46]

Strangely enough, I didn't have a lot of pain. Either they kept me medicated or it just wasn't there. They were giving me percocet and every time I stood up I felt faint and my head had a roaring sound that got so loud I couldn't hear above it. So, the first few days walking was out of the question....I could barely make it to the bathroom without feeling faint. I then started refusing the meds and they changed me to vicodin. I did well with that!

Mileena

 

[esvaja]

I'll state what it said in the patient handbook Cleveland Clinic gave - THIS IS NOT THE TIME TO BE BRAVE. If your pain inhibits your walking, your breathing, your sleeping take it. One thing I have learned if you wait too long you will need more than if you took it in time.
Why do you think a guy like Kevorkian appeared, for the longest time no one was addressing the pain issue of diseases.
If you don't need the pain meds GREAT, but that doesn't make you a better person than someone who does.
By the way I had a 13 week old baby who had OHS in 1989, the nurses said a few years before
they went on strike until pain meds were given to the babies after surgery, I guess the drs felt they either could't feel that young or they wouldn't remember.
Daiva

 

[epstns]

I remember seeing that when they closed my incision, they inserted a thin catheter right into the wound. It was connected to a pump that administered pain meds, but I do not remember ever pushing the button. Maybe the nurses did, but I did not. While in the hospital I did need some injected pain meds, but not morphine. I just forgot what it was they gave me, but it worked.

Upon going home, I was given a prescription for hydrocodone. I used that at less than the prescribed dose for the first couple of weeks at home, then stopped that as I no longer needed it. I found that I felt much better over all once I stopped the pain meds. I did need them to allow me to sleep at first though.

After the first couple of weeks, I did not even move down to tylenol or anything. I just cut the dose on the heavy stuff from the prescribed 1-2 tablets down to one-half of a tablet, then dropped it altogether. Haven't needed pain meds since, and my digestive tract thanks me for that. . .

 

[Bryan B]

In the years that I have been a member here experienced people have always said that you should not wait until you are in a lot of pain before asking for pain medication. Once you fall behind it makes it harder to relieve the pain. After my recent surgery my chest tubes were the only real problem. They felt like they were about to come out of my back. They put me on a fentanyl pump so I could control my pain when I needed to. Once the chest tubes were out (I had 5 this time and they pulled the most painful one last) I went off of the pump and didn't need all of my scheduled oral pain meds.

But the first 2-3 weeks after surgery if you have pain you need to take your pain meds. If you are still in pain after that and feel you can't start weaning yourself off of them then you need to talk to your surgeon about it.

 

[drivetopless]

I was in a lot of pain the first 24 hours. I remember them telling me that they would control the pain to make it bearable, but that it would be impossible to make it totally go away. THis surgery hospital was good at managing the pain and did make sure I got meds at consistent intervals. DO speak up if they are not on top of it.

Later I went to a different hospital for afib treatment. I was still only 3 weeks post op and coughing horribly from the fluid that had built up in my lungs. I was in pain and sore from the coughing. However, this hospital did not do open heart procedures, and I did not look like a typical heart patient, so they figured I was okay. Not one nurse proactively asked about my pain level. l had a minimally invasive scar that was not visible under my gowns neckline, so they didn't even notice that I had a scar unless I pointed it out. I was very angry at times with how this hospital managed my pain and that one nurse in particular questioned me if I asked for even a tylenol. My mother, a mild mannered quilting school teacher let 'em have it finally and told them "My daughter never complains. If she says she is in pain, she IS IN PAIN. Please help her or I will go to you boss." That helped. Mom to the rescue-- It helps to have someone there who knows you vouching for you and watching them.

Good luck. Make them treat you right.

 

[buncle]

First 3 days is the worst.After that you generally have passed the first hurdle.I remember my back and shoulders hurt more than the actual incision.I had a rub down once a day and that helped alot.After 1 week I was just taking tylenol a couple times a day.Like Bryan said stay ahead of the pain for a few days until you get a handle on it.

 

[Luana]

Is there as school of thought that believes, if it hurts it's good for you, I mean that. I'll push or whatever they want, I have bgwm taught NOT to move into pai, to deaden it if I must, and THEN push, but that's it. I could go on about thing after thing... What experience have others had??? Thank you
Michellemar, just stepped down from ICU, AV porcine, minimally invasive. 7th day in hospital

Not sure if your minimally invasive was a smaller sternotomy or a mini-thoracotomy? Either way, when you're in pain, you need medication to ease it. There's no reason for you to be in pain. It won't help anything. This is no time to be stoic.

 

[Greg a]

This is plain and simple, if you are in pain, you need to speak up. There is absolutely no reason for you to be in pain, they have plenty of drugs available to help you with that. I definitely think it will inhibit your ability to get up and walk if you are in so much pain and that will hurt your recovery. I was luckily hooked up to a fentynal pain pump up until an hour or so before my discharge, so I never had to ask for pain meds, and then the nurse came in with a shot full of it to give me right before I left the hospital.


Kim

And once again Kim is right on target