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4 Days Post Op, Stomach Muscles And Incisions Feel Tight



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Just wondering if anyone else has experienced this...my stomach muscles, particularly around my incisions, and mostly on my left side, feel sooooooo tight. It's not painful to stand up straight and stretch them a bit, but I'm afraid of damaging something. But I'm also afraid of healing too tight...can that even happen? My back is starting to hurt because I have been using it and protecting my stomach muscles. Any advice is appreciated!

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Perfectly normal to feel like this after surgery. You should stand up straight as soon as you can, the longer you stay stooped the harder it will be to straighten up. Try holding a cushion against your incisions for support whilst you straighten yourself up.

It is the same as having a Caesar or hysterectomy, they encourage you to get out of bed and walk straight ASAP.

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Thanks, I will try the pillow trick!

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pillow and ice-packs have been my life savers !!! i only have liquid band-aid no sutures or staples......

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I have steristrips, almost look like tape. I gave in and took some liquid loratab, despite the bad taste it really works sooooooo well.

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I am 2 days post op and I am using a pillow too...it really helps.

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The tightness is common after any abdominal laparoscopic surgery, I think. I had it after I had my gallbladder removed. I quit taking my prescription pain meds after just a few days and was trying to get along with just tylenol, but ended up in urgent care because I thought the tightness was a sign of something wrong. The doctor told me that it happens because all of those abdominal structures have been "traumatized" by the surgery, but they don't have the right nerves to send a pain signal, so they just create this feeling of tightness. She scolded me and told me to take my prescription pain meds because that's what they're there for. I think the exact phrase she used was "don't try to be a hero" lol!

Anyway, I hope you are feeling better very soon, and congratulations on your new beginning!

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      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
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    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
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      1. summerseeker

        Life as a big person had limited my life to what I knew I could manage to do each day. That was eat. I hadn't anything else to look forward to. So my eating choices were the best I could dream up. I planned the cooking in managable lots in my head and filled my day with and around it.

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        BTW, the liquid diet sucks, one more day and you are over the worst. You can do it.

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