First of all I am an ICU nurse of 30 years. I took care of patients coming right out of open heart surgery. This is where my idea came from.

My surgery was yesterday. When I woke up in the recovery room I had a lot of pain so they gave me Dilaudid which is a strong narcotic. The Dilaudid eased the pain but it still hurt. It just made me sleepy. I asked the doctor if he would order Toradol IV. We give it to open heart patients who are in a lot of pain because it doesn't make you sleepy and you are able to get up and starting moving right away.

(If you like the narcotic buzz, you will not like Toradol)!

Anyway, I got the Toradol. It was a miracle. I have had the smoothest recovery. I forget that I just had surgery!!

I wasn't going to post this because I don't want to give medical advice. But I also don't want to hold back on something that could help all of you that are about to have surgery. Just know that I am only giving you my experience.

The best part is that it completely took my pain away...I mean completely!!!

So I was up walking and taking deep breaths. I ate jello the first night ( last night) with no problem.

I hope I didn't just jinx myself !!!!

Anyway post op day one here! So far....So good! And I am loving that green jello! Why is it always green????

Kim

Toradol was a blessing and a curse. I received it post op Q6hrs IV had no pain. Woke up after the first day home without it. And thought I was going to die. Ugh. It gives you a false sense of being pain free. Just a warning to you for when you get home and are no longer on the iv med.

Thanks for the warning! Ugh!

What did you take when you were ho.e since you can't take Motrin or ibuprofen?

A dose or two of an NSAID won’t do anyone any harm it’s high doses for a few days that tend to be the problem.

7 hours ago, Albus said:

A dose or two of an NSAID won’t do anyone any harm it’s high doses for a few days that tend to be the problem.

Not true. Someone I know on this forum had issues with a single dose of oral NSAID.

Look, people with RNY cannot take NSAIDs, ever. I had to sign a paper saying I wouldn't. That is a big, bright shining line behind which we are safe. "Oh, a dose or two here or there, as long as it's not high doses, or for too many days in a row" is a fuzzy line that patients are notoriously bad at toeing. Stay behind the bright line of NO NSAIDs EVER!

1 hour ago, Little Green said:

. "Oh, a dose or two here or there, as long as it's not high doses, or for too many days in a row" is a fuzzy line that patients are notoriously bad at toeing.

Completely agree, however the OP was talking about a few doses, under medical supervision, whilst still in hospital.

14 hours ago, karmanodrama said:

What did you take when you were ho.e since you can't take Motrin or ibuprofen?

I was sent home with Tramadol and Gabapentin. I also bought sugar free adult tylenol online and had it ready. I stopped Tramadol on day 2 I think? And started weaning off Gabapentin on that day as well. For the next 2 days I only took liquid tylenol. My day 4 I did not need anything. I think I only took about 3 total doses of liquid tylenol.

Update home one day. Minim as L pain m as named with Tylenol. No nausea.

The surgery went well, praise him. The nausea after the surgery was horrible to the 5th degree. None of the nausea meds were working so they had to pull out heavy hitters and thank goodness those finally starting working. Dry heaving on a empty stomach and fresh incision were painful. So the nausea finally went away and the gas pains set in. Despite the pain.....I have absolutely no regrets about getting sleeved.

Sent from my SM-G955U using BariatricPal mobile app

I was sent home with Tramadol and Gabapentin. I also bought sugar free adult tylenol online and had it ready. I stopped Tramadol on day 2 I think? And started weaning off Gabapentin on that day as well. For the next 2 days I only took liquid tylenol. My day 4 I did not need anything. I think I only took about 3 total doses of liquid tylenol.

I wish I had it that easy. I had a horrible reaction to the anesthesia. I had severe nausea. The surgery was great, the major incison, sore but the nausea was enough for me to almost start crying. The dry heaving was so painful. I thought I was gonna hurt or rip something. The staff was awesome and they finally got my nausea under control. Thank you Lord! Now my recovery can begin!!!

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What I found with my surgery is the more I walked the less pain I had. It was the air they filled me with that hurt worse than the incisions. As soon as I walked and passed all that , it was a breeze. I also have a high pain tolerance though. Each person is different.

I wish I had it that easy. I had a horrible reaction to the anesthesia. I had severe nausea. The surgery was great, the major incison, sore but the nausea was enough for me to almost start crying. The dry heaving was so painful. I thought I was gonna hurt or rip something. The staff was awesome and they finally got my nausea under control. Thank you Lord! Now my recovery can begin!!!

Sent from my SM-G955U using BariatricPal mobile app

Oh no Miss Tee! I am so sorry that you went through that. Nausea is worse than pain!

I had IV toradol every 6 hours scheduled while I was in the hospital. I had two doses of IV dilaudid while I was there as well. They were giving me IV Pepcid as well I think in the morning. I feel my pain was tolerable, I was up walking frequently, tolerating water the second day.

When I got home I took a few doses of the Percocet but they made me too nauseated so I stopped and switched to regular Tylenol liquid.

Ok. I'll chime in here with my personal experience. Before surgery my anesthesiologist gave me a scopolamine patch for nausea (it lasts 3 days) and as a result I had none - lifesaver imo. The anesthetic used for surgery was propofol and I thought it was a good choice. For pain meds I had IV Tylenol known as paracetamol 1000mg, and it was awesome, I only had one dose of dilaudid because the pain kept me from sleeping the second night. I went home with liquid version of hydrocodone and have it stashed unused in the medicine cupboard. I have taken Aleve 3 times in 5 months for arthritis shoulder pain. My surgeon said use nsaids rarely and only if absolutely necessary.

6 hours ago, Sosewsue61 said:

Ok. I'll chime in here with my personal experience. Before surgery my anesthesiologist gave me a scopolamine patch for nausea (it lasts 3 days) and as a result I had none - lifesaver imo. The anesthetic used for surgery was propofol and I thought it was a good choice. For pain meds I had IV Tylenol known as paracetamol 1000mg, and it was awesome, I only had one dose of dilaudid because the pain kept me from sleeping the second night. I went home with liquid version of hydrocodone and have it stashed unused in the medicine cupboard. I have taken Aleve 3 times in 5 months for arthritis shoulder pain. My surgeon said use nsaids rarely and only if absolutely necessary.

They have me the nausea patch behind my ear before surgery. After sugery they tried 2 other nausea meds, one by IV, the other by mouth, and the last a shot in the arm. None were effective. The liquid pain meds I would dry heave and it was the same results for the dilaudid in the pump. I didnt get any sleep or rest after the surgery until the following morning. They had to give me a series of powerful anti-nausea meds for me to even function.

They have me the nausea patch behind my ear before surgery. After sugery they tried 2 other nausea meds, one by IV, the other by mouth, and the last a shot in the arm. None were effective. The liquid pain meds I would dry heave and it was the same results for the dilaudid in the pump. I didnt get any sleep or rest after the surgery until the following morning. They had to give me a series of powerful anti-nausea meds for me to even function.

They gave me the grossest tasting concoction right before I went into surgery. They said it was for post op nausea. It worked like a charm!