Okay, so one of my surgery buddies is post op. Some of the things she is sharing is disturbing to me. I personally think this is crazy.

But im curious to see what the norm is on average here for post op pain management.

So when you were out of surgery what was the pain management for you?

Where you on morphine drip? Liquid pain medication? Pills?

My pain management experience was horrendous. When I was wheeled up to my room, I had to change beds. Immediately from the moment I stood up, it was pretty intense. I hadn't had anything for pain in recovery (for some reason?). I started expressing to my nurse that I was in a lot of pain, so much so, that I couldn't fully hoist myself into bed. The closest I could get was one leg on and the other dangling off. The nurse ignored several requests for pain medication and instead brought me hot packs that she tapped to my gown. I was wheeled to a room around 1:30pm, by 7:30 my doctor made her first round to see me. This was a PCP in charge of my care. She walked into the room and immediately came to my bedside. She asked me why I was "hanging off the bed", and I explained I was in so much pain I couldn't move any further over. The nurse not only did not address my severe pain, nor did she offer to help me further into the bed. She came in 6 times for vitals and saw me in this condition. The doctor said, "I will fix this right now!" and immediately left the room and came back with the nurse. The doctor gave the nurse a huge scolding right in front of me and my husband. Then, I was given IV pain medication, I do believe morphine ,or dilated. She said that she would look into getting me a PCA pump, which would allow me to self administer medication, but she returned saying that the hospital was out of them, and the nurse would have to administer the medication manually. That turned out to be a nightmare, because that meant I would have to ring the nurse every time my dose was needed. Often times, I would have to wait 30+ mins, which sucked when it was the middle of the night and I had gone over the 4-6 hour recommendation. The nurse that was assigned to me that first day, was told not to go near me for the duration of my stay. The charge nurse apologized to me personally during my stay and called me at home to express how that isn't "typical or appropriate" patient care from their hospital. I ended up coming down with Shingles as a result from the stress on my body. I think ultimately, from the first 8 hours I was out of recovery without pain medication. Now I will have shingles episodes on and off during times of stress or when my immune system is compromised for the rest of my life, and I'm only 29 years old.

I also suffered from bowels that wouldn't wake up for 4 days, meaning, I could not pass gas, at all.

The icing on the cake was that I got the repetitive hiccups, which sucked!

Beware that not all hospitals have great patient care. And beware that you may not feel the greatest. I hear that some have absolutely no problems, where others, like me end up in the hospital for 5 nights. Everyone is different.

Edited June 15, 20188 yr by AshAsh1

3 hours ago, Oceanlove said:

They were giving here norco pills and sent her home with them (script) and Pepcid pills

I was sent home with liquid Norco. And they crushed all other pills that I had to take in the hospital.

I wasn’t in any pain during my hospital stay, thank God. My surgeon preferred his patients to have some kind of epidural nerve block for pain management. I could feel and move my legs, but my abdomen was numb. Following surgery, after I was out of recovery, the nurses had IV medication on standby, should I need it, but I never did. I was sent home with a prescription for Dilaudid. They’re really small pills, so I didn’t have any difficulty getting them down.

5 hours ago, Oceanlove said:

omg! This is ridiculous. I mean I get we have a drug epidemic in this country but for goodness sakes you just get out of surgery you need pain management and rest. Then is not the time to be stingy and keep people in pain for the sake of addiction. I get not sending people home with the stuff but your in a hospital.

I agree!! People just out of surgery shouldn’t have to suffer because some people abuse narcotics!! So sick of this BS!!

3 hours ago, Creekimp13 said:

I had my choice of aggressive pain management to minimal pain management.

I opted for the least I could get away with because I hoped to poop in the next century.

Had one dose of narcotic meds to get to sleep the night after surgery. Other than that, I got by with liquid Tylenol.

I had very little pain with the procedure.

I did have three different meds to prevent nausea, and I think that's what saved me. I had zero nausea. Felt really good. Had it been an option, I would have loved to go home a couple hours after my surgery. Instead, I went home the next day.

I walked a LOT in the hospital. Kept doing laps of the whole ward. I think it helped a lot.

Do you know what the 3 anti-nausea meds were? Did one work better than others?

Picked up my 3 prescriptions as I have surgery Monday. The loaded me up with Ondansetron for nausea, Omeprazole for any acid reflux, and liquid Tylenol with Codeine.

Liquid pain meds. My surgery was Wed I didn’t really need it but took it to stay ahead of whatever pain I might get. I stopped taking them that Saturday. I had liquid Demerol but never really had any serious pain.

Pain meds through IV while in recovery. When back to the room, it was pain pills, no pump. After one night in the hospital, home the next day and no longer taking pain meds.

The pain was only bad for me while in recovery. After that, it was mild.

I was given Oxycodone when coming from the operating room and then Percocet via IV for the first day. The IV pain meds don’t last as long as the oral meds. The IV ones do work faster though. My doctor had IV and oral ordered and it was my choice. You can always ask for more or something different if you’re in a lot of pain. Most doctors are accommodating.

2 hours ago, MN_Meg770 said:

Do you know what the 3 anti-nausea meds were? Did one work better than others?

Ondansetron, the patch behind the ear, Scopolamine, and Emend.

Emend is Aprepitant, it's a chemotherapy side-effect drug that they are just starting to use for bariatric surgery. So far results have been stellar.

It's typically not covered by insurance, and is about a hundred dollars for the one pill you need...but if you are offered this drug, it is worth every penny.

Both of the other two ladies roaming the halls with me opted to buy the Emend. A couple of others who were not doing as well elected not to get it. (it was our choice).

Do not let the price tag put you off. I never had any nausea. Nada. None. Never gagged, never vomited, never had tummy pain. Was kinda shocking. In the most wonderful way.

Edited June 16, 20188 yr by Creekimp13

I break my Norco pills in 1/2 with my fingers. They are oblong.

I am pretty happy with how the nurses handled and helped with my pain management. Whenever I asked for something they usually obliged so long as it was within the recommended time frame. I’m not totally sure what they were giving me in the hospital but it worked. I got 20 oxycodone (sp?) and i felt that was just enough for what I needed and helped me sleep at home especially. The pain was very uncomfortable but it got better each day and I’m about 3 weeks out and feeling very good.

Wow I’m just in utter shock at all of this. I’m not sure if the lack of pain control was due to the Dr. or hospital protocol. No matter what the answer is I plan to figure it out I hope before next Wednesday.

I am certain our local hospital advises Panadol/ Tylenol for handnails on up. For mild cardiac infarctions, baby aspirin, and if it gets any worse we'll helicopter you to Columbus a.k.a. no longer Our Problem! See why no one wants to darken their ER? Do we want to drive 50 miles to a Level 1 Trauma Hospital or just go to sleep and hope we feel better in the morning? Life is a coin toss anyway.???

They told me prior to surgery that all they had was dissolvable morphine tabs because there is a national shortage of IV morphine right now. When I woke up they immediately gave me the first dissolvable tab. I had one more shortly after that. I also had a tube inserted that delivered anesthetic to my abdominal area for a couple of days. I spent 6 hours in the recovery and then went to a hotel close by for the night. They gave me Tylenol with codeine. I used that the first 2 days, and now just at bedtime. I was only in recovery for 6 hours, but I had a nurse with me or right near me the whole time. They were awesome at cheering me on when I was trying to walk off the gas. I think it is cruel that some people didn’t get any pain meds and or had to wait to get some help beyond the prescribed time. There is a big difference between waiting 5 minutes because IV stuff isn’t available and hoping someone might bring you some relief if they get around to you and are in the mood to be helpful. Ashash1 is a survivor!