I had the most productive day so far since surgery. I’ve been behind on house work due to surgery so I got some stuff done today. I cleaned bathrooms, kitchen, bedroom, and did all the laundry that had piled up. I felt so good for being productive but now I’m having a severe burning/ pulling pain in my left lower abdomen and back. It feels like someone is stabbing me if I bend down or try to straighten up. It’s not incision pain because it’s below my incisions. I took 20mg of liquid pain meds from hospital it was hurting so bad and it is barely touching it. It only doesn’t hurt when I’m sitting in my recliner. I had this pain right after surgery for a little over a week and it’s way worse now. I can’t handle how bad it is. I think it’s nerve pain or something with the muscle but still. :’(

Hi- my guess is you probably shouldn’t be doing all that lifting and bending! Did you have any physical limitations from your surgeon? I had surgery on 6/11/18 and I was advised no lifting more than 10 lbs for 4 weeks.

They said no physical limitations. Just said if it hurts stop. I didn’t hurt while cleaning or doing the laundry but it was afterwards. I sat down and went to get up and was hurting bad. I’m just not sure what the heck.

I’m not a medical professional but I know I couldn’t bend over much the first couple of weeks, and I had to get assistance with laundry and groceries and such. It seems like you should take it easy!

It’s really tough, more mentally than anything, to do nothing for a few weeks. But it’s worth it over pushing your body to do what it’s not ready for. I would see if it goes away by the next day and maybe call your surgeon if it persists. (Ice is also helpful for strains!)

On 07/19/2018 at 23:11, QTRNY2018 said:

I’m not a medical professional but I know I couldn’t bend over much the first couple of weeks, and I had to get assistance with laundry and groceries and such. It seems like you should take it easy!

It’s really tough, more mentally than anything, to do nothing for a few weeks. But it’s worth it over pushing your body to do what it’s not ready for. I would see if it goes away by the next day and maybe call your surgeon if it persists. (Ice is also helpful for strains!)

I may have to rest for a few days. I went back to work a week and a half after surgery with no issues and bending hasn’t been a problem either. It’s just all of a sudden now it’s a problem. I definitely probably just over did it.

I was also told to not lift anything heavier than 10 lbs for the first 4 weeks post-op, and to go slow with adding in activities. You may want to try that approach since your recent experience did not go well. Aren’t you just 2 weeks post-op? Be kind and reasonable with yourself; you just had major surgery.

I have the same
horrible pain! I couldn't get up for 2 hours yesterday the pain was SO bad! I'm afraid to even move now.

8 hours ago, mckenzie said:

I had the most productive day so far since surgery. I’ve been behind on house work due to surgery so I got some stuff done today. I cleaned bathrooms, kitchen, bedroom, and did all the laundry that had piled up. I felt so good for being productive but now I’m having a severe burning/ pulling pain in my left lower abdomen and back. It feels like someone is stabbing me if I bend down or try to straighten up. It’s not incision pain because it’s below my incisions. I took 20mg of liquid pain meds from hospital it was hurting so bad and it is barely touching it. It only doesn’t hurt when I’m sitting in my recliner. I had this pain right after surgery for a little over a week and it’s way worse now. I can’t handle how bad it is. I think it’s nerve pain or something with the muscle but still. :’(

Sounds like you might have popped a stitch. I know they told you that you have no limitations... but that might not be the best advice.

5 hours ago, MarinaGirl said:

I was also told to not lift anything heavier than 10 lbs for the first 4 weeks post-op, and to go slow with adding in activities. You may want to try that approach since your recent experience did not go well. Aren’t you just 2 weeks post-op? Be kind and reasonable with yourself; you just had major surgery.

I was told the same thing, no lifting anything over 10 lbs for the first month. You've got several incisions in your abdominal wall, they need time to heal or you will end up popping stitches or worse, getting a hernia. Take the time your body needs to heal and just REST! Let someone else pick up the slack for a while.

Put a heating pad on it intermittently and/or warm compress. It is likely nerve endings and muscles - they pulled around in there and stitched stuff up and you are straining that before it has HEALED. You are not healed, so quit trying to do too much all at once - ask for help. Rest and allow your body to heal.

This sucks. I'm sorry, girl. It's the biggest annoyance of all of this recovery. I had the burning sensation once and it freaked me out but it did pass. I feel like days that I'm more active at home and work, the next day the left side pain comes back even stronger. It too is not directly on the incision but under or around it. Sometimes it's hard to pin point. I read somewhere that it can take 4-5 weeks before you're back to yourself. I'm just trying to take it easy most days and taking my Tylenol religiously every 6 hours.

On 07/20/2018 at 11:03, Little Kansas Kitty said:

This sucks. I'm sorry, girl. It's the biggest annoyance of all of this recovery. I had the burning sensation once and it freaked me out but it did pass. I feel like days that I'm more active at home and work, the next day the left side pain comes back even stronger. It too is not directly on the incision but under or around it. Sometimes it's hard to pin point. I read somewhere that it can take 4-5 weeks before you're back to yourself. I'm just trying to take it easy most days and taking my Tylenol religiously every 6 hours.

I’ve been trying to take Tylenol and I’m so thankful my job isn’t very demanding. It’s never a issue until I go to bend down or something. I start school back August 7th and I’m freaking out that I won’t be ready to go for my clinicals. I’m in nursing school so I’m needing to be ready lol. I asked my doctor about it but I don’t think he’s understanding what I’m saying because he said it was incision pain. I’ll just have to show him I guess at my next appointment.

Congrats on nursing school. I think you'll be totally fine and ready for school IF you take it easy from here forward. Let your body rest, rest as much as possible and ask for help. I paid my kids extra allowance to help out with additional chores. The last thing you want to do is pull or strain a muscle as that could set you back an additional 3 weeks or so. Happy healing!