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Dr Hive: Appendectomy


goldberry
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Anyone ever come out of an appendectomy with no relief of pain? 

Dd23  had severe pain last night and ended up with an appendectomy this morning. The appendix did not rupture and they removed it laproscopically.   Afterward, when she woke, she was in extreme pain still. This has been since 6am and has not improved even with heavy duty pain meds.

They decided to admit her instead of sending her home, which is good since she can barely roll over and movement causes terrible pain.

Any thoughts?

 

 

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I have an old college friend that happened to.  I think there was something wrong with his spleen.  It happened about two years ago.  Frankly he posted a bunch of conspiracy theory crap on Facebook so I unfollowed him and I'm not sure what happened.

Edited by Katy
autocorrect changed unfollowed to followed!
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Well, I just had a laparoscopic repair of a hiatal hernia and if hers was also preformed laparoscopically then they are very similar surgeries. In these types of surgeries gas is pumped into the abdomen so that they can see what they are doing. It is this gas trapped in the body that causes the pain. I am six days out right now and still managing my pain with prescription pain meds. 

Walking is supposed to help and I am doing that some but not as much as I should because standing hurts more than laying down. I am also doing my breathing exercises. Mostly I am just trying to sleep as much as while I wait for this to pass. I don't really know if there is much else to do. The first two days are the worse and then it very slowly gets better from there. I am so sorry to hear she is suffering and hope she feels better soon.

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We've done 2 appendectomies (2 of our kids), but didn't have this pain.
She's in the right place to get treatment.
Thankfully the surgery is a common one, so I would think they aren't surprised by this side effect.

But possibly she has something else going on?!?

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Is she having trapped gas pain from the laparoscopy?  I had a lap cholecystectomy and appendectomy a little over a year ago, and the pain from that trapped gas was awful for the first 24-36 hours. I couldn’t find a comfortable position at all. Mine was shoulder pain, mostly, but maybe it would be lower with just an appendectomy.

Is she on opioid pain meds? If they haven’t given her any, consider trying Toradol. It was better pain relief for me after my surgery (and my previous c-sections). 

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Dr is concerned and said it's not normal. Pain is normal but typically isn't worse.  I actually saw a pic of the appendix they removed and it was definitely inflamed.  

Her blood count went down some, not dramatically but some. He's going back in to take another look. Either he'll find something or this may just be a really rough recovery.  ☹️☹️☹️

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2nd surgery last night found internal bleeding and orange sized blood clot! Surgery lasted longer than the first, but they got it all cleared up and immediate improvement. 

Today feeling crappy but in a normal post-surgery way! Grateful doctors listened and did not blow off her pain.

Edited by goldberry
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2 minutes ago, goldberry said:

2nd surgery last night found internal bleeding and orange sized blood clot! Surgery lasted longer than the first, but they got it all cleared up and immediate improvement. 

Today feeling crappy but in a normal post-surgery way! Grateful doctors listened and did not blow off her pain.

Wow, that is so scary!  Thank goodness the doctors took her seriously.  Glad she's feeling better and wishing her a smooth recovery.  What an ordeal for all of you!  

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22 hours ago, Forget-Me-Not said:

 

Is she on opioid pain meds? If they haven’t given her any, consider trying Toradol. It was better pain relief for me after my surgery (and my previous c-sections). 

Morphine yesterday, oxycodone today. Talking about Tramadol for discharge? Will that be enough? Incision areas really sore after going in twice in twelve hours. Plus that gas pain in her shoulder another poster mentioned.

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7 minutes ago, goldberry said:

Morphine yesterday, oxycodone today. Talking about Tramadol for discharge? Will that be enough? Incision areas really sore after going in twice in twelve hours. Plus that gas pain in her shoulder another poster mentioned.

I have found tramadol to be pretty effective. If she is just dealing with the general soreness and gas pain it should be fine.  

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1 hour ago, goldberry said:

Morphine yesterday, oxycodone today. Talking about Tramadol for discharge? Will that be enough? Incision areas really sore after going in twice in twelve hours. Plus that gas pain in her shoulder another poster mentioned.

Pain sometimes dissipates surprisingly quickly. I recently had a full abdominal surgery and didn’t take any pain meds once I got home from the hospital.

The typical recommended regime is to alternate Tylenol and Motrin every 4 hours or so. Since she’s on opioids she might want to start taking colace and/or miralax to prevent constipation. Also, make sure she drinks all the water and eats high fiber foods. 
 

Glad to hear she’s on the mend!

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