Pain managment after surgery

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topaz1947
topaz1947 Member Posts: 24
edited March 2011 in Esophageal Cancer #1
I am scheduled for surgery monday morning and i have been given the option of the IV drip button or the epidural for pain. Does anybody have any advice on which one to use. I will be having the MIE surgery.

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  • Unknown
    Unknown
    #2
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  • Bobs1wife
    Bobs1wife Member Posts: 150
    #3
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    Pain management
    My husband's MIE was August 16, 2010 at Mayo, Rochester. I ask his opinion and he says "yes" to the button. As a caregiver I liked it because when he forgot to push it at times I knew the pain was in control. Praying for a good surgery and a speedy recovery for you. . I'll follow William with our dinner out tonight.... BBQ ribs, coleslaw, and beans! Approaching a year since dx on March 31 the ribs were exceptionally good tonight. Linda
  • dwhite0002
    dwhite0002 Member Posts: 126
    #4
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    Bobs1wife said:

    Pain management
    My husband's MIE was August 16, 2010 at Mayo, Rochester. I ask his opinion and he says "yes" to the button. As a caregiver I liked it because when he forgot to push it at times I knew the pain was in control. Praying for a good surgery and a speedy recovery for you. . I'll follow William with our dinner out tonight.... BBQ ribs, coleslaw, and beans! Approaching a year since dx on March 31 the ribs were exceptionally good tonight. Linda

    pain management
    I had both an epidural and pain pump. My incisions were abdominal, neck, and in the back. In other words, there was quite a bit of area affected.
  • topaz1947
    topaz1947 Member Posts: 24
    #5
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    unknown said:

    This comment has been removed by the Moderator

    I will be having the MIE
    I will be having the MIE Minimally Invasive Esophagectomy. I am going to be at Duke Hospital in Durham N.C. Dr. Thomas D'amico is preforming the surgery.
    I also figured out how to edit my profile if you want to take a look.
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    #6
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    topaz1947 said:

    I will be having the MIE
    I will be having the MIE Minimally Invasive Esophagectomy. I am going to be at Duke Hospital in Durham N.C. Dr. Thomas D'amico is preforming the surgery.
    I also figured out how to edit my profile if you want to take a look.

    This comment has been removed by the Moderator
  • topaz1947
    topaz1947 Member Posts: 24
    #7
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    dwhite0002 said:

    pain management
    I had both an epidural and pain pump. My incisions were abdominal, neck, and in the back. In other words, there was quite a bit of area affected.

    Update on surgery and recovery
    Thank you all for your well wishes during my surgery. I do apologize for taking so long to get back here to let you all know how things are going. I had the surgery done on the 28th of March. Surgery took 4 and a half hours and went well according to my doctor. I did have a few complications that kept me in the hospital for 24 days. I decided to go with the IV pump instead of the epidural. Big mistake. If anyone has this surgery coming up go ahead and get the epidural. It took them 3 days to get my pain under control enough to move me out of ICU. It also took a while for my lungs to get back to a good place. I was on breathing treatments for 14 days and oxygen as well. After they got the pain under control things started getting better. I was able to do my walking and breathing exercises. I did develop a small leak. That also contributed to the longer stay than normal. I got sent home on the The 21st of April. I got sent home on the feeding tube. And only able to have ice chips. I had issues with the feeding tube at home and wound up back in the hospital on the 25 of April. And this is where if anyone has any suggestions, I would greatly appreciate it. I was and still am having constipation issues and lots of pain in the J tube area. I am taking Mira-lax every other day. They sent me home on the Ensure Plus. I am allowed to have liquids and purees. No solid food yet. Did any of you have these issues and how did you deal with them? I am also on Zofran for nausea. I do vomit at least every other day, even with the nausea meds. The Doctor says I am progressing well. Somehow this seems wrong to me. Any comments or suggestions would be very helpful.
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    #8
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    topaz1947 said:

    Update on surgery and recovery
    Thank you all for your well wishes during my surgery. I do apologize for taking so long to get back here to let you all know how things are going. I had the surgery done on the 28th of March. Surgery took 4 and a half hours and went well according to my doctor. I did have a few complications that kept me in the hospital for 24 days. I decided to go with the IV pump instead of the epidural. Big mistake. If anyone has this surgery coming up go ahead and get the epidural. It took them 3 days to get my pain under control enough to move me out of ICU. It also took a while for my lungs to get back to a good place. I was on breathing treatments for 14 days and oxygen as well. After they got the pain under control things started getting better. I was able to do my walking and breathing exercises. I did develop a small leak. That also contributed to the longer stay than normal. I got sent home on the The 21st of April. I got sent home on the feeding tube. And only able to have ice chips. I had issues with the feeding tube at home and wound up back in the hospital on the 25 of April. And this is where if anyone has any suggestions, I would greatly appreciate it. I was and still am having constipation issues and lots of pain in the J tube area. I am taking Mira-lax every other day. They sent me home on the Ensure Plus. I am allowed to have liquids and purees. No solid food yet. Did any of you have these issues and how did you deal with them? I am also on Zofran for nausea. I do vomit at least every other day, even with the nausea meds. The Doctor says I am progressing well. Somehow this seems wrong to me. Any comments or suggestions would be very helpful.

    This comment has been removed by the Moderator
  • K_ann1015
    K_ann1015 Member Posts: 500
    #9
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    topaz1947 said:

    Update on surgery and recovery
    Thank you all for your well wishes during my surgery. I do apologize for taking so long to get back here to let you all know how things are going. I had the surgery done on the 28th of March. Surgery took 4 and a half hours and went well according to my doctor. I did have a few complications that kept me in the hospital for 24 days. I decided to go with the IV pump instead of the epidural. Big mistake. If anyone has this surgery coming up go ahead and get the epidural. It took them 3 days to get my pain under control enough to move me out of ICU. It also took a while for my lungs to get back to a good place. I was on breathing treatments for 14 days and oxygen as well. After they got the pain under control things started getting better. I was able to do my walking and breathing exercises. I did develop a small leak. That also contributed to the longer stay than normal. I got sent home on the The 21st of April. I got sent home on the feeding tube. And only able to have ice chips. I had issues with the feeding tube at home and wound up back in the hospital on the 25 of April. And this is where if anyone has any suggestions, I would greatly appreciate it. I was and still am having constipation issues and lots of pain in the J tube area. I am taking Mira-lax every other day. They sent me home on the Ensure Plus. I am allowed to have liquids and purees. No solid food yet. Did any of you have these issues and how did you deal with them? I am also on Zofran for nausea. I do vomit at least every other day, even with the nausea meds. The Doctor says I am progressing well. Somehow this seems wrong to me. Any comments or suggestions would be very helpful.

    sorry you had those
    sorry you had those complications!---I didn't get on here as often as I used to and couldn't respond to your initial question---but I was going to say---like Dwhite---my dad had BOTH the drip & the epidural while in Duke 12/09. I think that made a HUGE difference because he was able to walk daily from the very beginning with a rolling walker (that he could lean on and hold all those tubes/drains/etc). HE didn't always use the drip---only when needed---but it made breathing comfortable and I really think more facities should consider this---it seems it would make recoveries less complicated & prolonged!

    prayers for continued recovery!
    kim

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