On a scale of one to ten?

[Cris N]

I would pretty much agree with most of the comments thus far... the pain was nowhere near what I was expecting. Admittedly right after surgery once I woke up I felt pain - especially when I forgot to push the button on the morphine pump. (How are you supposed to remember to do it when you're doped up on morphine? ). Once I finally got home I had to train myself to stop doing things that would trigger pain - things like trying to lift something too heavy or sleep on my side. I stopped taking the pain pills a few days after I got home. On your back with your arms raised - ? - your body will let you know if that's not a good idea at first!

Last year I needed to have a hemorroidectomy. When I called the outpatient surgery dept for my pre-op stuff the guy asked me how I handled pain. I said, I had OHS and got through it ok. He said, "This is worse." He was right!

You'll be fine - the biggest thing is to listen to your body. And don't forget that sleep is a powerful healer.

 

[ponygirlmom]

I sleep on my back with one or both arms over my head over a pillow I put on top of my head (I don't know how to describe it, but it's not as weird as it sounds). Anyway, I'm afraid I will naturally in the middle of the night attempt to put my arms over my head to sleep the way I usually do. Is this out of the question for first weeks post op?

You won't hurt yourself if you manage to do it. I'm pretty sure your body won't get itself into that position until it's ready to. (That said, several weeks after surgery your body WILL let the arms go over your head, and you will wake up going OW! OW! OW! At least, that's what MY body did.)

 

[Freddie]

Hi Dan, personally I think all you have to watch out for are those nasty Hick-ups, coughing and sneezing. Remember to have a pillow handy and give yourself a hug when you feel one of these three starting to happen.
Sternum pain: I give it a 3. I only experienced a #7 or#8 pain when trying to lay down in bed at home, but it didn't last very long.
Sorry if I scared you.

 

[hall]

Hi Dave. As the others have said, the pain is not as bad as you imagine. They do a good job w/meds. You will want to keep your new friend (the Pillow) around for coughing and sneezing. That helps a lot. Best of luck.

 

[Lisa in Katy]

The arm thing might be difficult, but your body will let you know. Because they bend you backward when they open your ribs, you will have some back and shoulder pain afterwards - kind of like when you decide to show off at the gym after a month on the couch!

 

[marie]

Hi All, as I wait for my AVR on 10 December I'm finding my nervousness increasing. One thing I seem to be obsessing on is the pain I'll feel from the incision and sternum healing. I know it fades fairly quickly, but thinking about those first few days and week or so has me scared. So, folks, give me your thoughts on the initial days after surgery and how much discomfort one feels. On a scale of one to ten, with one being a cut finger and ten being a severe ear ache (perhaps one of you will come up with a better example of a ten -- luckily I haven't experienced anything traumatic like this AVR). Thanks!!

Dave

My pain was in my shoulder and I had it for probably six weeks. While in the hospital is was pretty severe. I would say a 7 however they did give me some type of shot and I can not remember what it was. I could only have them for 48 hours but by then the pain was much better. So they do want to control the pain and I quote my surgeon he said "tell us if you're in pain and we will do our best to control it" and they did. The nursing staff called him during the night when the pain meds were not relieving the shoulder pain.

I did come home with a script for pain meds but I took mostly tylenol. I am almost 10 months out and I had really forgotten about the shoulder pain until someone else mentioned it.

I was 66 at the time of my surgery and was very scared. I did fine and you will too.
Earline

 

[MikeHeim]

Let me echo what's been said by many others before me. The sternum pain was somewhere between 1-2. The shoulder/neck/back pain was 7-8.

 

[Cooker]

On that scale definitely a one for me ?. I am still amazed how little sternum pain there was ?. Now the right shoulder was a different story ? I was pretty sore for a few weeks?

 

[DaveEM]

Thank you all

Thank you all

Thanks for all your postings, they have been very helpful...except for the visual I now have of the drs. pushing my shoulders back to expose the cavity...yikes! In any case, I went to my doctor today who prescribed something for my anxiety that I can take when it gets a little overwhelming. I thought I'd been doing pretty well, but as it gets closer I'm beginning to get worse. Y'all are right when you say the worst part is the waiting (of course I haven't been on the other side yet, but I'm taking your word for it!)

Dave

 

[sue943]

Shortly before my surgery I happened to see a man whom I knew to have recently had OHS so I asked him about the pain and he told me that he had been surprised as to how little 'pain' there had been. When I had my surgery I knew what he meant, it really didn't hurt much, you soon learn to hug that pillow when you need to cough or sneeze. It is the sudden movements which hurt, not when you are fairly still. A broken wrist hurt a heck of a lot more.

 

[abbanabba]

Great thread! I'm all for plenty of drugs and my BF has a very close friend who is a chiropractor, so I'm hoping she will be able to do some gentle work post-surgery to help the back and shoulders (after all, they really do get shoved right out of whack!).

While I wasn't too concerned about it the pain, this thread has certainly been good at making sure I stay that way - so thanks everyone.


A : )