Pain after op

Hi Sarah,

It is only twelve days since your Dad had the biggest elective surgery that anyone can have.  He is bound to still be having pain, especially in his rib at the right side if he had the Ivor Lewis surgery. They remove a rib to complete this surgery. 

 Is your Dad on any other pain control in addition to the as required morphine.  I was prescribed 5ml oramorph every two hours as required, but did not need it that often.  I was also taking a drug called acupan in addition to the as required morphine when I came home at 21 days.  I didn't realise for six weeks that this painkiller was causing me severe diarrhoea, but it did control my pain well.

As soon as I had the liquid feed into my jejunal tube I would have problems for hours back and forward to the toilet.  I think part of it might have been because I was trying to become accustomed to my new plumbing system too.

If your Dad is not prescribed anything other than the morphine, I would ask the Doctor for something that he could take more regularly, so he doesn't need to take so much morphine, especially if it is causing hallucinations.  They also gave me some liquid codeine to control the diarrhoea.

There is no need for people to be in pain, as there are lots of drugs that could be used to control  it in these early days.  By the time I was six weeks post surgery my pain was reduced and I needed very little medication.

I hope your Dad is soon more comfortable Sarah.  It does get better.

love Chris

XXXXXXX

Thanks Chris, he's got paracetamol and codeine as well as the liquid morphine (ora morph) I know it's early days and the last 2 weeks have flown by. Hope the next 4 do too, as it's bloody awful witnessing this never mind my dad going through it.

thanks for taking the time to reply 

Sarahxx

It's strange listening to other people's experiences and comparing them to mine. I think a lot of the pain comes down to which op you have. I had the trans hiatal as opposed to the trans thoracic which most people seem to have. I had no idea that they remove a rib?! I was almost pain free by 3 weeks post op. The biggest problem comfort wise I had was the layers of muscle that were cut to get into my abdomen. As Chris said it is the coughing that is hard early days. I had a rolled up towel I held on my tummy and religiously performed my coughing duties daily to try and stop the build up in my lungs. My god it hurt but the mixture of towel and drugs was good. I was given oxycodone due to a morphine allergy, it was very good and helped with the early days runs!! However, when I came of it the runs came back with a vengeance! I think it's just one of those things we all get with this op and just have to dig deep and suck it up along with the rest of the miserable early days problems. In the early dark days we just have to remember why we had the op and keep your eyes on the prize. The first weeks are shocking but it gera better, the emotions and symptoms run wild for a start but I'm 2 and a half months post op and feel much better already.

M x

Thanks Martin for your reply. Will pass on your words that things will start getting better. My dad didn't have his rib removed but broken and put back together again. His wound has started weeping too, oh happy days!! Why do these things happen when you leave the hospital?! At least the nurse is coming today to give him his blood thinning injection. He wouldn't let me do that! Said I looked a bit too enthusiastic at the prospect!! Cheek! Think I would make a good nurse! 

Sarahxxx

Hi love as Chris said this op is a massive invasion of incisions I don't think they removed a rib think they just opened 2 out and went in but I had very bad pain throughout no pain killer worked completely ,it's not nice you have all the worry about eating and losing weight your mind is a complete mess"have they cured me is the pain this or that will I be able to lead some sort of normal life etc)the answer in most cases well mine is yes I'm sure his pain will go in time it's a really weird experience let him do his own thing ,things will settle I get peed off with all the fuss but I know people do it cos they care but most of the time I wanted to get on with it my way and here I am nearly 3 years down the line proud as owt with myself I feel horrible writing all my positive things because I know people have been through 100 times what I have and they haven't made it which gets me angry with cancer just take each day as it comes look after yourself as well kiss

Hi Sarah,

Your Dad's hallucinations could be caused by the codeine too.  I had codeine as a regular medication when I had my knee replacement in 2012, and it gave me hallucinations too.

It might be worthwhile asking the doctor if he can have another pain control and just take a small amount of codiene or oramorph to control breakthrough pain.

It is nice to nave something on regular prescription, say four times a day, and keep the strong ones as a last resort.

By the way, I definitely have a rib missing at the back right side, as it dips right in where my scar is.  I think the pain is also because there are muscles between the ribs called Intercostals, and they flex to open the ribcage and cause the lungs to inflate.  These have also been cut into.

Still though, we are here to tell the tale, and without the surgery that would possibly not be the case.

love and hugs

Chris xxxxx

Hi all, Chris's comments re inter-costal muscles is really interesting. For over a year after surgery I get hearing a pop and feeling intense pain, I thought I'd cracked a rib, but after X-rays my go concluded that it was the inter-costal muscles breaking, and thus causes the pop noise. This appears to hsve abated one, touch wood.

intoo had the transaction-hiatal, with one big central shark bite incision, from hip bones up to Central chest bone. I was warned that your arms are strapped up so you get pain in arms and shoulders after. The pain I felt afterwards wasn't severe once the initial couple of weeks post surgery was over, it was just natural tenderness around all the wound sites. I also had an i vision down my neck, where they refused the new oesophagus,mand that was tender for ages, didn't like it being touched, coukdn't wear a necklace or anything tight. 

For some inexplicable reason I found the post-op chemo, which didn't start til 11 weeks post surgery due to lack of facilities, seemed to increase pain.

exercise and activity cetainly help,nic only because they take your mind off it.

i was given tramadoll and paracetamol to go home but didn't take any of them. My epidural failed almost straight after surgery, whilst in intensive care, so I was moved on to morphine pump quickly.mthst gave me terrible hallucinations, so came off that quickly too.

good luck with the pain. Hilary x

We need a LIKE button on here.  It was lovely to hear from you Hilary 

Chris xxxxxx

Now you mention it the scar on my neck has always been more problematic than the shark bite! 

I bought a 'Fitbit' to measure my steps and I try for 10,000 a day. I think I usualy do about 4-5 miles a day now and I've found it has helped massively with my recovery. When I think I couldn't walk to the end of the ward unaided on the day I was discharged it's a huge leap forward. It does get better, but I found it does so in bite size chunks. I can't really remember the transition from walking to the end of the road to walking 5 miles. It seemed to happen overnight. Hopefully my next jump will be being able to go back to the gym.

M x

Hi Martin

I seems that not many people have trans hiatal procedures after looking at this site. I am having mine on Tuesday and am beginning to think that the other type of this op would be better. I have had half a lung removed a few months ago so I have a good idea what to expect. If you don`t mind can I ask you if you had a lot of problems starting to eat again after the op and are you eating OK now?

Thanks

Si