Posted on June 15, 2008. Filed under: Issues in recovery | Tags: Whipple, Whipple procedure, pancreas, pancreatoduodenectomy, pancreatic cancer, surgery, cure, sharing questions, getting answers, pain, post-surgical pain |
A place to share stories of how you have experienced or are experiencing post-operative pain. How did the pain change over time? What helped (or didn’t)?
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For the first three months after my surgery I experienced constant tenderness and soreness across my abdomen. There were occasional sharp and localized pains on either my left or right sides. In addition I experienced excruciating pain associated with cramping in my intestines as what food I could eat was passing through. Once I began to experience regular and constant improvement, though, the tenderness and soreness have faded almost completely. I’ve had an infrequent return to the intestinal cramping, but nothing like it was. This is four months post-surgery
whipplelife
June 15, 2008
One issue that is related to the pain occurs when I sit after having been active. When I go to get up there is a general soreness and stiffness across my abdomen that seems to be related to how much I am active. Similarly, I can tell when I’ve stood still for an extended period or when I’ve been walking or active for an extended period without some small rest. There’s a soreness that tells me it’s time to take a short break.
A couple of weeks ago I was a little worried when I sharp, localized pain showed up in my upper left quadrant. Fortunately my doctor confirmed what I suspected, that it was a muscular strain. After about seven days it faded entirely.
whipplelife
June 16, 2008
For me, the pain seems to be a constant stomach ache. It does seem to weaken as the weeks and months go by, but not nearly fast enough for me. I’m having about the same type pain as you described at your 3 month point. I hear it gets better between 4 to 6 months so right now I’m clinging to the fact that I’ll be alot better in just a couple of months. I’m not on any perscription pain meds, only over the counter Advil. At what point did your doctor stop giving you perscriptions for pain medicine?
Janet
June 17, 2008
I wasn’t given anything for pain. I had some “left overs” from my initial hospitalization that were only for the incisional pain but that faded so quickly that he wouldn’t fill anything else. I tried Tylenol for the longest time and finally realized that I was having a reaction to Tylenol that really caused me problems! Since then (10 weeks) I’ve just stayed off pain meds and tried to let whatever pain I experience guide me to understand what’s happening with my body so I can know what’s “normal” for me and then react accordingly.
And yes…the pain you’re describing certainly got better for me. Two months ago I would have sworn that it would never go away. Now there’s only a residual presence of pain and I can handle it without any problem.
whipplelife
June 18, 2008
Has anyone experienced acid reflux after the surgery? My husband had his surgery 10 days ago, so he’s just in the beginning stages of recovery. This has seemed to be one of the biggest problems that he has encountered so far. We believe that the acid reflux was initially caused by the pre surgery chemo and radiation, so he had it before and still does. We were wondering if anyone has had this problem and what can be done to aleviate it and does it go away after awhile.
Mike
June 24, 2008
For my part, my first two nights home from the hospital I was hit with sudden onset of acid and the need to throw up. They had me on Nexium in the hospital but sent me home with nothing, so when I called they put me on Prilosec which helped immediately, for a while. Eventually (after about a month or so) the issue returned and the surgeon said it was likely due not to stomach acid which the Prilosec would address, but to material coming into my stomach from the newly plumbed connection to what remains of my pancreas. He prescribed a different medication which was supposed to take care of that problem but which really made me feel worse. I stopped taking it and went back to Prilosec which I hoped with help some with something. All I can say is that eventually the issue resolved itself and I haven’t had any problem of that sort for almost two months and I’m not taking anything related to it.
whipplelife
June 24, 2008
For Mike and his wife:
I experienced acid reflux for a long time prior to surgery. My doctor tried different medicines but the only thing that worked for me was to take 20 mg. of aciphex two times a day, about 6:00am and 6:00pm. After my whipple, my occasional heart burn abated, and for this reason, as well as my deaire to cut back on all the meds I take, I cut out the am aciphex. One night about 3 1/2 months out from surgery I had an episode of acid reflux so I resumed the aciphex twice a day and have not had any problems (of this nature) since. I hope my experience is helpful to you.
Joe
August 9, 2008