I am 3 weeks post left lobectomy. I was unable to have VATS due to the position of the tumor. It was adenocarcinoma, that is all I know so far. I go tomorrow for my first post op appt. I developed pleural effusion 3 days after being home. That was extremely painful, felt like someone stabbing me in my side when I tried to breathe so I tried not to breathe. I still have pain, especially when I eat something real cold, it again feels like someone is stabbing me. Did/does anyone else have this? I guess the effusion is gone because I do not have that stabbing pain anymore. My pain was not controlled at all. In the hospital I had an epidural which did not work and home I had Percocet for the first week and then Lortab, 5 mgs. I have a dry cough right now which does not hurt and I can sleep lying on my right side without too much pain. Hopefully this will be the end for me, no chemo as my tumor was 1.6 cm at the time of surgery. I have had surgeries in the past but nothing was as painful as this. Has anyone else had this problem with pain control or feeling like your surgeon left you out in the cold when it came to pain control?
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3 weeks post op
- By nheepdanes
- Posted August 19, 2009 at 6:48 pm · 8 replies
- In Survivor stories
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Surgery Aleve Advil Lortab Vicodin Morphine Oxycodone Pain Percocet
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- By GutsyCheryl
- Posted August 19, 2009 at 9:31 pm
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I had lung surgery in June. It was for a collapsed lung, and also sort of a "clean up" job .... lung was covered in scar tissue that all had to be cleaned out.
All I can tell you is that I thought I was going to die from the pain. I too, have had surgeries in the past and I have a pretty high pain tolerance ... I am definitely not a baby. And the pain from this lung surgery was just unbelievable .... I don't even have the words to describe it. I was crying and wailing and just hysterical and I couldn't understand why they weren't doing something. I was in ICU for about a week after the surgery. They would say they upped my meds, but I felt nothing ... no relief whatsoever. I kept wondering why they didn't just keep me unconscious if they couldn't control the pain.
I'm really sorry for you .... I know exactly what you went through. I pray to God I never need to have anything ever done again, because now I am absolutely TERRIFIED of any type of lung surgery.
When I told my surgeon about how severe the pain was, he didn't act too concerned and just told me that lung surgery, in general, is very painful to recover from. And that my procedure was even worse than usual because of the amount of work they had to do in there .... I guess my lung was a real mess and cleaning out all of that scar tissue involved lots of scraping and cutting, etc. UGH, just makes me cringe to even think about it !!! Then they had to do so much work on it to get it to re-inflate and start working again. My lung had been down for about 3 months.
I honestly didn't think I was going to survive it, but I did .... and you did too ..... and I hope that you continue to get better and better. You're in my prayers for lots of pain free days ahead!!
Cheryl
- By dachshundlover
- Posted August 19, 2009 at 11:07 pm
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It sounds like your surgeon is not going to help with the pain meds, thank god mine listened to me, in the hospital and out, you might want to contact your PMP to get some meds, I used the Percocet for 2 weeks after surgery at home and then Vicodin for 2 weeks afer that and then weaned myself off in order to go back to work at 6 weeks. Aleve now works when anything works itself to the surface. I think the stabbing pain you are having might be the nerves regenerating, yes, this major hurts and to me felt like someone had a voodoo doll of me and was poking me over and over in the rib area and in the back. Good luck and keep posting, so many people here can help with any question you may have.
- By nheepdanes
- Posted August 20, 2009 at 12:11 pm
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Thank you both for your posts. I saw my primaray dr. today who prescribed Percocet and also a CT of the chest to evaluate the status of the pleural effusion. I read online that this fluid could be "malignant" so now I am worried that this has gone through my body. I swear medicine is not what it use to be. It may be getting a lot worse too. Seems no one explains anything so that dummies like me can understand, especially after anesthesia. I can handle the little jabs of sharp pains but when it is constant to the place where I refuse to breathe but just a few short breathes because it hurts too bad, that is riduclous. It is good to know that I am not alone, going nuts or a big baby. Thanks again for sharing.
Nancy
- By Barb267
- Posted August 20, 2009 at 4:10 pm
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I thought I was one of the lucky ones whe it came to having my ULL. In and out 3 days, not problems, off pain meds by day 6. Now I am not so sure. The scare hurts like heck at times. I didn't think there should be much "knitting back together" since I had surgery April 29 this year. But I have been getting cold stabbing pains in areas of my scar. I hope this doesn't last too long.
As for pain meds, you need on of my doctors, they all believe in no pain and will give me a script whenever I need it. I also beleive they know me well enough to know that I will not abuse it.
Good luck
Blessings,
Barb
- By mawoni
- Posted August 20, 2009 at 6:57 pm
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It probably sounds terrible, but I'm thankful to read about others having the horrible pain. I had begun to think I was just a big baby about it. I can tell you that it was so nightmarish for me I don't think I could go through lung surgery again. I do know that even when I was so doped up I felt barely alive, the pain was still excruciating. I had an epidural, morphine drip, and oxycodone. The nurses acted like there was no way I could be in pain. It was nearly 4 months before I started to feel able to do anything other than try to manage the pain. Now (1 year later) I can get by with Advil most of the time. There are times, though .....
Blessings and gentle Hugs ... Deb
- By nheepdanes
- Posted August 20, 2009 at 7:06 pm
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Went to the surgeon today, first time since surgery. Everything looked fine, incisions healed nicely, lymph nodes were benign, I go to the oncologist just to "wrap things up" and then on my way. He does want to see me in one month just to make sure all continues well. i discussed the treatment i got from his office when I called about pain meds. he seemed genuinely concerned and did not understand why someone would ask me if i had a different dr. to get meds from. There was another patient in the waiting room, his 5th surgery. he had bypass and the incision got infected so he has had 4 debridements. he did say that the girls give him a hard time and he gives it back to them but that the dr. never gives him a hard time. So, who knows.
It is helpful to hear that others go through the same problems, just so that you know you are not going crazy. I will get my meds from my primary. Hopefully I will not need meds within the next two weeks or so. i just want to go back to the way things use to be and I know I cannot push it, well I can but will pay dearly for it, so just take one day at a time and we will all eventually get there in the end. Thanks for all the support, good luck to all of you and God bless.
- By nheepdanes
- Posted August 20, 2009 at 7:28 pm
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mawoni, I know exactly how you feel, although you were lucky to have morphine. I had this epidural that was 3 inches higher than where my incision started, had a picc line in and was given IV dilaudid for the 1st day post op and then started on percocet. I told my surgeon today that I was very disappointed that I was left to lay there in pain. I am considering seeing an atty. to turn in this anesthiologist. I am glad that it is over and I am on the road to recovery. Would I have this done again, not in the same hospital, not with the same anesthiologist and I would use the same surgeon but we would have a serious conversation prior to being cut on. Good luck
- By penny53
- Posted August 20, 2009 at 8:13 pm
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It's been 18 months for me and I'm still on a pain patch and a drug for nerve pain. I had never had any surgerys before my lung was removed and was totally unprepared for the pain. My surgeon tried to tell me but if you have never experienced anything like this you just can't imagine. It was my onc who gave me pain meds knowing the surgeon really wasn't really up on pain. Good luck
Penny
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