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I am now 3 months post surgery and still have an unbelievable amount of rib pain where they moved them. I wish they had just broken then as they would be healed by now. Did anyone else experience this even after 3 months after surgery??
I would think anything to do with your ribs to that extreme will take time to heal. I only injured my ribs once from a fall and it took at least two months. Very painful. Ask your doctor for better meds until you heal more. Take care, JC
My surgery was 2 years ago on June 21st and there are some spots that if I touch them are still sore. One of those spots is under the right breast.
After surgery, I needed prescription pain meds for about 3 months before I could just go back to taking a Darvocette 3 x a day.
Little by little, it does get more tolerable but you may have a spot or two where there were a few little fractures that never completely go away. If you need to stay on pain meds longer, just do it. It isn't out of the norm.
Love to all,
Marylou
Thanks MaryLou. Drs. down here are so afraid people will become addicted that they do not like giving pain meds. None of my ribs were fractured, just bruised. Bruising takes longer to go away than a fracture. Oh well it could be ten times worse. I am thankful that rib pain is all I am having. God bless those going through chemo right now. You are in my prayers for the strength to get through that.
Like Marylou, I too, 15 months since my ull, still am tender at times and still will get spasms now and again. The pain and bad spasms took about 5 months to go away and finally got off the pain meds at that time. It's annoying but one day you'll say "wow! I didn't feel the pain today!" :)
Hope you all have a very nice day!
Gayle
Hi I had a wedge section done last Dec 5, 08. And I know how you feel, it was months before my ribs started feeling better. Try placing a soft pillow under the effected area sometimes that helps. However many ways I am glad they did the surgery as my favorite saying is they put me on treceva apx. a year ago and I was diagnosed with lung cancer (the non smoking kind) and I am still alive walking talking and kicking. So althou over the past few months I have had my ups and downs with treceva it is a good drug. Recently they added Avistan IV treatment and next month I will find out if the combination is working. Until then I keep looking forward. Hope all is well with you.
When surgery is done for Lung Cancer, surgeons need to go in between the ribs in order to get at the Lung Cancer. Unfortunately, the only way to do that, is by cutting through the nerves that are between the ribs. When nerves are cut, they hurt for a long period of time. The reason for this is because nerves grow very, very slowly. For this reason, the place where the nerves were cut, will continue to hurt for a long time - even years after the surgery. Some mild pain medicine from your doctor can help with this until little by little the discomfort is more bearable. I hope this helps.
Thanks to everyone who replied. Perhaps I will feel much better when I can breathe a little better. The humidity down here makes it difficult to breathe and couple that with pain and I am not a happy camper. But, I am alive and healthy other than this so I have tons to be grateful for. Just not having chemo or radiation is a blessing for sure. Have a great day to all.
Don't be afraid of the pain medicine, I was but it has been ten weeks and I still take 1/2 pill when the pain gets bad in the afternoon. But I notice it is beginning to SLOWLY get better. Have to be patience as it could be worse. At least that's what I tell myself. LOL Good information on this site. I also live down south and it is hard to breathe at times....
I am 14 months post surgery and still have a lot of pain. Nothing I can't manage with rest and advil. I have to say it was pretty unbearable the first several months. But, yes ... it does get better over time. They had to break a couple of my ribs and I have nerve damage that may never heal. Do you see your surgeon on a regular basis? If you ask him/her to talk with you frankly about it (the pain) you might find you feel better. I know I expected way too much way too soon. I'm slowly learning to live with my new reality.
Sending you prayers and a gentle hug ... Deb
I was discharged from my surgeon at around 2 months. I did call his office about 3 weeks ago and they said that I should not do anything that could cause pain. I advised her that I don't know that what I do will cause pain until I have done it and it hurts. I am right at 3 months post op so I guess I should not expect too much right now. He didn't mention nerve pain, just that when moving the ribs it gets real sore. So, I take my Percocet, only thing that helps right now, and do the best I can. I wish I had waited until after Christmas to do this so that we would be in our "winter months" here in Daytona and I could breathe. All things in time I guess.
My surgery, right upper lobe removed, was 4 years ago October 10th. I still have rib pain and pain where the tubes were. Wearing a bra was like putting elastic over a burn, so very uncomfortable. I am used to the pain and it isn't as severe as in the beginning, but it is there. Tonight the rib under my right breast is very sore I don't know why sometimes it's worse than other times. OH my physical therapist was able to help a bit with scar tissue maybe that is an avenue others may want to try.
God Bless.
Nanag, oh my Lord, after all that time and still pain. Man, you could have lied and said that after four months you were pain free!!!!!
I just want to be able to pick up my grandson, he is 4 and 42 lbs., without worrying about paying for it for the next two weeks with pain. I know you all get my drift. It could be worse and I am certainly not trying to sound whinny. There are probably some who read this and want to kick me in my gut because you have thrown up in the toilet 10 times today and crawled on the floor to get there. So, I am grateful not to have to have chemo or radiation and if there is anything I can do for anyone who reads this, just say the word and i will do what i can.
Nancy
Sugar I'm sorry I didn't mean PAIN, I meant discomfort. I have not been on pain meds for over 3 years ! In the beginning it was awful probably what you are feeling now. I was only on pain meds for 3 months. I used tylenol extra strength to take the edge off after that. So if tylenol helped, apparently I was not in cruel PAIN. But nerve damage causes a kind of burning pain that the elastic from a bra just drove me nuts, as time passed I got used to it and the PT helped me get rid of scar tissue which helped. My cancer buddy and I used to laugh about our search for the elusive perfect bra! You will be picking up your grandchild. You will be laying on your side and your tummy . There was a time I never thought any of those things would be possible.
Please forgive me Nancy that I worded my first response so poorly.
Your wound is fresh just give yourself some time and please know that there is no one who minimizes what you are feeling.
Oh Naneg no need to apologize. I know it will get better, have no place to go but up!!! it will get better. In the meantime, I count my lucky stars I did not need chemo. So, hopefuly November will be good to us all and we will have cooler weather in Florida, mild winter up north and be healthy and all happier for 2010. I truly pray that in 2010 we will all still have freedom of speech and the right to choose what path we want to take with our healthcare choices.
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