Surgery this morning

[Georgia]

Good thoughts headed your way!

[POPTOP]

Thank you for the update. So glad the surgery is over with and healing can begin.

You know me, I'm going to preach to you. Take your pain meds on time. No time to be a "tough guy". Your body cannot recover and heal while you're fighting through pain. Wait until you see the doctor again before you decide whether you can cut down on the meds. I was extremely surprised at how manageable the pain was after hip replacement when I was faithful taking the meds. Hope you don't mind me mentioning this, but start now taking Metamucil or Benefiber, drinking tons of water and you can even toss down some prunes. You don't need to worry about that problem. Pain meds can cause the gut to slow down. I'll be the pest about PT when you get to that point.

Sending prayers that you are comfortable and healing proceeds quickly.

[Berna]

What happened? I must have missed it.

Glad to hear the surgery went well. Sending wishes for a speedy recovery!

[Blackboy98]

Best of good healing wishes for you Barry. Sorry they had to cut you open but best it is fixed first time around. Agree with PopTop on the flush out precautions, that Percocet can shut things down on the bottom end.

Barry, you are a good guy, strong, smart but am still sending lab board MOJO and asking God to send a little angel to be with you thru this whole ordeal. The PT WILL be painful and FRUSTRATIONING so a little help will be appreciated, especially while Fran gets on your case.

[Charlotte K.]

To paraphrase your traing commands, "Heal!"

[TuMicks]

I am glad your surgery is over and done~! One tip though from a medical professional, take those pain meds on schedule before your block wears off, trust me, better to be in front of the pain, than chasing it and trying to catch up. Set your alarm to take your meds through the night too, keep a water glass and your Rx bottle right next to your bed (or recliner for semi beach chair position), so its easy to take them without waking up too much. Don't worry you can wean off the pain meds next week.

Very, very true. Research says the principle cause of chronic pain is undertreatment of acute pain. I used to tell my patients they didn't have to play John Wayne after surgery.

[barry581]

I am glad your surgery is over and done~! One tip though from a medical professional, take those pain meds on schedule before your block wears off, trust me, better to be in front of the pain, than chasing it and trying to catch up. Set your alarm to take your meds through the night too, keep a water glass and your Rx bottle right next to your bed (or recliner for semi beach chair position), so its easy to take them without waking up too much. Don't worry you can wean off the pain meds next week.

I started the pain meds as soon as I got home and ate, continued as directed though out the night. When the block wore off the pain was bad, I mean bad. No matter how I tried to lay, sit, etc, the pain was bad. I took a couple dilaudid about 4am, and a couple of hours later the pain had subsided quite a bit. Went back to the percocet, and it's been much better today. I took a two hour nap this afternoon laying on my bad in bed with no major pain, just a bit of discomfort.

I know all about the bowel issues. I've been on cronic anti-inflamatories for over 35 years, and opiates (vicodin and methadone) for 4 years. I drink a ton of water, eat a ton of fiber, and use Miralax per doctors orders pretty much daily.

Trust me, I stopped being a tough guy years ago.

[Jollymolly]

Glad the pain is under control. sending healing thoughts your way.

[kimbersmom]

Healing thoughts!

[barry581]

Glad it went well and the surgery is over. How long will your recovery take?

The doc didn't give any estimate. I was pretty groggy still, but my DW said the doc said we'd be taking it slow. I was hope for 4-8 weeks, something tells me it's going to be longer than that.