Re: POST Myotomy LONG POST

[Guest guest]

I am glad that you are home now and in the recuperation stage. Things will improve over the next few weeks and you will see a big change in things.

in Suffolk

In a message dated 6/28/2006 10:00:01 AM GMT Standard Time, lawford@... writes:

Well I am back from hospital yesterday afternoon (Tuesday 27/06/06) following the operation on Friday afternoon (23/06/06).Prior to the operation on Friday morning as I was waiting to be called down I began to get a bit apprehensive about what the hell I was doing there, and was I doing the right thing. But as I laid there in my surgical gown I worked through the process I had gone through in making the decision, reading things on the net and the first hand reports on this group web site and decided that the operation was the best course of action, and that if little old ladies (naming no names ) ) can get through the operation then me as a fairly fit 35yo should be able to cope.I suppose the only other negative I had in my mind was the fact that due to the speed I was admitted as an emergency 3 weeks ago and tied up with this surgeon I had no choice over who was doing the surgery and so many of the suggested questions from this web site to ask went unanswered. All I really knew was that he was the most senior surgeon at the hospital, he had carried out the procedure before and had never to date had any complications.The operation took about 3.5-4hours and I woke up on morphine with a button to push and a drip. I kept pushing the button as and when I could not because of the pain, really just to see me over the night as I did not want to find out how much it did hurt and just wanted a good night sleep.SATURDAY - On the Saturday mid morning they took me off of the morphine and took me down for a barium swallow, all was fine, the barium went straight into the stomach.On returning to the ward after a few hours I started to feel uncomfortable as the morphine was wearing off and so I enquired with a nurse about further pain relief. An hour later the drugs trolley came around on its usual visit (as the original nurse had done nothing to help me) the drugs nurse said that I was not down for anything. I politely explained to her that I had had a significant operation less than 24 hours ago, I was suffering pain (mainly from the gas) as I was taken off morphine over 4 hours ago and I still needed the tablets that I was taking to prevent spasms as it is well documented that spasms can/do occur after surgery. She gave me the medicine I required.*** One thing to comment here is that during my whole stay I continually had to advise staff (especially drugs nurses) of my needs, it seems that there was no care plan for me as there were patients undergoing day to day surgeries. The other patients nearby actually commented that the nurses don't seem to know what to do with me, and they found it amazing that I was constantly having to ask for the basics ***SATURDAY PM - Within 18 hours after surgery (after being told by a physio that I could not damage the surgery by moving around - within reason) I was walking around, a little further at a time down the long hospital corridors. Saturday night had what I believed to be heartburn (as I was still taking spasm tablets).SUNDAY - 48 Hours after surgery I had a very small bowl of soup and jelly & ice cream (it would have been a bit earlier but I stupidly told a nurse that I felt a little sick first thing Sunday morning). Sunday night I was given a little antacid mixture - but still had what I thought was heartburn.MONDAY - Kept up the walking (between rest stops) and was allowed to move onto sloppy diet. The surgeons number 2 told me that there was no way it could be heartburn/acid. Monday night I had a bigger attack of the chest pain that I could now recognise as a spasm (as it made my teeth ache)TUESDAY - Allowed home. They have doubled the dose of my spasm tablets.The incisions are smaller than I expected and by the time my belly furs up again I am sure any scars (if any) will be invisible (did I paint a nice picture there? LOL)*** This is the interesting bit that I want those considering or waiting for surgery to be aware of - PAINI was aware that this was quite an invasive surgery, and as I had never been under the knife before and never carried children, I was not really aware of what level of pain to expect.In recent years I have suffered (because of A) with spasms, these have become overwhelmingly painful this past 6 months. To give others an idea of pain scales for surgery I would rank them on a pain scale of 1 to 10 as follows (10 being most painful)10 - Heavy Spasm8 - Pulling the sticky tape off of my hairy arm and stomach7 - Standard Spasm6 to 7 - Intermittent pain from operation gas3 to 4 - Pain from surgeryI am amazed how little pain I have from surgery, it is more like a discomfort or ache than pain. ***Anyway, must go and find the sun cream, as its a week of leisure for me )Regards to all

[Guest guest]

, I was also wondering if you would be up for the meet-up this Sunday? We are meeting at s pub in the Kings Cross station near platform # 8 at around 1 pm. We w ould love to have you there if you can.

in Suffolk.

In a message dated 6/28/2006 10:00:01 AM GMT Standard Time, lawford@... writes:

Well I am back from hospital yesterday afternoon (Tuesday 27/06/06) following the operation on Friday afternoon (23/06/06).Prior to the operation on Friday morning as I was waiting to be called down I began to get a bit apprehensive about what the hell I was doing there, and was I doing the right thing. But as I laid there in my surgical gown I worked through the process I had gone through in making the decision, reading things on the net and the first hand reports on this group web site and decided that the operation was the best course of action, and that if little old ladies (naming no names ) ) can get through the operation then me as a fairly fit 35yo should be able to cope.I suppose the only other negative I had in my mind was the fact that due to the speed I was admitted as an emergency 3 weeks ago and tied up with this surgeon I had no choice over who was doing the surgery and so many of the suggested questions from this web site to ask went unanswered. All I really knew was that he was the most senior surgeon at the hospital, he had carried out the procedure before and had never to date had any complications.The operation took about 3.5-4hours and I woke up on morphine with a button to push and a drip. I kept pushing the button as and when I could not because of the pain, really just to see me over the night as I did not want to find out how much it did hurt and just wanted a good night sleep.SATURDAY - On the Saturday mid morning they took me off of the morphine and took me down for a barium swallow, all was fine, the barium went straight into the stomach.On returning to the ward after a few hours I started to feel uncomfortable as the morphine was wearing off and so I enquired with a nurse about further pain relief. An hour later the drugs trolley came around on its usual visit (as the original nurse had done nothing to help me) the drugs nurse said that I was not down for anything. I politely explained to her that I had had a significant operation less than 24 hours ago, I was suffering pain (mainly from the gas) as I was taken off morphine over 4 hours ago and I still needed the tablets that I was taking to prevent spasms as it is well documented that spasms can/do occur after surgery. She gave me the medicine I required.*** One thing to comment here is that during my whole stay I continually had to advise staff (especially drugs nurses) of my needs, it seems that there was no care plan for me as there were patients undergoing day to day surgeries. The other patients nearby actually commented that the nurses don't seem to know what to do with me, and they found it amazing that I was constantly having to ask for the basics ***SATURDAY PM - Within 18 hours after surgery (after being told by a physio that I could not damage the surgery by moving around - within reason) I was walking around, a little further at a time down the long hospital corridors. Saturday night had what I believed to be heartburn (as I was still taking spasm tablets).SUNDAY - 48 Hours after surgery I had a very small bowl of soup and jelly & ice cream (it would have been a bit earlier but I stupidly told a nurse that I felt a little sick first thing Sunday morning). Sunday night I was given a little antacid mixture - but still had what I thought was heartburn.MONDAY - Kept up the walking (between rest stops) and was allowed to move onto sloppy diet. The surgeons number 2 told me that there was no way it could be heartburn/acid. Monday night I had a bigger attack of the chest pain that I could now recognise as a spasm (as it made my teeth ache)TUESDAY - Allowed home. They have doubled the dose of my spasm tablets.The incisions are smaller than I expected and by the time my belly furs up again I am sure any scars (if any) will be invisible (did I paint a nice picture there? LOL)*** This is the interesting bit that I want those considering or waiting for surgery to be aware of - PAINI was aware that this was quite an invasive surgery, and as I had never been under the knife before and never carried children, I was not really aware of what level of pain to expect.In recent years I have suffered (because of A) with spasms, these have become overwhelmingly painful this past 6 months. To give others an idea of pain scales for surgery I would rank them on a pain scale of 1 to 10 as follows (10 being most painful)10 - Heavy Spasm8 - Pulling the sticky tape off of my hairy arm and stomach7 - Standard Spasm6 to 7 - Intermittent pain from operation gas3 to 4 - Pain from surgeryI am amazed how little pain I have from surgery, it is more like a discomfort or ache than pain. ***Anyway, must go and find the sun cream, as its a week of leisure for me )Regards to all

[Guest guest]

Dear , I am SO pleased to hear from you. Welcome back to the land of the living. I hope you weren't including me in your list of old ladies, otherwise I may have to do something bad to you.(lol) You sound very upbeat and your post was open and enlightening and so real and true. Have you tried my ice solution for your spasms? It works for me and might do for you. You don't know till you try - an ice lolly is the best. You are right about the incisions - at four weeks post-op, mine are looking

like pretty much nothing (I am still waiting for the hair to grow back though to cover them up). It's the first time I have thought of that aspect - another advantage to being a man eh? It is bad that you weren't given pain relief. You must have felt very helpless. Some of the nursing staff at my hospital were negligent in that aspect as well. In fact some of my fellow patients were so angry about it, that they vowed they would smuggle drugs in the next time. I would never endorse such an action but I do understand their helplessness and unnecessary fear. My first meds for paid after morphine were paracetamol, given in suppository (up the bum!) form, until I could take them by mouth. They were perfectly adequate as long as they were kept up with. At one point when the ward was busy I was practically crying in pain and pleaded with them to give me the pain killers to take myself (I am perfectly capable of shoving 2 little bullets up my own ~~~~ thank you very much). So you won't be coming on Sunday then? Ah well, here's to next time, All the best for a great and magnificent recovery (one similar to that of this old lady in fact) Love from Ann XXXXjason3142 <lawford@...> wrote: Well I am back from hospital yesterday afternoon (Tuesday 27/06/06) following the operation on Friday afternoon (23/06/06).Prior to the operation on Friday morning as I was waiting to be called down I began to get a bit apprehensive about what the hell I was doing there, and was I doing the right thing. But as I laid there in my surgical gown I worked through the process I had gone through in making the decision, reading things on the net and the first hand reports on this group web site and decided that the operation was the best course of action, and that if little old ladies (naming no names ) ) can get through the operation then me as a fairly fit 35yo

should be able to cope.I suppose the only other negative I had in my mind was the fact that due to the speed I was admitted as an emergency 3 weeks ago and tied up with this surgeon I had no choice over who was doing the surgery and so many of the suggested questions from this web site to ask went unanswered. All I really knew was that he was the most senior surgeon at the hospital, he had carried out the procedure before and had never to date had any complications.The operation took about 3.5-4hours and I woke up on morphine with a button to push and a drip. I kept pushing the button as and when I could not because of the pain, really just to see me over the night as I did not want to find out how much it did hurt and just wanted a good night sleep.SATURDAY - On the Saturday mid morning they took me off of the morphine and took me down for a barium swallow, all was fine, the barium went straight into the

stomach.On returning to the ward after a few hours I started to feel uncomfortable as the morphine was wearing off and so I enquired with a nurse about further pain relief. An hour later the drugs trolley came around on its usual visit (as the original nurse had done nothing to help me) the drugs nurse said that I was not down for anything. I politely explained to her that I had had a significant operation less than 24 hours ago, I was suffering pain (mainly from the gas) as I was taken off morphine over 4 hours ago and I still needed the tablets that I was taking to prevent spasms as it is well documented that spasms can/do occur after surgery. She gave me the medicine I required.*** One thing to comment here is that during my whole stay I continually had to advise staff (especially drugs nurses) of my needs, it seems that there was no care plan for me as there were patients undergoing day to day surgeries. The other

patients nearby actually commented that the nurses don't seem to know what to do with me, and they found it amazing that I was constantly having to ask for the basics ***SATURDAY PM - Within 18 hours after surgery (after being told by a physio that I could not damage the surgery by moving around - within reason) I was walking around, a little further at a time down the long hospital corridors. Saturday night had what I believed to be heartburn (as I was still taking spasm tablets).SUNDAY - 48 Hours after surgery I had a very small bowl of soup and jelly & ice cream (it would have been a bit earlier but I stupidly told a nurse that I felt a little sick first thing Sunday morning). Sunday night I was given a little antacid mixture - but still had what I thought was heartburn.MONDAY - Kept up the walking (between rest stops) and was allowed to move onto sloppy diet. The surgeons number 2 told me that there was no

way it could be heartburn/acid. Monday night I had a bigger attack of the chest pain that I could now recognise as a spasm (as it made my teeth ache)TUESDAY - Allowed home. They have doubled the dose of my spasm tablets.The incisions are smaller than I expected and by the time my belly furs up again I am sure any scars (if any) will be invisible (did I paint a nice picture there? LOL)*** This is the interesting bit that I want those considering or waiting for surgery to be aware of - PAINI was aware that this was quite an invasive surgery, and as I had never been under the knife before and never carried children, I was not really aware of what level of pain to expect.In recent years I have suffered (because of A) with spasms, these have become overwhelmingly painful this past 6 months. To give others an idea of pain scales for surgery I would rank them on a pain scale of 1 to 10 as follows (10 being most

painful)10 - Heavy Spasm8 - Pulling the sticky tape off of my hairy arm and stomach7 - Standard Spasm6 to 7 - Intermittent pain from operation gas3 to 4 - Pain from surgeryI am amazed how little pain I have from surgery, it is more like a discomfort or ache than pain. ***Anyway, must go and find the sun cream, as its a week of leisure for me )Regards to all

The all-new goes wherever you go - free your email address from your Internet provider.

[Guest guest]

,

So glad to hear that you've made it through surgery and starting

to heal! I think the description of the pain scale is great! I'm

sure that'll help others awaiting surgery to know what to anticipate!

I hope the rest of your recovery goes smoothly!

in Michigan

>

> Well I am back from hospital yesterday afternoon (Tuesday 27/06/06)

following the

> operation on Friday afternoon (23/06/06).

>

> Prior to the operation on Friday morning as I was waiting to be

called down I began to get

> a bit apprehensive about what the hell I was doing there, and was I

doing the right thing.

> But as I laid there in my surgical gown I worked through the process

I had gone through in

> making the decision, reading things on the net and the first hand

reports on this group

> web site and decided that the operation was the best course of

action, and that if little old

> ladies (naming no names ) ) can get through the operation then me

as a fairly fit 35yo

> should be able to cope.

>

> I suppose the only other negative I had in my mind was the fact that

due to the speed I

> was admitted as an emergency 3 weeks ago and tied up with this

surgeon I had no choice

> over who was doing the surgery and so many of the suggested

questions from this web

> site to ask went unanswered. All I really knew was that he was the

most senior surgeon at

> the hospital, he had carried out the procedure before and had never

to date had any

> complications.

>

> The operation took about 3.5-4hours and I woke up on morphine with a

button to push

> and a drip. I kept pushing the button as and when I could not

because of the pain, really

> just to see me over the night as I did not want to find out how much

it did hurt and just

> wanted a good night sleep.

>

> SATURDAY - On the Saturday mid morning they took me off of the

morphine and took me

> down for a barium swallow, all was fine, the barium went straight

into the stomach.

>

> On returning to the ward after a few hours I started to feel

uncomfortable as the morphine

> was wearing off and so I enquired with a nurse about further pain

relief. An hour later the

> drugs trolley came around on its usual visit (as the original nurse

had done nothing to

> help me) the drugs nurse said that I was not down for anything. I

politely explained to her

> that I had had a significant operation less than 24 hours ago, I was

suffering pain (mainly

> from the gas) as I was taken off morphine over 4 hours ago and I

still needed the tablets

> that I was taking to prevent spasms as it is well documented that

spasms can/do occur

> after surgery. She gave me the medicine I required.

>

> *** One thing to comment here is that during my whole stay I

continually had to advise

> staff (especially drugs nurses) of my needs, it seems that there was

no care plan for me as

> there were patients undergoing day to day surgeries. The other

patients nearby actually

> commented that the nurses don't seem to know what to do with me, and

they found it

> amazing that I was constantly having to ask for the basics ***

>

> SATURDAY PM - Within 18 hours after surgery (after being told by a

physio that I could not

> damage the surgery by moving around - within reason) I was walking

around, a little

> further at a time down the long hospital corridors. Saturday night

had what I believed to

> be heartburn (as I was still taking spasm tablets).

>

> SUNDAY - 48 Hours after surgery I had a very small bowl of soup and

jelly & ice cream (it

> would have been a bit earlier but I stupidly told a nurse that I

felt a little sick first thing

> Sunday morning). Sunday night I was given a little antacid mixture -

but still had what I

> thought was heartburn.

>

> MONDAY - Kept up the walking (between rest stops) and was allowed to

move onto sloppy

> diet. The surgeons number 2 told me that there was no way it could

be heartburn/acid.

> Monday night I had a bigger attack of the chest pain that I could

now recognise as a spasm

> (as it made my teeth ache)

>

> TUESDAY - Allowed home. They have doubled the dose of my spasm tablets.

>

> The incisions are smaller than I expected and by the time my belly

furs up again I am sure

> any scars (if any) will be invisible (did I paint a nice picture

there? LOL)

>

> *** This is the interesting bit that I want those considering or

waiting for surgery to be

> aware of - PAIN

> I was aware that this was quite an invasive surgery, and as I had

never been under the

> knife before and never carried children, I was not really aware of

what level of pain to

> expect.

> In recent years I have suffered (because of A) with spasms, these

have become

> overwhelmingly painful this past 6 months. To give others an idea of

pain scales for

> surgery I would rank them on a pain scale of 1 to 10 as follows (10

being most painful)

> 10 - Heavy Spasm

> 8 - Pulling the sticky tape off of my hairy arm and stomach

> 7 - Standard Spasm

> 6 to 7 - Intermittent pain from operation gas

> 3 to 4 - Pain from surgery

> I am amazed how little pain I have from surgery, it is more like a

discomfort or ache than

> pain. ***

>

> Anyway, must go and find the sun cream, as its a week of leisure for

me )

>

> Regards to all

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

I am sorry but I don't really think I will be in a fit state to visit you all in

London this weekend,

but thanks for the invite.

Give Ann a big hug for us all as her words in recent weeks have been a big help

to me (and I

am sure others).

I hope the move back across the water goes well and that you have enjoyed your

time in Old

Blighty.

Take care

(Sitting under a lovely blue sky in the back garden - shame no G & T)