Small intestine resection

[peluchde]

Help! My surgery is in 2 weeks and I need to decide about postoperative pain control. My doctor said I can have a pump here I can release meds as needed or an epidural. I know it's important to walk after surgery, but I don't know if that's possible with the epidural. Last time the narcotics made me so itchy, I thought I'd rub my nose off. I was also vomiting, but I'm not sure if it was the drugs or my obstruction.
Can someone please advise? What worked for you? Pros and cons? I'm getting nervous.

 

[momofthree]

After my first resection I was given a pump at the hospital...the pain meds made me so sick. I was vomiting for days and could barely move. Once I stopped taking them, I recovered quite quickly. It was a year later that I needed another resection. That time I refused all pain meds...I was up and about in no time-felt fantastic. The hospital was also conducting a study where they get you to chew gum after surgery and while in the hospital. It's supposed to get your bowels moving again right away.

 

[my little penguin]

Tagging Clash since her son had a resection
And Mehita

 

[Clash]

My son opted for the pain pump. He asked them to discontinue it because he wasn't using it frequently and his bladder slows down with anesthesia and pain meds so a catheter had to be replaced.

He was up and walking the evening of surgery. He went home with a opiate med px but only took half tablet twice both near bedtime.

 

[Plittler]

I would advise a pump as it will allow you to get out of bed as soon as you feel up to it. I was in quite a bit of pain post surgery and certainly needed it for the first couple of days. It's hard to give you the best answer as everyone responds differently to different drugs and also have different pain thresholds. Good luck.

 

[Nicky Furlano]

My biggest concern was the ng tube in my nose after surgery. My body had almost completely shut down when I had surgery. I was on a resuscitator so the ng tube restricted my breathing and I turned blue and they put me back on the resuscitator.

 

[Mehita]

My son had an epidural and I'm wishing we would have done the pain pump instead. The epidural worked great and controlled pain, but only in the stomach area. It did nothing for the referral pain or sore throat he had. The epidural also caused a lot of itching and we had to wait for the on call anesthesiologist to come in (at 2am) before we could take him off it. Once off it, he had morphine for half a day and then nothing after that.

And you're right, you can't move with an epidural. No walking, no bathroom visits.

On a personal note, and I know it's a different type and different purpose, but the epidural I got when I gave birth to my son, was done incorrectly and it only numbed half my body. That was a lovely experience! My point being that goofy things like that can happen as well.

 

[jonique]

Help! My surgery is in 2 weeks and I need to decide about postoperative pain control. My doctor said I can have a pump here I can release meds as needed or an epidural. I know it's important to walk after surgery, but I don't know if that's possible with the epidural. Last time the narcotics made me so itchy, I thought I'd rub my nose off. I was also vomiting, but I'm not sure if it was the drugs or my obstruction.
Can someone please advise? What worked for you? Pros and cons? I'm getting nervous.

Peluchde, how did you do with the resection? was it laparoscopic or open? I'm having an open resection on Oct 19th. it is my second but been 20 years since the last one and i don't really remember a lot from back then. i do remember that the pain medication made me extremely itchy so they had to give me benedryl along with it. it was morphine in a pump. i have not had my pre-admission appointment yet so don't know what the plan is for this surgery. Any tips?

also, how quickly did you get back to eating? i'm trying to prepare and have some frozen meals for when i get home and easy to heat up.

thanks,

 

[ronroush7]

I had a pump and I did fine.

 

[The Real MC]

I was fine with epidural too, no reaction.

Just before I went under for my first resection, I was offered the epidural. I have a high threshold of pain and turned it down. Big mistake, when I woke up the pain felt like a 12 on a scale from 1 to 10 and I was screaming in pain. Post op got the pump in place.

 

[jonique]

Peluchde, how did you do with the resection? was it laparoscopic or open? I'm having an open resection on Oct 19th. it is my second but been 20 years since the last one and i don't really remember a lot from back then. i do remember that the pain medication made me extremely itchy so they had to give me benedryl along with it. it was morphine in a pump. i have not had my pre-admission appointment yet so don't know what the plan is for this surgery. Any tips?

also, how quickly did you get back to eating? i'm trying to prepare and have some frozen meals for when i get home and easy to heat up.

thanks,

My anesthesiologist recommended the epidural as standard of care for bowel resection for IBD. I was told that i will be able to walk around with the epidural and likely heal up faster because i can be more active and less groggy without any opioid drugs. getting nervous about the surgery though but looking forward to better health to be able to eat more than soup and smoothies.