hpw can i get rid of my hospital backache? I am desperate to go home. taking panadeine forte and gabba penton.HELP
Well, you just had open-chest surgery 5 days ago. 
It might well be referred pain from your incision, or it might be simple debilitation from lying in bed for 5 days. Depending how much narcotic you were on pre-op with the pleurisy, it might even be a slight physiologic withdrawal. Hug your little chest pillow and try to get out of bed as much as possible-- always ask your nurses and physical therapists (who should be seeing you) for assistance at first. [name]Do[/name] laps around the ward. Walk to the gift shop. See how you go, and good luck.
Hey [name]Rollo[/name], I just read your threads. So sorry to hear you’ve had to have surgery, and that you’ve been in such pain. I’m glad you’ve emerged on the other side. You’ll be home soon! Keep moving that spine lady! Sending good thoughts your way.
Hugs and kisses. [name]Hope[/name] you feel better really soon.
[name]Rollo[/name], I hope this post finds you feeling better. Stay strong! (((hugs)))
[name]Hi[/name] [name]Rollo[/name], I hope your recovery is going well. I had major surgery years ago and remembered how my back and body ached for awhile. Hang in there and take each day as it comes and you’ll get stronger. You have a lot of Nameberries who are thinking of you and I’ve been praying for you everyday!
[name]Rollo[/name]- continuing to lift you in prayer, sweet friend! I hope you are feeling much better!!!
Home yesterday but I am still pathetic and feel a hundred years old. Please continue to lift me up in prayer. love xxxx
Oh [name]Rollo[/name], I’m so glad you’re home. There is nothing so uplifting than being surrounded by family, friends and the things you love most instead of a sterile hospital ward. You will feel depressed and achey for awhile but take each day as it comes. I’m keeping you in my thoughts and prayers.
[name]Rollo[/name]- stay strong. My prayers are with you.
[name]Glad[/name] to hear you are home, [name]Rollo[/name]! I’m sure it will take some time before you start to feel normal again, but I will pray that the healing process goes quickly! xo
Update I went back to hospital last night for shortness of breath, they gave me 4 unts of blood and a plerual tap to remove fluid from the lungs. I am home again.
Wow, [name]Rollo[/name]! You have been through so much - glad to hear you are home again. ((hugs))
Ugh, rollo! Accumulating fluid once your chest tubes are removed is unfortunately a relatively common complication, but why on earth did you get FOUR units of blood?!
When I was under they severed the carotid artery, maybe this helped to make it harder for me to breathe. I felt ok yesterday in the hospital with the oxygen but fragile today. When in hospital they gave me a blood pressure tablet which lowered my BP to 50 so they did a lot of fussing over me plus put in a lot of saline solution fast.
My air is only 94 yesterday they wanted 96 but let me come home anyway.
Oh [name]Rollo[/name] dearest. I’m so sorry you have to go through this right now. I was thinking of you and figured I would just let you know.
At least you got through yesterday. Hopefully today and tomorrow will be better. [name]Happy[/name], fuzzy thoughts being sent your way.
Sheesh rollo, that’s horrible. When you’re quite anemic you feel very short of breath-- you gasp and gasp to try to get enough oxygen to your tissues, since the red blood cells are missing. Your carotid arteries are in your neck (though they come off the subclavian in the chest) and I can’t imagine how your surgeon could have made that mistake. Occasionally the carotid is surgically ligated (on purpose), especially if the blood supply to the tumor was branching directly off of it, but that would be done in a controlled fashion and you wouldn’t lose so much blood. I would really question your surgeon very closely as to how this happened.
Keep doing your deep breathing exercises. They should have given you a little plastic device called an incentive spirometer which you really should use 10x on the hour. As much as it hurts, try to get up and walk around-- when you’re in pain, especially due to the chest incision, you’ll feel tempted to take small shallow breaths to minimize the pain. Without your lungs fully expanding, this creates a nice space for the chest fluid to reaccumulate, so as minor as it seems it’s really important.
I hate how cardiac surgeons put everyone on metoprolol postoperatively. There’s lots of data that shows immediate beta-blockade saves lives only if you were on a beta-blocker preoperatively. You didn’t have heart surgery, you weren’t on the heart-lung machine, so there was no need for it. I also hate how they transfuse willy-nilly. Transfusions carry a great deal of risk, most often immune depression, reactions and something called TRALI (Transfusion-Related Acute Lung Injury). In general surgery we don’t transfuse until the hematocrit is<22 or the hemoglobin is <7; cardiac surgeons want everyone above 30. Constant battles there.
Anyway, feel better, breathe deeply, and here’s hoping the final pathology report is what they suspected!
Thank you blade it means so much to have your insight, in fact I feel quite teary.
You have inspired me re the spirometer they told me 4 puffs an hour.
Any advice would be gratefully received.
I have been getting some nausea lately and smells/perfumes make me feel sick. My appetite is returning but it is very picky.
rollo xx
[name]Glad[/name] to hear you’re home. I’m sending happy thoughts your way. ((hugs))
Thank you to everyone for supporting me daily through this recovery, it means a lot I can’t send a personal thank you to everyone but please know how much it means to me.
rollo