Oy! Post Op Muscle Pain

[soprano]

Yikes! No fun.

I had an emergency lap to remove a ruptured ovarian cyst last year. I was in a horrific amount of pain prior to surgery and consequently doped up on a crazy amount of pain meds both before and after, so if they gave me anything like your muscle relaxer I didn't notice.

My big piece of advice it to take it easy. We had my mother come to stay for 5 days to take care of me, and by the end of that I was back on my feet. I lost about 10 pounds while in the hospital and recovering and didn't get my energy back until I got back up to my normal weight (BMI of 19) which took a few months. I think that I would have recovered better if I had eaten more. Took some short bike rides starting 7 days after surgery and ramped up from there. I needed about 2 weeks before I was ready to go back to full days at work.

You've probably already figured it out, but to sit up easily in bed, roll onto your side first and then push with your arms. My doctor said heavy lifting was OK after 2 weeks, but I found out the hard way that I needed more time. So, be careful picking up anything that weighs more than 10 pounds.

I had two surgeries that year and both times the nurses were shocked at how fast I perked up afterwards. They're used to working with sedentary people. Being in shape has its benefits. Best of luck with your recovery!

[snapdragen]

Bit of a dredge. I've been silent on this for a bit, just because I wasn't sure of the outcome. About a week after my surgery, my Dr. called - at 8:30 at night - not a good sign. The pathology report showed cancer in both of my ovaries. Talk about a stunner.

I was referred to an oncologist, who pretty much made me feel like I was going to die in the next couple of months. I finally "girled up" and asked my OB/Gyn for a new referral for a second opinion. Second doctor was awesome, he gave me hope, and assured me it was not my time.

I had surgery about 3 weeks ago, he did a hysterectomy, along with removing some lymph glands and other good stuff. The good news is the pathology report for the second surgery shows NO signs of cancer!! It was all contained in my ovaries, with the possibility of it being in one fallopian tube also. My oncologist is having the slides from the first surgery re-read by his pathologist, he's not sure there was actually cancer in the fallopian tube, or was it an artifact (I guess that means the cancer in the ovaries contaminated the slide for the fallopian tube?) Depending on what is found will determine if I have to have chemotherapy.

Right now I feel like one of the luckiest women in the world. If not for the ovarian cyst, the cancer would not have been found until much later. Who knows what the outcome would be then?

[OakLeaf]

Oh, wow, Snap. Sending good thoughts for a clean path report and quick healing. Hugs to you.

[ny biker]

Wow indeed. I'm glad it was caught early. I hope you heal quickly.

[Melalvai]

Holy cow. I'm glad sore muscles are the worst of your problems right now. Best wishes for healing.

[Crankin]

So glad you pursued a second opinion.

[Wahine]

((((Snap)))) What a thing to go through. I'm so glad you've got good people taking care of you now!