Quote:
Originally Posted by tannemich
i was diagnosed with tos in may 2005 from a work injury. my surgeon says i have the worst kind - neuropathic. i have been on tramadol, the max dosage per day, for almost 6 years now. i have been on methadone for a year, and now dilaudid. i work full time as an insurance adjuster, so i am at a desk and computer for 8 hours a day. i am finally having surgery in 2 weeks, for the 1st rib resection on my left side. my surgeon wants to wait and see if we need to do my right side also, but i know we will have to.
i'm scared. i'm on such high meds my surgeon won't prescribe me meds for after care. i have to have a pain pharmasist. he said we are going to have a hard time getting your pain under control. i'm scared after the after care and what to expect. will i be able to use my left arm? how long is the recovery period. surgeon says i'll be back to work in four weeks. is this true?
i'm starting to take out my fear and frustration on my loving boyfriend. my ex-husband couldnt handle this at all...he actually said no one else will love you with all your medical problems. that's another story. i don't want this to affect my relationship. i love him so much and he doesnt derserve to be the target of my frustration. it's like i can't let the little things go. and i'm MAD! i'm not like this. this is not me. i know it's the anxiety from the upcoming surgery. i don't care about any scars, i just want my life back. i want to have a baby. i want to be a good (future) step mom. i want to hold my babies. i want to garden, and walk my dog, and i want to work out! i can't even do yoga anymore. sometimes it just feels like there isnt a point to it all. my surgeon is not hopeful this will cure me. i know it's an 85% sucess rate, and he is a really good surgeon, so i'm sure that's why he is concerned...cause it's not 99%.
any experience's with this surgery, or how you have handled life would be so appreciated. my boyfriend is the only person who actually understands everything about this, and he cares about my health. he doesn't deserve for me to pick a fight.
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I had right rib resection Oct. 13, 2010. I too was so afraid and scared but I knew it was the way to go. I had read every thread out there and was anticipating the worst pain ever and long recovery time. But here is what actually happened. I had surgery at 12:00 pm was out of surgery and the recovery room by 4:30. I was pretty awake that evening and talking to the nurse when she realized my pain pump hadn't been hooked up for about 3 hours. She felt so bad but I wasn't feeling any pain. The next day I stayed on the pain pump but didn't need to press the button very often. I stayed in the hospital for 2 nights pain free. Went home with pain killers but didn't have to use them very much. No problems sleeping in bed although I had heard horror stories about sleeping. Showering was no problem since I had no stitches on the outside of my incision but rather glue. My surgery was on a Wednesday by the following Wednesday (7 days later) I was so bored I went back to work for a 1/2 day. I did that for about 5 days and then just went back full time. So what I'm saying is that it really was no big deal for me. My doctor even gave me my rib! Was it a success? I know it was at least 75% effective...my right arm and hand were so cold before and now they're not. I still have some issues with my right hand being weak but it is getting better just no 100% yet. We aren't sure what caused this in the first place. I've had something that affected my entire right side with weakness and atrophy. The weakness in my leg is getting better but no the atrophy. Good luck to you and let us know how you're doing.
Susanne