Hi I'm cindy from canada.I have been waiting 2 years for surgery and I just got the call today to have my surgery on tuesday!!!I have had alot of different surgeries but this time I am scared!! I am also scared that the pain medication after surgery is not going to help enough with my pain because I have been on pain meds so long.I have been on many different pain meds over the years.2 years ago i was put on slow release morphine.I take it every twelve hours and have regular morphine for break through pain.I had bowel surgery 2 years ago and had a really rough time because of my tolerance to pain meds. They gave me all that they could and it just wasnt enough so I am very scared .I also have severe fibromyalgia so that just makes the pain worse. I am having left side rib removed and muscle bands cut.I have been having really bad heart palpitations lately that take my breath away for several seconds.I don't know if it is safe for me to be put to sleep with this .Does anyone have any advice or information to help me stop feeling so scared.Any help at all would be greatly appreciated.

I had the surgery in April, and I was sooooo scared! IF only I had known what a breeze it was, and with Fentanyl, I felt Noooooo pain. Really, my experience was a cake-walk. I hope yours is, too.

As for feeling better, it wasn't until 9 months later that I really noticed benefits. You MUST give your body time to heal those nerves.

God bless you!

Thank you very much for your reply!! I pray that I can come thru my surgery as well as you did.I do know from reading that it seems like it will be a long recovery .It will be worth it if I can have a litle bit of life back.

Cindy-
I would certainly bring up the heart palpitations bit in your pre op visit. Sound like you have been thorugh a lot. I haven't had surgery myself, so all I can say is good luck to you.

I was reading yesterday that pain level has a lot to do with the amount of morphine you can handle at any one time (b/c the pain conteracts the sedation effects of the morphine) it was interesting.
I don't know what the source of this page is, but it *appears* credible.

Maybe if Trix is around she would have some advice. I think she had surgery with someone in Canada.

Best of luck to you.

Johanna

I had my surgery with Dr. Nelems in Kelowna. He is considerd one of the foremost experts on TOS in Canada. I had both sides done two days apart.
I remember waking up in recovery after the first surgery in intense pain. By the time I got to my room though the pain was under control.
After the second surgery the pain was under control right from the beginning.
They continued my pre-op pain meds orally, in addition to the morphine through-out my hospital stay.
After the surgery I felt wonderful. I felt truly pain free for the first time in over a year. Once I got out of the hospital, the pain was definitley present, but I am mostly able to control it with my oral meds.
I have started PT this week. I am three months post-op, and I will return to seeing my chiropractor in February.
All in all, I am very glad I had the surgery. So far, I have a marked decrease in the numbness and tingling in my hands. I feel better over all, I do have a lot of burning pain, but Dr. Nelems thinks that is normal. He keeps reminding me that it can take up to two years to recover from this surgery. Even if I only see a small amount of change from where I am today I will consider my surgery a great success.
Tracy

I haven't had TOS surgery yet so I can't answer questions specific to your upcoming surgery. But I did want to respond to your concern about the heart palpitations....I know when I've had more minor surgeries (carpal tunnel) they would not proceed with the surgeries until after obtaining the results of ekg (ecg?) tests to ensure that my heart was okay. I assume that they will do the same for you in your pre-op testing (unless things are different in Canada?). Also, I used to get heart palpitations too but after testing it was determined they were nothing serious, so hopefully the same will be true for you.

Good luck! Keep us posted.

we have some threads and posts about how the muscles spasms or even the nerve there can be affected and make it feel like palpitations.

but be sure to mention that to your dr to be sure it's not heart related.

I'll try to search up a few posts.

Hi CindyJ,
My worst pain was when they woke me up in the operating room or post op and made me tell them I was in pain. At least that's the way I remember it. I seem to recall them saying my name and asking where it hurts. I thought I told them my side. Anyway after that I think they hooked me up with morphine.
After that it was off to recovery where I'd get morphine every 4 hours along with percocets. They also put some other pain med in my IV every six hours.
I really had minimal pain in the hospital.
The worst pain after that was the first two or three days after I was dischaged.
Prior to surgery I thought I'd just be real sore for a few days after surgery.
My surgeon clearly told me I was mistaken and to take up my Mom and Step Dad's offer of taking care of me at their house.
I'm so glad I did! Even with the percs and vics I still needed help to get in and out of bed. If I did it on my own I'd need to stop for minutes to catch my breath because I could only take little rapid breaths. Deep breathing was terribley painful.
Today is my three month anniversary post surgery and I can honestly say I'm still quite sore from the surgery.
At this point I wouldn't say I regret getting the surgery but I wish I knew then what I know now.
I'm still trying to be optimistic.
Good Luck!

Wow you are so very helpful and friendly!!! I am sooo glad I was able to find my way back here. I am pretty sure they will do an ekg on monday at my pre op visit.If not I will ask to have 1 done.As you all know there are so many symptoms that go with this and fibromyalgia, that it is hard to distinguish what is a symptom and what is an unrelated problem.I have a lot of choking feelings too which I have read go along with TOS.The hospital is 2 hours from where i live so we will be staying in the city overnight after my preop, as my surgery is the next mornig.They said I would be in 1 night, which is a little scary going home so soon after surgery, but they need the beds for other patients so out you go lol!I don't know how soon afterward I will be able to get online but I will update as soon as i am able. Once again thank you all for your help!!

HI THERE. YOU WILL BE FINE. YOU REALLY WON'T KNOW WHAT HAPPENED CUZ YOU'LL BE OUT OF IT FOR A DAY OR SO. JUST TAKE GOOD CARE OF YOURSELF AND I'LL PRAY FOR YOU