Hey! Glad you are back home safe and sound. To try to explain a few of the frustrating things you are experiencing: It's standard practice for doctors to write controlled drug Rxs for only a few days at a time. This is to minimize the chances of the patient abusing the drug or developing an addiction, and also to minimize the chances of "extra" pills the patient doesn't use ending up being sold on the street. Dr. P did the same thing for the Narco he wrote for me. Your daughter may or may not be ready to give it up after 3 days, depending on how she is progressing; if she's not, they'll authorize a refill, or you can get in touch with your primary care physician and have him/her write you a new Rx.
Originally I was told I needed to stay an extra night, too, but since home wasn't that far away, and I was doing well, they agreed to let me go ahead and go home. I think I remember you aren't that far from Dallas?
Two weeks is the standard recheck he does for in-town patients, then again at 8-10 weeks; someone probably just neglected to change the default for you being an out-of-towner. No big deal, but a pain in the butt you don't want to have to deal with right after surgery, right?
Are you saying your daughter can't lift her arm now, or just that it is very painful for her to do so when it wasn't before? If it's the former, that would be abnormal. If it's the latter, that is unsurprising - everything is so stirred up in there right now that normal movements can be surprisingly painful. Like breathing! You are making her continue her breathing exercises, right? Hopefully they are getting easier.
Hang in there; you're halfway through the worst of it, and at least now you can sleep through the night in your own home, with no one coming in to check blood pressure or draw blood or whatever!

We also experienced some communication issues the day we left the hospital so it sounds like they have some things to work out there. I was given hydrocodone but it was more than 3 days supply. I would say 5 - 9 days depending on how many were taken. Percocet is 1.5 times as strong and I am sure they have to be very careful how it is dispensed. However they do need to make sure your daughter is adequately treated for pain.

Hey guys, just adding my name to the list here, I also had surgery with Dr Pearl about a week and a half ago. So far I'm feeling pretty good, symptoms improved, post-surgery pain and stiff improving as well.

I'm just curious, what kind of pain did you other guys experience post-surgery and how long for it to clear up?

I've had some pain in my back and chest that is letting up. Pain when coughing/sneezing that is improving. But I've also had some pain in my upper arm which seems kinda weird and is bothering me the most at this point. Any of you other guys have this? Hoping its just temporary from the surgery and not something else.

*edit*
Also I haven't had time to read all 15 pages of this post yet but I plan to, and I will answer any questions you guys have.

LosingHope and Romans8:

Can you tell that I was more than a little stressed....haha. Ok, you both calmed me down. That makes sense about the meds...I will call him on Monday and if she needs more, I will ask for more. I will also ask about the follow up appointment since we live 3 hours away. And yes to the breathing treatments...they really stressed doing those. Well, she can raise her arm, but she doesn't want to because it's too painful. I just don't know how much to push her at this point. I mean he said to use the arm normally, but what exactly does that mean? She has been sleeping a lot since we got home and it is really nice to not have someone wake you up all the time she has been sleeping in the recliner and says it's more comfortable than the hospital bed I guess I just wanted to hear you all say that this is all normal! I really appreciate it...and I will try not to be so stressed I will update soon.

Thanks again friends!

I hope your daughter is starting to feel a little better. I feel pretty fortunate because I didn't have any trouble with communication from Dr. Pearl and the nurses. Everything seemed to go pretty smooth for me.

As for pain medication, I was given hydrocodone so calling and getting a refill was really easy for me. The most pain I felt was during the 4th and 5th day post op and I used my pain meds a lot. On the bottle it said 1-2 pills every 4 hours and I was taking 2 every 4 hours on the dot. I had the timer on my phone set with an alarm so I knew when I could take more. After those 2 days I was able to cut back quite a bit on the meds and only needed 2-3 a day. My main drawback was that when I felt good I over did it causing me to have to take 4+ pills for the next day or 2. Cold weather has also been an "enemy" to me causing me, at times, a great deal of pain and discomfort.

Now the question about arm pain. I have had some off and on but I figure it is from my nerves trying to "wake up". I pretty much had full range of motion the day after surgery and it did hurt some but not like I thought it would. I have had surgery on both of my shoulders and it took several months before I had full range of motion with minimal pain. Even though I am 7 weeks post op I still feel some pain when I take a deep breath, cough, and sneeze. I'm not sure how long this will last but it has gotten better with time. Just make sure your daughter does her breathing treatment. I know how bad it can hurt but it will help in the long run.

I actually threw a baseball yesterday about 10 times and even though it hurt some, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I was in a little pain a few hours afterwards but I have a few pain pills stashed back so I took one and it got me through the evening and night. I was afraid I would be really sore today but I found that the pain was tolerable and and took some Advil to make it through the day.

Just remember that this recovery is going to be tough at times and make sure your daughter gets the rest she needs. Oh, I slept in my recliner and sitting upright on my couch, for almost 2 weeks before I could get comfortable in my bed. I still have some nights when I will wake up with a little pain and have to go to my recliner to get back to sleep.

Stay positive throughout this process. I know my wife gets frustrated, not necessarily with me, but at the fact that there are still some things around the house that I struggle with because I am still limited on lifting, pushing, and pulling things. Luckily she is very understanding even though I know her frustration level can peak some days.

Keep us posted on your daughter's recovery! It will get better and she'll be back to herself soon.

I really appreciate everyone taking the time to let me know how they are doing. I guess I'm just being a worried Mom. I will try to have more patience and try to calm down! I know it will take time and today is just day 4. And everyone is different. I guess since she is young, I expected her to just bounce back. But she does have issues with nausea and pain meds, so that is causing her to be sleepy all the time. I told her today that she was going to have to move around more. I don't want her to become weak. Thanks everyone and I will check in later.

You are a good mom. I know it's hard to see your child in pain. I expect she will start turning the corner in a couple of days. Everyone is different though. I have hurt more the last few days. I really think it is the cold damp weather. I agree with CITI this is a long journey.

I am 7 weeks post op and have felt very bad the last 5 or 6 days. I am having chills, body aches and fatigue. My surgery side shoulder hurts a lot more and I have returned to pain pills after almost weaning off. I hope I just have some kind of virus or something but I am most concerned about the increased shoulder pain. Maybe a virus causing body aches can magnify our recovering nerves and muscles? I sure hope so as this has me discouraged. The longer this goes the more paranoid I get that I don't have a virus and something is going on near the surgery site or with the lung that had the blood clot after surgery. We don't develop scar tissue this quickly do we? I did call my regular doctor and he said it sounds viral and to rest without looking at me.

Somebody tell me I need to chill out and this will pass.

Oh, no! I hate to hear this, Romans8! I was going to post a big thank you for saying that I was a good Mom! I feel really bad for you. Maybe it is just a virus! I sure hope so. I wonder if you should contact Dr. Pearl and see what he says? I want you to know that I am saying a prayer for you right now!

I was also going to update you about my daughter. Today is one week since the surgery. Monday she started throwing up each time she took her pain meds. I called Dr Pearl and he changed them for us. Since that time she has been fine. The last two days have been good days. She is extremely tired and I have to make her go walk around the yard with me, but she does it. She hasn't had much pain in the last coupld of days. The pain she does have is at the incision site and in the shoulder. She hasn't been doing much though, so that may be it. I asked her if her elbow or hand had been hurting or numb and she said she keeps expecting it, but it doesn't happen. So that's good.

I hope that you are feeling better real soon. We are all thinking about you

I had a similar experience last year...turned out to be the flu. Did you get your shot this year?