Thursday, January 12, 2012

JANUARY 12, 2012


Last night, I had the most pain I've had in a really long time.  My surgery was supposed to alleviate my back pain, which it did for a while.  The last couple of nights, though, have been almost unbearable.  I'm good during the day, and the pain is manageable.  But, when I lay down to go to sleep?  Well, last night I actually had to get back up out of bed....if I had had something safe to punch, I would have.  My back hurt SO BADLY!

The pain is usually located in my lower back, which is where the pain was prior to surgery.  Now, though, it seems to have spread to both sides, rather than being isolated to the right side. Levi seems to feel it might be kidneys, but I'm pretty sure those are higher up - the pain I'm having is really low (like, at the top of my butt).

Ibuprofen seems to give me temporary relief, but nothing has taken the pain away completely.  My heating pad has been my constant companion, and serves another purpose - since I'm always cold, it helps me stay warm.  Score!

So, at this point, I'm trying a variety of things, with the hopes that I'll touch on something that will miraculously make my back feel better.  I've got my ibuprofen, which I'm going to start taking regularly again.  Maybe if I can get ahead of the pain, I can control it better.  I have a pain patch (non-medicinal) that I've got on today.  My corn-filled heating pad is in the microwave, and will be sitting against my back all day.  I have some Pain-A-Trate (like Ben-Gay, but better...) that will be going on later.  The big thing?  I'm going to be getting back to being more active.  I'm hoping that by getting up and not sitting all day long, hunched over my laptop, my body will start to get acclimated to the activity.

My questions are many - why is this happening?  What's causing it?  Why so suddenly?  Why is it so painful? I did a little Dr. Google research last night - appears that I'm not the only person going through this after having a Da Vinci hysterectomy.  Appears that there are several ladies that have had/are having similar severe back pain issues.  Most of them that have found a dr that listens to them and doesn't think they're nuts report a return of adhesions/scar tissue.  *sigh*  I'll be so pissed if that's the case.

I have a friend who's a naturopathic oncologist, and she has some ideas on things that might help.  Right now, I don't want to go to the dr, b/c I feel like they are going to push meds on me or doubt my story.  This pain is real - the tears in my eyes and the stress on my body is overwhelming at times.  When the ibuprofen finally kicks in, I can literally feel the release in my body - it relaxes, and I'm suddenly exhausted.

Any ideas on others who have gone through the same thing?  My gynecologist told me that I should be back to normal  by now, and I think he doesn't quite understands that these surgeries don't always go by the book - oftentimes, as I'm seeing, there are so many other factors that will change how a person's body reacts to surgery.

Off I go, to try to keep active.  Will keep you all updated.


This doesn't sound good, Michelle. I can't remember. Did the surgeon remove the ovaries, too? I hope you find relief soon!
January 27, 2012 at 3:53 PM

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