out of breathe

[jrnyc]

hey bethany
congratulations on coming through it! i hope your healing is uneventful & goes well...sounds like you are handlng everything like a trooper!

best wishes for less pain every day...& a healthy life!
jess

[Radiogirl]

YAY Bethany!!! Thanks for the update! I've been wondering about you!!! It really helps us that are yet to go through it to hear from those who just did it!!! How long were you in the hospital? And did you go home after the hospital, or did you have to go to a step down type of place? I will have a 1.5 hour plane ride to get home

Congrats on your successful surgery!!!

[mixasu]

That's great that your able to cut back on the meds so much !! I'm still taking two oxycodones a day plus Oxycontins in between. My back feels so much better (3 weeks post op), but my legs are killing me!! One leg is numb and the other one feels like someone is stabbing it. I take the pain meds to try and relieve the pain from my legs.

How is your swelling? My ribs are swollen in strange places. Where my rib hump used to be, it's swollen there too. I can't wait for all the swelling to go down so I can see how good I really look!! My abdomen is also a little swollen. I lost weight (99lbs), but my tummy was always flat and now it's not. Do you have that issue too?

Feel better !!
<3 Jaclyn

[sillycoffeegirl]

my lil story

Well i have told my doctors assistant about the shortness of breath but he just tells me your body has been through a big change, give it some time. like its normal right now. i think i have been more normal lately too, not as short winded. But i wll still tell him the next time i call maybe today.

My hospital stay was good, the bed was very uncomfortable of course and i could never get in a good position. Its also hard cuz ur trying not to move too much to hurt yourself. but i had the bar over my bed and that really helped me move: very helpful. It was very nice having the nurses help you with everything, i am very thankful for them. On the other hand, everyone waking you up every half hour or hour drove me crazy and i finally had to tell them a couple times,: dont let anyone come in for a while, i wanna sleep." Also every morning at like 4 or 5 am someone would come in to take my blood. It always woke me out of a good sleep too. And i am okay with needles but dont want to be pricked like 5,000 times. geez. The other thing i dont understand is why they have to get you up the very next day after surgery with the pt. Cuz from the dialodid i was on i was very nausous and when they made me sit up i had a rush to my head and couldnt get up cuz i was gonna puke. So yes i did puke a few times and they finally had to take me off the dialodid cuz i think it was too strong for me. Put me on morphine instead. And then when they weaned me off the pump i got an oxy twice a day and percocet every 4 hours but it wasnt enough. I swear those percocets only lasted for like 2 hours and then i was hurting bad again. And they wouldnt let me have any more until the full four hours. blah. But in good news i felt a big change in the pain around 2 to 2 and 1/2 weeks post op. Right at first its pretty bad but you start healing quick so dont worry future post oppys. Your body will prolly do better them you think. The car ride home really sucked, i only had to go about 40 min away. But i mistakenly sat in the front seat. Even though i had 2 pillows and a blanket up there i was in killer pain the whole ride home and couldnt get in a comfortable postion. We still had to get the meds at the pharmacy. So i suggest someone get them for you in advance and lie down in the backseat if possible. Also, the thing i liked about being in the hospital was that you didnt feel lonely, there is always someone there or someone you can call. But when you go home it gets kinda lonely.

In happier news i am 3 weeks post op and doing great. Hardly taking any pain meds. But i think i messed up a lil by stopping so suddenly in taking them; made my stomach hurt. And its been hurting for a fews days couldnt figure out why. But now i am on hydrocodone(vicoden), and decided to try and take two a day. So far my stomach feels a lil better. The last couple days i also have been getting very dizzy. When i get up, or sit up, or even lie down. Why is that? From the meds? But i am very happy my back is in less pain and i can do more and i can take showers by myself. yay!!

Sorry its long people.

[huskymom]

Let your MD know...

Hey there, coming from a critical care nurse's perspective I would definitely say you need to let your doctor know your symptoms. You could very easily have a blood clot in your lung or fluid in your lung bases, which is very commom post-op. You should not be getting so short-winded like that.
Let us know whatever you decide...
Other than the shortness of breath, how was the hospital stay, the surgery, and the rehab going?
My surgery is in 3 weeks.....
Take Care, Melissa

[52skeedoo]

About a week or so post-op I started getting breathless for no apparent reason. I had the inspirometer from the hospital. I noticed that I could not breathe as deeply as I had done while in the hospital. I called the doctor and they got me right in for some tests. They ruled out everything particularly serious (blood clots or pleural effusion) and decided that I was experiencing asthma-like difficulties. I used Advair for a couple weeks and that took care of it.
Like several others, I recommend you call your doctor about this.

Sheri

[jesscv]

i was severely out of breath - with stabbing pains in my side - at about six weeks post-op. it turned out to be a very large pleural effusion (fluid in my lung cavity). you may want to go to the doc. for an accurate diagnosis, just in case!

[Susie*Bee]

Bethany-- I also think this warrants a call to your doctor, if for nothing more than peace of mind. I don't remember getting out of breath either. Did they give you an inspirometer to use in the hospital and at home? If so, you should use it to help build up. Gentle hugs, Susie

[leahdragonfly]

maybe anemia?

Hi Bethany,

I got like this when I was pregnant, and it turned out I was anemic. Not hugely so, but the doc said enough to produce noticeable symptoms. He had me take a liquid iron supplement, Floradix, that helped. It is available at health food/natural food stores. It doesn't taste great, but it is absorbed very well without any of the problems that come with regular iron pills.

Like Debbei suggested, I think this is worth a phone call to the doctor's office to check with them about your symptoms.

Take good care,

[debbei]

Yes from stairs and just walkin around for a few min and even sitting up after a while. I think each week is better tho. Especially with the pain. I'm off the oxycontin and now only on the oxycodone. But the breathing thing really drives me crazy sometimes. Lol

I'd check in with the Dr.'s office on those symptoms. Everyone is different, and I can only say for myself, but I wasn't short of breath when sitting up or walking around after I got home. At first it did feel like it was hard to take a deep breath because of the stiffness, but for me, that passed.

[sillycoffeegirl]

Yes from stairs and just walkin around for a few min and even sitting up after a while. I think each week is better tho. Especially with the pain. I'm off the oxycontin and now only on the oxycodone. But the breathing thing really drives me crazy sometimes. Lol

[JDM555]

I am about 2 and one half weeks post op. I get out of breathe so easily it seems. And its hard to breath when its like that. Is that normal?

When you say out of breathe so easily, do you mean when you walk a certain distance or walk up/down stairs at a decent/normal pace? I still get out of breathe and get tired easily. Not as bad as 1 week post op, but definitely not as well as before surgery. A lot of people get tired from barely anything for the first couple of weeks/months after surgery, you're just recovering.
John

[sillycoffeegirl]

I am about 2 and one half weeks post op. I get out of breathe so easily it seems. And its hard to breath when its like that. Is that normal?