Surgery May 9*

[nyt]

NervyJoe, glad to hear from you! The numbness means the Marcaine in the pump is working. If you weren't numb then something wouldn't be working correctly with the pump. It is a medication in the same pharmacological class as Novocaine. I'm sure you have had dental work done and your mouth is numb from the Novocaine. Same thing with the pump just different area with similar drug. It is very normal to have some burning, shocks, or tearing sensation while the pump is in. They should be at a pretty tolerable level while the pump is in but if they are not make sure you take pain medication. I personally am no longer a believer in toughing it out. Wow, pooping already, that is great. It is a weird sensation to try and clean up afterwards when one is numb. Glad you are taking short walks. Just don't overdue! Give your body time to heal, be gentle to yourself during this time.

Keep us posted on your progress. You are in my thoughts and prayers.

[RJR]

Nervyjoe,
Great to hear from you, and thanks for an update so soon. Everything you are feeling and seeing post op sounds quite normal to me - parallels my experience. Keep that walking up.
Best regards,
RR

[nervyjoe]

Hello everyone,
my pain pump began leaking a couple days ago and i noticed that the plastic material that was covering the catheter peeled off and was no longer covering the part of the skin where the catheter enters the body. As a result of the skin not being covered, i got a little bit of an infection and the skin around the catheter became very tender/a bit painful. I spoke to Dr Hibner's office and we agreed that the best thing to do would be to have a Dr take a look at it. I saw my family doctor today and he confirmed that the skin looked like it had become infected. There were two options, leave the catheter in place, begin taking antibiotics and hope that the infection goes away, or remove the catheter now and minimize the risk for further infection...I decided it was better to pull it out, I'm at day 10 post-op, have gone through 1 pain pump and hopefully that was enough for the worst part of post-op pain. The last thing i want is for the infection to travel through the canal made by Dr Hibner to the sight of the incision, as that would be a major problem...i feel OK now, though i assume the all around pain lever will increase when the marcaine effects wear off.

RJR: I remember you mentioned that your pain pump leaked and was removed by day 12 or so...anything I should be aware of?

Han anyone actually made use of both pain pumps without problems? it seems to me that making it through two cycles of the pain pump would be unlikely, as it seems pretty easy for the plastic that covers the entry of the catheter to peel off. I have been taking it very easy too, not much movement aside from the suggested walking and showers about every other day.

Best regards to you all

PS -I am taking antibiotics anyhow to take care of any infection that may have been present...

[Lernica]

Thanks for the report, NJ. Sounds like your recovery is going as expected. Sorry to hear about the infection but it sounds like a common occurrence with the pain pump. It also sounds like you made the right call to pull it out and avoid an infection.

Please continue to take it easy and keep up the good recovery!

[nyt]

NervyJoe, thanks for the update. I have been thinking about you and wondering how you have been doing. The OnQ pain pumps are wonderful but they do leak which is a problem. My surgery was on May 2nd and my 2nd pump will be empty tomorrow. Since I knew leaking was a problem and to keep it covered when my husband did my dressing changes he kept a good eye on the Tegaderm around the pump site as Lisa told us it was leaking when she pulled the wound vac. Everyday he put a bandaid over the loose edge of the Tegaderm which helped keep the pain pump secure and covered. Once all the dressing changes were completed, my daughter-in-law (she's a nurse) brought home a piece of Tegaderm from the hospital and put it over the lower portion of the pain pump site where some of the leaking has been. She did that 1 week ago and no problems since then. I plan on passing this on to Dr. Hibner's office because if we were sent home with some Tegaderm we could reinforce the pain pump site to keep it covered and prevent infection. Also, given that the Tegaderm is clear if you started to get an infection you can see through the Tegaderm versus putting a bandaid over it where you can't see if there is a problem and run the risk of pulling on the pain pump when trying to change the bandaid.

Take it easy, I sure have been!

[RJR]

hello nervy joe,
My leak was thru the surgery drain line punture...so the mighty pump would do its thing, and the marcaine would find its way back out. Nothing Dr H's office tried worked for me, even the tegaderm. I got a bit of a rash that did not get infected, but sure made me more uncomfortable than the pump helped.

I am sure you will clear up nicely, and also bet that by this time, you will not miss the marcaine hardly at all.

It only gets better from here.
Take care,
RR

[nervyjoe]

Thanks for the follow up guys, i appreciate it...you're right RJR, i don't miss that marcaine - i'm having a good day today and hardly feel any pain at all.
I started cutting back on the heavy pain meds a couple days a go and since then I have been more regular with b movements. Instead of having just one movement in the morning, i'll have 1 maybe two more throughout the day for a total of 3 (usully just 2 though). I feel like as a result of not being being backed up, I feel a sigificant reduction of pain at the sight of the PN. Anyone else relate to that?

I know it's very early days still but i must say that I feel optimistic about this whole thing.

nyt: thank you for your feedback, it has helped me very much! how are you feeling?

Best,

NJ

[AliPasha1]

Hi NJ,
I am glad that you are doing so well so soon after the surgery. That is very encouraging news and I hope that you can be cured in no time.Dr. Hibner's first male patient got cured in 1-3 months.Are you still in Phoenix?

Kind Regards,
Ali

[donstore]

Following your progress nervyjoe (great screen name. by the way). Best wishes for a successfull recovery. Keep us posted on your progress.

Don