Alicia's Journal

Rose Madura  Hi Alicia, I'm so sorry to hear that you are having so much pain.  Where is the pain. The worse pain for me was shoulder pain apparently from the position it was in during my 7 hour surgery.  I took Tylenol as soon as I could a few days after I got home and that did the trick for me.  Hopefully your pain will become manageable soon. God bless you. 

Marcus Krauss  My surgery was 10/21. I only stopped taking Oxy about a week and half ago, but was still taking Tylenol around the clock for about a week after that. It's only been in the past few days that I've started tapering down the Tylenol to just before bedtime. Hope your pain becomes manageable soon. Maybe your Dr. would be open to prescribing a non-narcotic pain med that's a little stronger than OTC Tylenol?

Marie Myers  After my AVR and double aneurysm resection, I was off narcotics after the first 2-3 weeks. But , Everybody is different , so you have to advocate for yourself. I had a lot of shoulder and upper back pain like Rose did. Maybe some muscle relaxants might help?  In the surgeons defense, they are hesitant to prescribe continuing narcotics after a few weeks due to the possibility of addiction. 

John Crawley  I'm 25 days out from open aortic valve replacement...my cardiac PA prescribed me 28 oxycodone for use at home, of which I still have 8...I use arthritis strength tylenol regularly for my hands and it helps during the day...I took one oxy at bedtime up until Tuesday and I haven't really needed it since...I am using Flexeril when needed for back spasms that started in earnest after surgery...hope your pain resolves soon.

Doug Fults  It was about 4 1/2 weeks after surgery until I no longer needed pain medication, and that was after robotic surgery (though I also had upper back pain this whole period).  From the time I entered the step-down unit, pain medication consisted of a maximum dosage of Tylenol plus Oxy for "break through" pain. I stayed on the full prescribed dose of Oxy for the first 1 /2  weeks, or so, discovered I was was taking only 1/2 the allowed dosage of Tyelenol, fixed that then  tapering down to just one Oxy before bed (I can't get to sleep if I'm not comfortable), and finally off.  That lasted until about 3 weeks out when the pain got more intense (my side was going from numb to painful), and I had to resume some Oxy on top of the Tylenol.  That lasted about a week, until the pain just disappeared over a few days around  4 1/2 weeks.   Thus I'd summarize my experience by saying the level of pain medication I needed went up & down over time, and I appreciated having a non-narcotic base and a way to deal with "break through" pain until the pain just disappeared over a few days.  Pain doesn't adhere to a fixed schedule.

Valerie Allen  They should help you keep your pain under control. You may have to shake a few trees and get someone to help. Don’t be shy. Post again to update us.

Emily Parks  Hi Alicia, I am so sorry to hear that this is happening to you, there is no need to keep someone in such pain. EVERYONE is different with pain, sounds like Valerie said you need to as I put it ring a few phones call your team they should still be helping you with this. I am sending many prayers to you.

Yumiko Ishida  Sorry you are in so much pain! My chest pain was mostly on the right side, where they pull to pry my chest open, not the actual incision. I was hugging my pillow most of the time for a couple of months, but it did get better eventually. I imagine it was like any other soft tissue injury. I was on a combination of oxy and tylenol, like John and Doug. My neurologist didn’t want me on opioids for too long, so I forced myself to wean off of it. There comes a point at which opioids stop working and there is no point on continuing to take it. I started at the maximum allowed dose, then once a day at bed time, then every other day, and at some point I noticed it wasn’t doing anything, so I stopped. I stayed on extra strength tylenol but not the arthritis stuff, since those are usually extended release. If the pain is not in your chest, try something topical. Back and shoulder pain is very common. I tried arnica, CBD ointment, and lidocaine patches for those areas, and they all helped to some degree. I am 10 months out, but am still on tylenol for back pain. I also have a prescription NSAID, but I couldn’t take that until I was off warfarin 3 months post surgery. If you are on a different kind of blood thinner, there maybe other options for you.

Allen Carkner  I was fortunate to feel alright by 8 or ten days post op and then transitioned to only Tylenol for pain management another two probably. I didn’t like how oxy made me feel. Every one’s experience with pain seems to be different though. My wife is a new grad nurse and so she was also cautious of my narcotic use. I remember near my shoulder blade was some of the worst pain from the whole ordeal. I hope you find some relief.