The irony is not lost on me!
So as I mentioned yesterday, the worst part of a laparoscopy is the gas bubbles you get under your diaphragm because they blow you up to be able to see. It sounds like no big deal, but there’s some kind of nerve confusion between your diaphragm and shoulder that makes your shoulder hurt like crazy from the gas.
Yesterday I was 4 hours into my percoset (ie 2 hours away from another one.) I thought I’d try to go lay on the couch since being in the same position on my bed was making my back sore.
When you stand up, though, the gas puts more pressure on your diaphragm, making the shoulder hurt more. (I’ve been pretty much flat on my back for this reason since Monday.)
It hurt so damn bad that I couldn’t breathe and was hyperventilating, panicking, etc. I couldn’t get a breath because it caused a stabbing pain in my diaphragm, and the shoulder pain was so bad I couldn’t move. The harder time I had breathing, the tenser I got. The tenser I got, the worse it hurt.
Thank God for my Dad and husband. Dad stayed with me all day to fetch stuff for me. He rubbed my shoulder under the heating pad until Ben could get home (called and asked him to come early) to come do the relaxation stuff we learned in our Bradley Childbirth classes (oh, the irony, but that’s some good sh!t). Between the two of them I was at least able to breathe again and get semi-comfortable.
Turns out I can take 1-2 percoset every 4-6 hours and I was taking 1 every 5 hours. Plus I can take Advil in between. So I upped the drugs and started walking around once they kicked in, which has helped the gas dissipate.
Doing MUCH better today. Now I just have to wean off some of these drugs so I can drive myself to work on Friday.
[...] me out a bit. Like I can’t think about it without crying. I had really bad pain with my last lap, and I guess that kind of referred shoulder pain isn’t uncommon with a c-section. I just [...]