Question:
How can I tell if I pulled something inside?

I am 16 days post-op and everything is going really great. Each day is better than the day before. So last night, I decided to sleep in my waterbed for the first time. It sits up high so I got into it by stepping up onto a stepstool and getting in bed. Piece of cake! However, when I got out this morning, it hurt, but I didn't have a choice. I had to get out of bed. Well, since then, it hurts inside, behind my longest incision (the one above and to the right of my belly button). I am assuming this is the one where my pouch is now. The pain isn't excruciating, but it wasn't there before this. How would I know if I pulled a staple inside? Would this be enough to do any harm in there? Or would it take more than that to damage something? Even though it doesn't hurt as much now (3 hrs later) I'm still worried about it. I don't want any leaking of infections. HELP! --Pam Nicholson    — pjnick (posted on October 30, 2002)

October 30, 2002
I had a similar problem when I was about 3 weeks post-op. I was apparently stretching in the middle of the night in bed and contracted my stomach muscles too hard. I felt a sharp pain under my longest incision too (same place as yours - the one they stuck the staple gun through). Then it hurt (not bad, but pretty persistantly) for days and was very tender for over a week. I saw the doctor. He said I probably just tore a little bit of the healing muscle under there, but not enough to require him to fix it. If you really did some damage, they told me you'd see something poking out of your side there at the incision - a hernia. If not, take it easy and it will heal itself. You might want to call your doctor just to be sure, but it just sounds a lot like what happened to me.
   — ediecat

October 30, 2002
I too was very sore after trying to sleep in my bed after surgery. It took 2-3 days for the soreness to go away. I wasn't able to sleep in my waterbed until I was 5 weeks out and still I woke up feeling awful for over a week or so after that. Teh couch was my most comfy spot because I could lay with my back on the back of the couch and have some extra support. I have heard of people getting those body pillows and saying that they work great, but I never tried them.......wish I would have! Good Luck!
   — DRutherford