2 weeks post op. PAIN under shoulder blade. NOT GAS

kizzie · 07-02-2008, 05:09 AM

Hi all

for the last few days I have been feeling like a muscle strain under my shoulder blade/ just below bra line area, on my left side. I thought it was just a pulled muscle but each day it has gotten worse. Today it feels like the pain you get in your neck when you sleep in an awkward position. I am hoping nothing has happened with my band!!!. I just have visions of it poking me in the back!.. paranoia probably.

I haven't had any problems with gas since surgery so I am almost sure it isn't gas and it is in the same spot each day.

Have an appointment with my surgeon today to remove stitches and to ask him about moving my port so will bring it up..

just wondering if anyone else has had this problem.. Am not feeling too good either today.. feel as if I am getting a bad cold.. (no temperature though.. just feel rotten)..

thanks guys

Jodi_620 · 07-02-2008, 06:15 AM

I am surprised that everyone is not told about this by their surgeon, you are the second person to bring it up today. I know I was warned repeatedly prior to surgery.

When you get laproscopic surgery, they fill your abdominal cavity with gas/air, this opens up the cavity and separates the organs to make surgery possible. Often some of that air is left behind and for some reason always settles as pain in the left shoulder. Eventually your body will absorb the excess air and the pain will go away.

kizzie · 07-02-2008, 06:21 AM

Thanks for your reply. I too, was told about gas pains on many occasions. I had a slight gas problem on the first day but nothing since. This pain is completely different and not like the gas I had in the beginning. It actually feels like the muscle, it hurts more when I lean back on it and when I press it. It isn't high up in the shoulder but lower down under my bra area, almost directly on the 'back' area of where the band is positioned.

Thanks anyway though. I will post later with my surgeons comments.

Jodi_620 · 07-02-2008, 06:58 AM

Sorry but no, you are not understanding what I am saying. I am not talking about intestinal gas, I am talking about actual air that was pumped into your abdominal cavity during surgery. This air is not in your organs (stomach, intestines) it is in your abdominal cavity. After surgery the air migrates up to your left shoulder and causes shoulder pain.

Yes, we do get intestinal gas after surgery but we also get shoulder pain from the air that was pumped in to our abdominal cavity, two different types of gas.

kizzie · 07-02-2008, 07:04 AM

that was the gas I was referring to aswell Jodi.

Maybe you are right!.. I won't rule anything out..I had the 'CO2 gas pains' for the first day in my higher shoulder. It was uncomfortable but not painful.I didn't suffer anything but port and incision pain since then. The 'intestinal' gas doesn't cause me pain. I rarely suffer from it. Which I am happy to say.

I only posted this because this 'pain' has come on slowly over the last two days until today when I can hardly sit still for two minutes.. and to make things worse right now, I feel rotten and have developed flu like symptoms in the last two hours... so hoping there isn't any infection anywhere.

Appointment is at 5 today. I guess it takes time to get to know my new body with the band.

Newme76 · 07-02-2008, 07:06 AM

Your pain sounds a lot like mine. I too was scared but it turned out to be gas. It was pain like I had never felt before and took about 6 days to finally subside. Definitely let your surgeon know to be on the safe side. I truely hope that's all it is. Take care and keep us posted.

kizzie · 07-02-2008, 07:33 AM

Thanks Cris.
I have come to terms (in the last two weeks) that getting to know my body involves an element of paranoia.. I guess we have to be wary and listen carefully to our bodies...

Everything I am not sure about I will be bugging my surgeon.. that is what he is there for!!... he is the expert not me! lol

thanks for the kind words again.. I feel really rotten now and do have a slight temperature.

greyhoundmom · 07-02-2008, 08:00 AM

hi kizzie, i had severe pain in that area and it turned out to be a displaced rib! not dislocated completely but moved and causing pinched nerves (like that feeling in your neck when you move wrong only it wouldn't stop) and muscle knots/spasms. it was incredibly painful. my physical therapist found it and got it back where it belongs and the pain is gone. good luck!

also, i had a lot of acid in my stomach causing pain up along my breast bone and papaya enzme (a digestive enzyme) helped with that a lot.

the scary post i just read is that someone had a suspected blood clot in her shoulder that her dr. treated.

so, most of the time - gas from the operation - but not all the time. best to talk to the dr.!

kizzie · 07-02-2008, 08:06 AM

Thanks for the message Greyhoundmom.

I guess paranoia is a good thing in the early stages.. or all stages in fact!.. That is why I posted just to hear if anyone else had similar experiences. I like to know as much as possible to be prepared for ANYTHING!!..

Glad you are ok now!!..

greyhoundmom · 07-02-2008, 08:33 AM

hi kizzie, i'm the same way - want to know as much as i possibly can- even if it confuses me! my husband felt so bad because he could see i was in serious pain. even in the car, a bump or him hitting the breaks too hard would make me yelp! and the roxicet pain medicine wasn't helping it at all. i knew something was up. luckily (in a weird way) i hurt my back last year and found a fantastic physical therapist so i gave her a call!

hope you feel better soon and that temperature - i would definately call the dr on that. my surgeon told me to call immediately if i had a fever, not to scare you any. but.. better to talk it out with him/her than to worry!

take care.

waikiki · 07-03-2008, 08:49 AM

I hope everything turns out alright.. my Dr. told me that sometimes you can develop flu like symptoms after the surgery.. after I had my gall bladder removed in March that Dr. apparently used so much air that he seperated my rib cage from my muscle lining but it didn't start hurting for a few days.. I had no idea what happened I couldn't take a deep breath at all and I went to the ER.. apparently that is common also... it took several weeks for that to heal.

kizzie · 07-03-2008, 11:52 AM

SO.... I went to the hospital to have my stitches removed as scheduled. By the time I got there my temp was 39C/102F.. My surgeon was on holiday but I was seen by his superior who did an ultra sound and found LIQUID in either my diaphragm region around the stomach or in my left lung. He sent me straight for a CAT scan. It was confirmed I have liquid in the diaphragm/stomach region. They admitted me straight away and put me on intravenous antibiotics and paracetamol.

I honestly felt like I was dying last night. The pain in my back was horrendous. I could hardly move. I didn't sleep even with a sleep aid. Worst night of my surgery so far.

This morning, my fever had subsided. My surgeon came in from his vacation to check me over himself. He said my band is perfect and that 'sometimes' these complications can arise. He said it was also very lucky I got myself to the hospital when I did. I had actually thought I may have just picked up a bug from the children I teach.

I have to monitor my temperature closely and my pulse. Pulse is still fast but fever is down so am improving.

Just a bit of advice. Really listen to your body. Ask for advice here but the best person to tell you if all is ok is your doctor.

I am home now with a cocktail of drugs. I also have breathing physio to do as well to strengthen my diaphragm. I have the rest of the week off of work 'doctors orders' so will rest and take it easy.

OH was my first day on mushies yesterday! I MISSED IT!.. so I had some pureed mashed potatoes today. YUM. made me feel a lot better.

thanks to those for their support yesterday.

Kizzie