post thoracotomy pain

[hurtinginaz]

I had a thoracotomy on Dec. 20 to remove a tumor on the surface of my lung near my spine.  Luckily, the tumor was benign.  However, I'm still experiencing quite a bit of pain, especially near my shoulder blade and along the incision.  

Currently, I'm taking Ultram 50 mg every 6 hours during the day.  I'm scheduled to return to work a week from today, and I had hoped that I would be pain free by now.  I have a follow up appointment with my surgeon in mid March.  When I went to see him 2 weeks ago, he said some people have pain for a longer period of time than others and we need to treat my pain until it subsides.  That's when he gave me the perscription for Ultram.

I was wondering if anyone out there has had a thoracotomy and could let me know if it is atypical to have pain 6 weeks after surgery. I have read about post thoracotomy pain syndrome and I'm concerned that this is what I'm experiencing.  I sure hope it will get better because I can't imagine having to live with this pain for the rest of my life!  Any advice/information would be appreciated.  I'm especially interested in advice about long term pain management after a thoracotomy.  Thanks.

[firemedic330]

The doctors don't seem to really understand the pain of a thoracotomy - unless they've had one themselves.  I'm now 3 years 4 months post thoracotomy & I can tell you that I feel some degree of discomfort every day - sometimes downright pain.  I work out and work through it, and take Vicodin only when absolutely necessary (maybe 5 a month). Everyone has their own level of pain tolerance.  If your doctor won't listen to you, find one that will.

[Tuckamore]

Hello Officeralice,

The original post is over four years old. While we Welcome you to the Pain Management Forum I encourage you to please begin your own post (Question) instead of tacking it on to someone else's.

You will obtain more responses with an original post.

Thank You,
~Tuck

[Officeralice]

I had a Thoracotomy in December 2004 for a coarctation of the Aorta repair (was a 32 year old female with a 12 week old baby). I was not warned about the level of pain that I would experience. Althougth the pain subsided somewhat after about 12 weeks, I have had a constant nagging ache nearly every day since and my lft breast is still partially numb. Occassionally I get spasms and have to take two 500mg of paracetamol. I work full time, run a house, and have a husband and nearly seven year old daughter. I think the pain is a small price to pay for being alive. However, make no mistake this surgery and its aftereffects are horrendous and unless  you have been through this, the level of pain cannot be understood. At every check up I mention it to my consultant but he does not really acknowledge the issue. I hope all the people who have previously posted are feeling better.

[TTsGirl0810]

I had surgery September 2010 and I am still having a lot of problems breathing.  There is a lot of pain in my right side, and it hurts to lay down or take deep breaths.  There are times that it hurts worse than other, but when it hurts it just comes out of no where.  I have tried to go to the doctors for this, but they say that my oxygen level is good so that must mean I am not having problems breathing.  I know what I am feeling but it is hard to get the doctors to listen to me. By this sounds of everything here, it sounds like I will have pain for the rest of my life.  I am only 29 years old and dont want to have to deal with this forever.  

[chaotic13]

It's now been a couple months since my surgery (3/8/11), the only improvement has been the area around my right chest into my armpit. It's not completely gone but has gotten much better. The nausea has gotten worse, I now have been vomiting instead of just the constant nausea. I've been losing weight, from the nausea/vomiting, and eating more than a very small amount makes the pain in my side much worse. I am still being told that they don't have all the results in. I have an appointment with my pulmonologist next week that was moved from yesterday, because all the pathology results weren't in. I'm trying to be hopeful that I will actually know what is going on next week. I also have an appointment coming up with a pain specialist to see what can be done to help with the nerve pain. I've been trying to be more active, but it's not easy with all this and then the other problems I have: three herniated disks, degenerative disk disease in my neck, and a couple other spinal issues. I hope everyone is doing well.

[VFLady]

Well, here I am 3 years later and still dealing with the pain.  I guess I'm stuck with it.  I went to physical therapy for several weeks, which helped to strengthen the muscles around the incision area, but the pain is still there.  I have a lot of scar tissue which has wrapped itself around the nerves in that area and the pain does not change.  It depresses me sometimes as I cannot be as active as I was in the past which has caused weight gain which does not help at all.  I hope everyone is doing OK.