bypass recovery week 2

Hi! had the bypass on Aug 13, came home on Aug 17. First week great. Second week not so. Having soreness around incision and on right side. No temp. no sign of infection, just general listlessness and reluctance to move. am on HD tylenol. Is this a common reaction??

Ouch, that hurts just reading about it.

I used to wonder why they make us nursing students go to surgery. After all, it's not like some neurosurgeon is gonna say, "Here, you take over this resection while I run to the restroom". I think absolutely everyone who takes care of patients needs to go to surgeries to understand how very real the pain is postop. It all looks so neat and clean with a fine line of sutures. After watching surgery, you walk around with painmeds in your pocket so you will never be without around a postop patient!

From my experience, it may be the way that your expectations are being met.
Most people are convinced it will take forever to heal from bypass surgery.
They are so impressed with how far they come in the few days after surgery.
It's like most of the recovery process takes place in a short amount of time while the residual drags on forever!

Also, consider that you have been through a lot. Although you 'slept' a lot in the hospital, it was probably due to drugs and not the best quality sleep. You were undoubtedly interrupted frequently. If ever you want to promote laziness and apathy in a person, immobilize them. Works every time.

But, you know the rules! Move. Breath deeply. Cough. Walk as much as you are allowed to. Watch your incision. The right side pain may be where a chest tube was but if it doesn't improve call the doc. If you get a fever, call the doc. If you find it more difficult to cough and deep breath, call the doc. Lung infections are rarely serious but can delay recovery. As far as generalized incision pain? Well, your chest was opened with power tools, was it not?
If Tylenol isn't holding you, ask for something stronger.