Pain relief after surgery

[conkercollector]

DD (11) had abdominal surgery today. Met with the anaesthetist before surgery who said she would have access to strong painkillers after surgery, eg morphine. Came out of recovery a few hours ago and she hasn't been offered anything since. When I asked, I was told she could have Calpol at 10pm. She's asleep at the moment but am worried she will wake up in pain and they'll only offer her paracetamol. Should I be expecting anything else?

If she’s asleep I’d anticipate she isn’t sore atm. If she’s on a ward and calpol doesn’t cut it there will be doctors there who could write her up for something stronger so don’t worry op. Hope she’s feeling better soon.

Thank you. When I had a C-section with a similar wound they brought me string painkillers every few hours so I was expecting something similar.

It depends on her pain, the nurses will assess it and act accordingly. We would give calpol, ibuprofen and if those don’t work then we would give morphine. We don’t just jump to morphine and we wouldn’t give it if it isn’t needed.

Equally it’s important your DD’s pain is managed so she can move around in bed and walk to the toilet. Remember she won’t be pain free as she’s had an operation but her pain should be managed to help her recover. Regular pain relief is important as is your DD being able to communicate when she’s in pain.

IME you'll need to be on top of this - you need to be the one asking the nurses for pain relief if she asks for it and possibly making a nuisance of yourself. They won't necessarily come and ask, or at least not as quickly as you might need. That's what I've found on the (otherwise excellent) children's ward that we are regular visitors to.

Hope she is OK and that her recovery is speedy 💐

Sorry, I've just noticed you posted this yesterday! Hopefully all under control now.

So my husband has suffered 2 unrelated hospital stays after serious emergency surgery this year. You need to be on top of this at all times, be polite but firm. And keep asking and asking until they sort her pain out if you need to. If she has had surgery also educate yourself on signs of infection and sepsis, I had to push and push and push to get someone to believe my husband was showing signs of sepsis (I know as he allmost died from septic shock during his previous stay!) My experience is they won't be on top of it at all until you start advocating for her. After what has happened to us this year I have no faith in our NHS at all. There was no continuity of care and very different levels of care depending on which staff were on shift. The worst were the night staff in our experience. There are some amazing staff but there are also some awful ones so you need to be on top of this at all times to ensure she gets the care she deserves. Wishing you and your DD all the best.

Thank you. I had to keep asking but she did get both paracetamol and ibuprofen and has seemed ok with that being given regularly. Have already been discharged and sent home with a catheter until next week - poor thing. So I guess I will have to phone GP or 111 if we need any more help with pain.

Have definitely been informing myself about Sepsis, especially after reading the awful story of Maths Mills.