Um, sounds an awful lot like they botched the surgery, if THAT’s where you’re hurting!!! 
(on the other hand, it would explain why your THUMB is feeling OK).
I thought you said it was your thumb.
:: d & r ::
Ha, ha. 
Today I went to a party for a co-worker, walked my dogs (separately… that’s how it’s going to have to be until I have two hands), cooked my own lunch and cleaned a bit. I also went and filled my prescription but I see no reason to sit around more than I normally do and take pills if I’m not in pain. I’m already pissed about how little I’m going to be able to exercise while this is healing. I can’t lift anything, do yoga, or even much bodyweight stuff… and probably shouldn’t ride my bike. Things beyond my left hand and arm are going to atrophy! The good news is that so far I’ve felt starving and been eating like a horse, so maybe I can avoid weight loss.
I just had surgery three days ago on my groin. I was up and walking the next day. I didn’t get greater pain and bruising until the following day. Apparently that’s not unusual.
They gave me a Vicodin prescription, too, but I haven’t used it.
Protip from someone who is currently at home recovering from her 5th lifetime surgery with general anesthesia. If you decide to take the Vicodin, take it with a stool softener. I prefer colace. The first time I ever had to take a few days worth of painkillers, nobody told me that the major side effect was constipation. I ended up having to use a suppository because I had a shit softball lodged in my rectum. It was the worst pain I’ve ever been in, and I’ve had ruptured ovarian cysts, a c-section, and bulging discs in my lumbar spine.
Same here - they told me it was going to be intense pain. They also told me that when I came round in the recovery room if I felt even a twinge to let them know and they would knock the pain out before it got going. I had a slight twinge they gave me percocet and that was the last pain I had. That was 4 weeks ago.
Ouch! Not to make light of your pain, but your story reminds me of a South Park episode…
I had four impacted wisdom teeth out and was told to expect significant pain. But I REALLY didn’t want to take the Percocet. I didn’t want to feel out of it and sick and I didn’t want to deal with the constipation side effect.
So I started with a lot of Advil and Tylenol instead (4 Advil + 2 Extra Strength Tylenol) with a promise to myself that if it was unbearable, I’d take the narcotics.
It never got there. The over-the-counter meds took care of it. I gradually weaned down over a few days to just a couple Advil and was off everything a week later. It wasn’t a painless experience, but it was no worse than having a mild headache.
Even the post-op infection I got 2 months later had no pain. I kept waiting around to get it treated because it didn’t hurt at all and I thought, “Well, if it was bad, it would hurt more.” Nope. Finally went back to the oral surgeon when it started draining pus constantly. It took almost a month and 2 different antibiotics to clear up, but I never had any pain. Thank goodness.
I had a c-section and quickly found out that ibuprofen was far more effective for pain control than opiates. I threw away my Vicodin and just took OTC meds as soon as they let me out of the hospital. Ibuprofen is cheap and effective, plus no constipation or spaciness. Anti-inflammatory, too, which sounds like a benefit for you. Consider it. 600mg was enough to keep me happy.
The pain wasn’t ever all that bad; getting out of bed the day after was as miserable as things got, and even that wasn’t nearly as miserable as labor. It’s amazing how surgery recovery doesn’t hurt.
My hand started to hurt all of a sudden at 8pm last night, so I took a Vicodin just to see what happened - and felt nothing (no drowsiness, nausea, or any sensation whatsoever of being ‘high’ or happy) except less pain. So I kept taking it. I’m in some pain and feeling ready feeling for my next dose at 3 1/2 hours after each pill. My hand swelled a ton in the night even though I had it elevated, but went back down once I got up.
Kind of an anti-climactic first experience with opiates…
I’ve done nearly the same thing every time I’ve had surgery.
Vicodin simply doesn’t so a thing for me, especially not relieve the pain. Aleve doesn’t work for me either, and I’m allergic to Morphine/Codeine.
Tylenol or Advil, however, do wonders and work just fine.
When I broke my ankle (actually the fibula, but in the ankle area) 7 years ago, they put in a plate with a spinal anasthetic and I never felt any pain afterwards (except for when they took out the staples–honestly metal staples). When I went home from the hospital, they gave me 50 pills of some kind of narcotic, which I still have, somewhere.
Yes, plus you may still be partially anesthesized.
A friend of mine put his right biceps through a tractor’s window, severing it neatly in half. The rehab and weakness while the re-sewn muscle built itself back up were a PITA, but he was surprised at how little it actually hurt: a lot less than a broken left forearm (and he’s a rightie) or an inguinal hernia.
Of the dozen people with whom I’ve discussed post-LASIK pain, about half didn’t even have a Tylenol; only one needed something stronger than a Tylenol… but that one had to refrain from taking more of the Strong Stuff we were all given a script for than the docs had said we could. Me, I took one Tylenol when I started seeing auras on the first day and that was it.
I was in pain Friday night and all day Saturday. By Saturday night I was pretty sure the Vicodin wasn’t doing much for me (it hurt a little bit less right the hour after a dose, but hurt pretty much constantly). I was going to switch to Advil, but when I woke up on Sunday I had no pain again. I’ve taken a few Advil since for inflammation, but not for pain.
So generally, I seem to have been blessed with an almost-pain-free hand surgery. Weird but fine by me! My whole hand and my wrist is obnoxiously swollen though, the sense of pressure from that and having to still keep it elevated all the time is bothersome. Apparently as long as I don’t lose sensation in my sausage fingers and they don’t turn purple or white, I’m okay. I hope it stops swelling soon.
Hand stuff can be miserable. I had a CT release a couple of years ago. The first 2-3 weeks I felt fantastic, no pain at all.
Later, when bandages were off and I went back to work, the pain got pretty bad, so much so that I actually asked to doc for an extra refill.
Hopefully you just continue on pain free. 