Pain perception

[wallyw1]

Wally has had 2/3 of his small bowel removed due to a twisted intestine. His stomach was distended for about 3 days before his surgery. He didn't register any discomfort with what should have been excruciating pain.
Any observations or thoughts from you own experiences?

[callyflower]

Some people just don't... I know I've read many reports of "elderly" folks dying from a ruptured appendix because they will become septic as their first symptom--never feeling the inflammation or the rupture. Perhaps since Wally has such limited mobility the same thing was occuring with him???? After all, we usually feel more pain when up and around.

Glad he's doing so much better!!!!! Hope he's home soon.

Cally

[JungleWoman]

Jonah, my 3 month old just cut a tooth last night-- he's been working on it for about 3 weeks or more *I have early teethers*

When Aaron was cutting teeth, he was HAPPY AS A CLAM! And he didnt cut no one at a time-- it was 3, then 5, then 8 at a time and he couldnt have been happier!

Jonah has been a mess!

Aaron also was busy flirting with the nurse practitioner to notice he had 2 flaming ear infections when he was around 18 mo. *But I had one 3 weeks ago that my ND noticed and it didnt hurt at all and she said it was not pretty looking LOL-- so I dont know if that means much*

Anyway, I often wonder about pain threshold too.

Im glad to hear Wally is on the mend, Gay!! Give him our love!

[rbear4]

I have noticed similar.

With my son if he could see it he would scream like he was dying. The smallest cut was horrific so I thought he was extrasensitive....until he broke his thumb and had his appendix out.

When we went to the doctors when he was sick with his appendix we were initially sent home because he was able to jump, walk, eat, etc. things NO WAY he should have done if he had an appendicitis. When he started leaning to the left later that night we rushed him to the ER and it was nearly burst.

With his thumb I only got it x-rayed because it was weirdly discolored. It was broken. They had to cast it because he kept pulling on it and twisting it.

Cait is the same way with pain. It is very hard to know when something is serious because they just don't register it like my other kids at all.

[GinaMarie]

Noah has a very high pain tolerance. Im not sure if he is on ASD but when he was 7 weeks old he started ear infections and NEVER cried, never ran a fever, never pulled on his ears, never showed the TYPICAL signs of ear infections. Only I could tell "SOMETHING" was off. I would call the doctor and say he needs to come in and be seen that I think he has an ear infection. They would ask all the "typical questions" and say HOW do you know he has an ear infection.. I said I JUST know.. I would take him in and one or BOTH his ears would be BULGING RED. Doctor couldnt believe he wasnt screaming in pain or spiking a fever..

Also when he was 3 he SLIPPED ON SOME MILK.. His foot was a little puffy but thats all. I thought maybe he strained it or something. He walked on it and never complained of it hurting.. A week later we were getting ready to go camping and I thought I better get it checked.. I took him in and he had THREE BROKEN BONES and his growth plate was CRUNCHED!! :eek: They said his foot should have been casted a WEEK AGO!! :rolleyes: He never complained of his foot hurting.. THEN they cast it and tell us to keep him off the foot.. :rolleyes: yeah right.. A three year old who has already been walking on a broken foot. :p

When he was 5 he had stomach surgery (Fundoplication) and he never complained of pain after surgery.. I noticed he was taking cleansing breaths every so often so I would make the nurses give him pain meds but he never complained of pain..

He did cry in pain the first day when he had bilateral foot surgery when he was about 7 yrs old. He had his tendons lengthened and implants put in both ankles.. I think after the second day or so he was trying to walk on his casts.

Now THIS year or last June.. While he was at a special needs camp, he started having bad stomach cramps that caused him to cry.. The camp has doctors and nurses and THEY couldnt figure out what it was. It was once or twice a day these attacks would hit. He has had a few attacks since I KNOW he has to be in A LOT of pain for him to cry like that. We are still trying to figure out what it is. At first when I took him to his ped she said it was constipation. I didnt believe that. So when the next attack hit, I took him to the ER. I told them I wanted a xray of his bowels to see if he was impacted. uggg The doctor didnt believe he was in pain because he smiled at her and was moving his foot back and forth :mad:. I told her that this boy is ADHD and if he wasnt in pain he WOULDNT be LAYING STILL on that bed.. He would be CHECKING EVERYTHING OUT... She asked if he was in pain and he said yes. They did the xray and said he had some bowel but it wasnt impacted.. SO I knew it wasnt constipation. The ER doctor suggested that maybe his fundoplication is coming or has come undone and said they only last about 5 years. :( So we are still waiting..

BUT.. Noah doesnt feel pain much.. UNLESS its a spanking. lol THEN its more pride. lol :p:rolleyes:

BUT after reading your responses.. Im thinking about Adam.. He did cry with ear infections but lately he doesnt complain of pain much. He will tell me his head hurts but not cry out.. Today he has complained of his stomach hurting and not feelng well..

BUT he has also had an ingrown toenail for MONTHS and NOT complained except if someone steps on it. When I took him to the doctor this past week it was INFECTED AGAIN.. YET he hasnt said anything about it hurting.. THO he ALSO WONT let me take him to the podiatrist and knows I will.. Well actually he IS going even tho he says he isnt.. I KNOW how much infected ingrown toenails hurt.. OUCH.. His other foot is raw from athletes foot..

GM

[Isabelle]

my son feels normal pain and tries to use his few words like "it hurts" and puts his hand on the throat or fetal position if constipated and of course hits himself when stiff unable to move. for that reason we believe, in his case, the use of psychiatric drugs was criminal, cruel and unwarranted.
i am glad that he is recovering, did doctor explain what cause it? did they examine the extracted portion to see what went wrong in there?

[wallyw1]

thanks for the feedback--I printed it up to take to the hospital and digest it.
I haven't seen a pathology report and have not had an explanation on why it happened yet. Wally is hanging in there--waiting for bowel to start working again.

Gay

[callyflower]

Hi,

Now that Wally is feeling better I'll share a little story that you can tell him:

I grew up on a farm, and I had a pet cow named Eleanor. Oh, she was lovely---very tame and I loved her very much. When I was in 6th grade, she stopped eating and just didn't look good. My parents took her to the veterinarian and he diagnosed the same problem Wally had. My mom came up to school to tell me about it and ask if I wanted them to operate or let nature take its course. I knew I had some money in my bank account so I told my mom I would pay for it--but please try and save her. I think the surgery was something like $150! LOL

Anyway, Eleanor had the surgery and came home a couple of days later. It took about 2weeks for her system to "wake up" and start working again but it did eventually. Eleanor lived a long time and had many calves without incident after the surgery.

If Eleanor the cow can do it...so can Wally!

[Keggy]

I was going to have part of my intestine removed years back and a doctor told me we do not have feeling in these areas. Makes no sense to me since my intestines were always in pain.

[wallyw1]

Thank you all for your input. Cally, your story is precious. Wally really enjoyed it and so did his nurses and visitors. It was encouraging for all of us. The great news is that Wally was able to move his bowels today--he needed an enema--but he did it. He had the g-tube removed from his nose and the staples removed from his incision. His big smile is back big time. Gay

[Mother's Heart]

:) I am so happy to hear that Wally is improving so quickly. We can all rejoice in the return of his fantastic smile. :D

uhm...I love the Eleanor the cow story too..but ya know....I would be REALLY WORRIED if WAlly jr decided to have many calves now that he's had the surgery. :p

[callyflower]

Oh NO--no calves. Gay has enough to do without pitchforking a barn, too! LOL