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Hi! I've had a pain pump in for a little over 2 years and other than getting the meds/dose right I haven't had any problems.
Last night I got out of my car and felt a great deal of pain in my stomach where my pump is. It felt like the pump was pulling on a muscle. I sit at a desk all day and although I am small and have bumped it on things, nothing happened yesterday to cause an injury? The pain worsened througout the night and I got up in the middle of the night and the pain about knocked me over. It's not pain in my back which the pump treats, it's the pump itself that hurts. I can't even touch it lightly at this point without jumping. I notice swelling around it now too. If I take a deep breath I can feel it pulling.
I don't want to have my Dr. paged on a Saturday if this is nothing and it just got aggravated or something. I've spent hours online and can't find any info. Emailed Medtronic but who knows when I'll hear back.
Jos...it's now around 36 hours since you posted (or longer). What's happening? I have a pump in, have had it for over a year now and have had no problems, but...with the pain you're describing, I'd make a beeline, without passing Go, to the doc or ER - it could be becoming infected, and the earlier it's caught, the less chance of the pump having to be taken out. You said there was some swelling - any hotspots? Of course, it could be just pulling on a muscle, but I was drilled "when in doubt, call" Doc would rather be called out on nothing than have to tell your loved ones you're very ill or worse...GET IT LOOKED AT ASAP!!!!!
OK so you are absolutely right Gina! Shortly after my post I thought why am I taking any chances here just for the simple fact that it "may" be a false alarm.
I began swelling all the way around my pump and even around my back (so the entire path of the cathetar). Usually I can see an exact definition of the pump and you couldn't even tell that I had one. It was at the early stage of infection. Still no answers as far as why or how but Dr. said that a number of things could have caused this. I did have a sore throat a few weeks ago and any untreated infection anywhere else in your body will migrate to your pump since it's a foreign object. It makes perfect sense but I had never thought about that. So bottom line is that I won't take any chances anymore, not just when it comes to my pump not feeling right, but even if I have anoter illness. I will head straight to the clinic even if it's just a virus. It's been exactly a week and the swelling went way down and it still burns but feels better.
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