Thank you for the information. I certainly do not want to revisit the surgical suite - you are right one surgery just leads to another then another then another and so on. I am a little leary of pains meds because I do not want to be stuck on the couch because they tend to make me sleepy. I have already spent way to much time on the couch with the pain. I am trying to find something that will let me capture at least some of my life back. The depression is getting worse as time goes by and I know that I need to get active again. I haven't told anyone in my family about the depression yet because I'm hoping that I will snap out of it soon. I go back to the doc next week and hope that he will release me to return to work. The following week I go to the PS and I hope to start something, anything that will help. Usually after surgery I have a least 6 months of relief. This time the pain is already starting back. When they did this surgery they did very little because they were worried about puncturing the intestine. I keep hearing about oxycontin and wonder what, if any, are the side effects. I have been on vicodin and darvocet and they are not an option - not if I want to still have some type of life outside of the house!
At Sat, 12 Jan 2002, Cheryl Cole wrote:
>
>At Sat, 12 Jan 2002, Katrina wrote:
>>
>>Hello Everyone,
>>
>>I am recovering from my December surgery (lucky #13) and since the Drs
>>have decided no more surgery they are sending me to a pain management
>>specialist. I have never been to one and was wondering if anyone has
>>any information on what to expect and what to look for.
>>
>>--
>>Thanks! Katrina
>>
>Dear Katrina, I have been going to a pain specialist for about 18
>months.
>They try all different families of medications to try to relieve your
>pain.
>It is frustrating because sometimes it takes a long time to come up with
>the right combination of meds to work. My PS (pain specialist) tried
>tranqulizers and meds for epileptic seizures. They are also used to
>relieve pain. None of these meds were working for me and I kept asking
>him to prescribe oxycontin. He kept stalling and giving me excuses. He
>put me on a duragisic patch which gave me bad side effects. When I told
>him he just blew it off. He was writing a new script for the patch,
>when
>I told him I didn't want it; I wanted to try the oxycontin instead!
>Well, he just had a regular temper tantrum. Ripped up the script and
>wrote
>one for oxycontin. Told me since I was so unhappy with him, I should
>seek a 2nd opinion. On January 7th, I did see another pain specialist.
>I was happy with him and will continue to see him, I think. The first
>Dr. has apoligized for his trantrum and chalks it up to the stress he is
>under. I told him "After coming to you for so long, in so much pain,
>and
>no progress I was a bit stressed myself! The new pain doctor is keeping
>me on oxycontin with lortab for break-thru pain. He has also suggested
>a physical therapy program which I will be starting on Monday. They
>require you to be honest with them and see them one time per month,
>especially if you receive narcotic meds. I belive this is a law. Just
>be open and honest with them. If they don't help you or you don't like
>them, find another one. Just like a regular Dr. Good Luck to you,
>Katrina.
>Stay as far away from the surgical suite as you can. In most cases it
>will
>only make things worse. History proves it. Just read the quilt! Love,
>Cheryl
-- Thanx! Katrina