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Posted 2/5/2009 5:23 PM (GMT 0)
If anyone is taking OPANA ER please read..............

Opana ER and anesthesia DO NOT MIX!!!!!!!!! I was put on opana er after a cervical fusion. ALL of my doctors knew I was taking it. I ended up needing an additional cervical fusion 6 months later. All the doctors, anesth., hospital staff, etc. knew of all my meds. Told me nothing except do not take asprin, a nurse in the surgeon's office looked the drup up to make sure it did not have asprin in it!!!!!!!

I went into surgery on friday morning 7 a.m. and do not remember anything until monday afternoon....... I went into respitory depression, my BP and heart rate fell, after 9 hours in recovery I was placed in IUC. It was then the Dr. finally called my family to say "She must have had a severe reaction to a pain med and the anesthesia". I spent 3 days in the hospital, with NO memory of it.

DUE TO THIS I SUFFERED brain damage. I went in a college grade, great job with the state of VA, and came out with the cognative abilities of a 7th grader......... OF COURSE NO ONE wants to take responsibility.

If I can keep this from happening to one person it will be worth the pain.......     

Posted 2/5/2009 5:27 PM (GMT 0)
Do you mean that you got an over dose at the hospital? That's sure what it
sounds like.

This is a very scary story, No. A cautionary tale to be sure.

Pamela
Posted 2/5/2009 8:59 PM (GMT 0)
No-Opana,
Welcome to the Forum. I am so sorry to hear about your trouble with the anesthesia. That is horrible! Like Pamela said, I think the anesthesia team should have been more responsible in monitoring your heart rate & breathing. Have you filed a formal complaint with the hospital? If you're up for it, I think writing the hospital board would be a good place to start. They really should have taken better care of you & not let you go without oxygen for so long. Obviously they didn't do their job properly.

There are cognitive rehabilitation programs available. Try and see if there is an educational psychologist in your area who can evaluate you & make recommendations to get you in with a good therapist. I'm not saying you will be 100%, but I know there are people who make significant progress. Just like physical therapy, you would have 1-2 times a week with the therapist to work on exercises plus a lot of follow-up practice to do at home.

You sound like such a strong person. The brain is an amazing thing & hopefully you can at least make some progress through rehab. A lawyer would have to say for sure (unless the hospital board just agrees to pay), but I would think that any treatment should be covered by the hospital or the anesthesiologist's malpractice insurance.

best wishes for everything,
frances
Posted 2/5/2009 9:36 PM (GMT 0)
Dear No-Opana,
Welcome to the HW chronic pain forum. I'm so sad to read what's happened to you. I have to second what Frances has said. I don't know if you have a lawyer, but it would seem like that would be worthwhile so you could get the best treatment now and in the future.

As Frances said, the brain is an amazing thing, sometimes with amazing potential for recovery although I'm not saying it's easy or a guarantee. Just that there are new treatments on the horizon all the time, and you want to make sure you have the resources to take advantage of them.

Again, so sorry this happened to you. I wish I could help more.

PaLady
Posted 2/5/2009 10:57 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks to everyone. For months now I have felt alone/mad/hurt, etc.

As for the reaction, info. on opana states that Drs. need to taper the dose BEFORE surgery,,,,NO ONE did that for me. Severe side effects include resp. despression, coma and death. In a very big way, I am lucky to be alive. I have requested all of my records from the hospital and should be getting those any day.

I am now on Kadian and percocet, which helps a little but not like I want it to.
Posted 2/5/2009 11:19 PM (GMT 0)
No-Opana,
Just thought I would add that this is a great site for support, and we're occasionally even a little wacky, as you'll see on some other threads. Please feel free to jump in anywhere if you want. Sometimes we vent, cry, and come up with crazy virtual schemes like flying around in virtual corvettes.

Anyway, you're definitely not alone!

PaLady
Posted 2/6/2009 1:20 AM (GMT 0)
No-Opana,
I have been wondering whether or not it was cool to get my medical records. You
answered it. Whose life may you have saved?
I have actually gone out shopping and written on my belly "TAKES METHADONE
& XANAX"
and then :"PLEASE CONTACT DR. SOANSEW FOR MORE INSTRUCTIONS"
I am a bit more sophisticated now and have a Medi alert that I wear on a chain
around my neck.
For those of you who don't have one, get one!
I'm not a salesperson.
You sound so alert in your writing. I hope that you can get much (if not all) of your
cognitive functioning back.
That's the kind of law suit that will win, I think. Get a good attorney. Maybe you
have one already.
Pamela
Posted 2/6/2009 1:37 AM (GMT 0)
Pamela thats a great idea I think everyone should have when you take important meds to have that info on you at all times. With suboxone I have to have one, my doctor gave me a card to carry in my wallet with his name and number and info for providers in case of an emergency cause Suboxone has Naloxone in it and giving me a regualur dose of narcotics would just be blocked and certain ones could throw me into severe withdrawals, their was even one guy my doctor told me about that went into seizures. I also bought a braclet that you can take the band off of and tie it in your shoe laces. But it scares me to know that Suboxone is not a very known med and lots of doctors dont know that it can be dangerous to mix it with the certain meds. So I always have this fear that I will be in a terrible accident and need surgery and they cant knock me out for surgery or I will be in so much pain. I just hope that if something happens to me that the doctor's and nurses will be smart enough to do their research and treat me right. I know that if I ever need to scheadule any surgery I have to withdrawal off of the Suboxone, which I hope I wont have to have surgery till I'm completly off of it. But everyone should carry their info with them ALWAYS and tell a close friend or relative what your taking so they can tell the doctor's if your unable to.

-hellokitty
Posted 2/6/2009 1:39 AM (GMT 0)
Dear Opana; I am so sorry to hear of your problems (had a real conviction writing "Problem" as this is a real grave situation that should have never happened in the first place and I think that Problem is an understatement) and I do so hope that your courage that you have shown coming forward with your story will aide others in the future when discussing their medications with their doctors and emergency personal. It is imperative that as CP patients when we have an emergency or we go in for simple procedures and even other surgeries that we tell our doctors of all our medications and make them understand. This so called doctor and hospital that took care of you was irresponsible, neglectful and should be slapped for making such a horrible mistake!

I hope that you hire a fantastic attorney and sue the pants off of them! Maybe next time they will know what their patients are taking and know the medications side effects before allowing such an atrocity to happen. Heal well friend and keep us up to date on how you are doing.

Scarred
Posted 2/6/2009 3:52 AM (GMT 0)
For those who take Kadian........... has anyone experienced your skin being itchy a few hours after you take it?
Posted 2/6/2009 4:00 AM (GMT 0)
Hey Pam and everyone else,

YES get your records from all of your doctors and hospitals. The records can be very helpful if you file for disability or any other forms of assistance. It also helps to make sure what the doctors have your meds and symptons noted. Also I found that disability or any other forms of assistance look at the coding that they put on your records. These codes indicate which illnesses they feel you have.
Posted 2/6/2009 5:06 AM (GMT 0)
Obama,

How does one READ the codes?
Thank you,

Pamela
Posted 2/6/2009 8:21 AM (GMT 0)
Opana: I am taking Kadian, have been for several years now. I never have had a problem with itching or anything to that effect. It has helped with the pain and I am so glad that my doctor put me on it.
Posted 2/6/2009 4:30 PM (GMT 0)
The codes are the numbers that each doctor puts on the bottom of the sheet that you usually give to the person to check out. I have learned that there are thousands of codes but usually you will see a few that will be on your forms over and over. I live in Virginia and I am not sure(I would think it is)they are the same everywhere.

Example:

7291  =  Fibromyalgia/Myalgia

7159 =   Osteoarthritis

78071 = chronic fatigue syndrome

72190 = degenrative arthritis

Hope this helps.

Posted 2/6/2009 8:19 PM (GMT 0)
Codes are very complex and there can be multiple codes for nearly the same thing. There are also diagnostic codes, procedure codes and billing codes. All different "animals" so to speak. But it is a good thing to check on if you have a denial either on a bill that you think your insurance covered or an authorization denial on a procedure that you think you insurance should cover. Because there are coding errors all the time, and they also change. So sometimes you have to spend lots of time on the phone. Also, it's generally the doctor's office that has to call the insurance with the proper code. All you can do is check and see if there's been an error, or if there are multiple codes for the same/similar procedure. Sometimes your insurance will cover one, not the other. That's why there's an entire layer of your doctor's or hospital's staff devoted to this stuff. And no one likes it!

PaLady
p.s. I would guess disability is concerned with diagnostic codes, and that they have certain ones which are approved disabilities and others aren't. Straydog might know this best, but they might be listed in a handbook online where you can check and make sure the diagnostic codes your doctor is giving you fit the codes that qualify for disability.

Post Edited (PAlady) : 2/6/2009 1:39:07 PM (GMT-7)

Posted 2/6/2009 8:26 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks for the information!
Posted 2/6/2009 10:36 PM (GMT 0)
No-Opana,
I get very itchy on the Kadian as well. It is a listed side effect. As long as you don't get hives or breathing problems I think it's okay (at least that's what my doc told me). I did okay on it for about a week & then my breathing slowed down too much. I was already on the lowest dose (10mg) so we just had to discontinue use.

I was told the itching effect caused by morphine is in your brain so mostly oatmeal baths & such don't help like if you had a real allergic reaction, but they did help me some. I got some Aveno lotion to put on & that helped a bit as well. My doc recommended meditation/visualization and such, but all that wound up doing for me was blocking out the fact that I was scratching myself raw while pretending I was sitting comfortably on a sandy Caribbean beach. lol
Oh the trouble we go for to get such a little bit of relief. :P

feel better,
frances
Posted 2/8/2009 2:57 PM (GMT 0)
I am so sorry about what has happened to you.After all that I have been through and all the different meds. I have had to take my brain do`s not work the way it use to.I am no were as smart as you were but in a small way I can understand how you fell.I will pray that it improves for you.
Posted 2/8/2009 3:14 PM (GMT 0)
Hi,

Thanks for the advise, I will try it. I have had a serious headahce for 3 days now. It is in the base of my neck/skull. The doc upped my Kadian the other day, I guess it is from that.

Hey mom9mom, how in the world do you do it? You are amazing!!!!
Posted 2/11/2009 5:58 AM (GMT 0)
No-Opana I am not amazing I just do not have a choice so I take it one day at a time and if that is to hard then I take it one hour at a time.And I have a great husband and my kids have to help.But thank you.
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