Hello anybody up this time of night?

Well here I am was pacing the floor, then thought I would see if anybody was on the forum tonight, can't sleep because of the lower back and leg pain. Not on pain meds anymore until I get the pain pump no calls from the hospital to schedule the surgery yet.

White Beard

What have they been giving you for your infection proudmom? has it helped it any? That is pretty scary stuff! I know I read in your one post you were running a fever with it? How is your temps now?

Well sorry I missed you! Not sure I would have agreed to the no pain med status until they could get me a more definitive date!! Good grief I don't understand how they can just send people on their way to suffer days, weeks, and consider that OK? If your pain is severe enough, constant enough, to warrant the placement of a pump then what do they assume is happening with no meds?

I am forever grateful that my long running career in nursing was at a time when Drs were still humane, that the 1st order was get the pain under control and as a rule of thumb, its better to give someone a pain pill that didn't need it then to send someone away in pain who did.

I'm sorry WB that they've allowed you to suffer when none of it's necessary but a byproduct of years of abuse by folk's who would not survive 10 minutes in the kind of pain we live decades with, sorry the medical schools are turning out a bunch of whimpy, spineless, greedy robots that call themselves Doctors!

I'm done!

I am a little more than "miffed" about this whole situation! I try my best not to think about it because I get so darn mad! and that doesn't help the pain. If I haven't heard anything by Wednesday about a surgery date, I will try and call them! But from past experience they are notorious for not answering calls and returning them! I did manage to get to sleep around six this morning and then slept till just about ten! I am dead tired but every time I try going down to sleep that darn sciatica starts gnawing away at me! Then I just have to get up and try to move, or reposition my self, nothing is comfortable. I am amazed at how my pain meds, even just the 10mg of Oycontin every eight hours, at least made it half way tolerable most of the time, at least I was able to sleep! This is really BS! Makes me kind of wish I just kept my PM Doc in Illinois! I sure do hope this pain pump will be worth all this pain now!


White Beard

Splashdancer I really don't know why, but I do know they are not the only ones that do it this way. UK pain clinic also does this but they take it one step further as soon as you get in their pain clinic they will not prescribe opioid pain meds at all. University of Indiana will, they just won't do it once your off of them for your trial, and then approved by them for the pump.

It doesn't make sense to me, and these last few days have been miserable and especially the nights! I am getting sleep deprived because I am only averaging four hours a night and I am lucky if I can get it all in a row!

White Beard

So very sorry you had a rough night, sure hope they can get you scheduled soon, many prayers...
Can you take any tylenol? I start going nuts if I get down low on my norco...I got down low once never again...

Well I think it's absolute insanity. And I'm thinking the same as Vickie - are they going to choose the type/dosage that they THINK should be working, instead of what DOES work for you?? Whitebeard, I know you're pretty far into it already with this clinic, but maybe you should think about it even more? I'm just really worried for you and your future treatment with them. Because no matter what their protocols are with a pain pump, it is inhumane to allow someone to suffer. Darn, I feel so bad for you, Whitebeard - you should not be forced to endure so much pain.

You know I hadn't even thought about the long weekend coming up! That a good point! I will give them a call in the morning. I just hope they will answer, they seem to have a bit of a reputation on not responding to calls, even if it is their own in hospital pharmacy calling them! There are two doctors that are the maim providers at the University Pain clinic, The doctor I have is also the one that is going to do the surgery and implant the pump.

From everything he told me I have a high degree of confidence that once the pump is implanted and he assured me that within 30 minutes of it being implanted that it would be operational and pumping morphine into my spinal canal. He even told me that he would be sending me home with a device so I could also give my self bolus doses in case what it was set on would not be adequate to control my pain.

The main problem I have is the period of waiting to get the surgery and not having anything to control my pain now! I have found the lack of sleep the biggest problem, as sleep just keeps evading me when I hurt like this! Also I never realized how much those pain meds did, not just controlling the pain from my bad disc in my thoracic area and lumbar area, but since I have been off the pain meds I have noticed allot of neck pain especially on my left side, not near as intense or problematic as my lower thoracic and lumbar, but now it is noticeable allot more!

proudmom2 I am glad that the Keflex is helping you! Sometime infections like that can really cause allot of problems!

Splashdancer thank you for your kind words, I do hope in the end this will be worth while. I could have kept going back up to my pain doctor in Illinois, but that is well over 300 miles one way. I would drive up one day, and spend the night then go to my appointment in the morning and get my scripts filled and then drive back home! It was a long and exhausting two days, and having to do that every month was tiring especially in the winter, there was a couple of times like this past January that I didn't know if I was going to make it. As they had just had a major snow storm hit the day before I left, and it was only one lane cleared on a major interstate, so driving was very slow. Also the fact that living down here in Kentucky, I really would rather not be on these type of medications down here. I think Vickie knows what I mean about that.

Anyway, I am exhausted it is just 01:30 AM right now, I will try again to go to bed and see if I can possibly catch a few winks.

White Beard