Pain medication

When did accepting pain, not taking meds for it, become a virtue?

Was it in generations past when pain meds weren't very common, or the really only good pain medication was whiskey.. and nice women didn't drink?

I don't know.

My mom seemed to think that pain was just something to be endured.

Or is it the "good patient" syndrome.. where good patients don't complain of pain?

I am on a journey to get rid of the "good patient" syndrome within myself. I'm not a drug seeker...not one of those who is "allergic to everything except dilaudid". But I dont think it's my job either to make it easier on the physician by just grimacing and bearing it. *yes, I know the term is grin & bear it, but I think grimace is much more appropo*

Just rambling thoughts after talking to a friend who recently had surgery and is only taking their pain meds at night. And they wonder why they're having such a hard time during the day. Take some tylenol/acetaminohen during the day silly.. it won't make you sleepy and you'll feel so much better. No reason to suffer needlessly.. it doesn't make you a better person or earn more stars in your crown.

At least their doctor gave them good pain control. I've had docs who wouldn't give enough to keep a fly pain-free. :(

sometimes it doesn't pay to be frugal

i got a boo-boo yesterday. i was going to turn out the light and wasn't paying attention and slammed my left hand into a wall. owie owie owie. i had to go get the frozen bag of peas we keep for an icepack and put it on my pinkie.

well, by bedtime it was hurting pretty good.. and all swollen. so i took two motrin and went to bed.

this morning, not only the pinkie was swollen, but my hand was swollen too. so off i go to the doc/hospital to get irradiated.

i broke a bone in my hand..not my pinkie. fortunately, it's only a hairline crack and not displaced at all, so it doesn't need a splint. doc said just don't hit it on anything else. i don't plan on that!!!

next time i will leave the light on. oh.. and i can't reach the shift key w/o a lot of pain.. so i'm all lower case for awhile.

It's always something

The saturday before surgery (March 7) I was doing laundry and noticed that there was a little bit of water on the floor in front of the washer. Wasn't sure what was going on.. and really wanted to get things washed before I was put out of commission for a while.

So I went ahead and washed and prayed that it wasn't the hoses on the back of the machine. Must've hung out aleast 7 or 8 loads on the line. Wonderful day. Lots of exercise.

Surgery day came and went.. and I didn't worry about the washer for a week. Just put towels on the floor incase someone absolutely had to wash.

Tuesday of this week I finally found an appliance repair place.. and called them and they diagnosed the problem over the phone.. said it was probably the pump. Seems that nowadays they make the casing for the pump out of plastic and eventually the ball bearings overheat or bind up or something goes wrong and the plastic melts and lets water out on the floor.

Sure enough, when he took the machine apart, I could see where the plastic had melted and a semi-circular hole was in the casing. That's why the machine would still work, but was leaking.

Replacement costed a little over a 100.00, much cheaper than a new machine. But then, while he was testing the repair and then writing up my ticket.. we started hearing a strange noise.. chugga... chugga... chugga... then chugga...... chugga...... chugga...... then chugga............ chugga............ chugga............. slower and slower. Repair man says.. sounds like you have a back up in your drain line.. it's not bad yet, but if you don't get it snaked out soon, you'll have a flood in here, not just a leak.

So now I'm waiting on the plumbers to come out and snake out my washer drain line. Isn't life wonderful?

OTOH.. the back pain from my surgery is beginning to ease. It was never really bad, just constant. And lapbanders are supposed to avoid nsaids (aleve, aspirin, motrin) if possible and tylenol just wasn't very good. I was beginning to have greater empathy for those who are in chronic pain.. it's not the degree of pain so much as it NEVER stops!!! But this morning, miraculously, it's suddenly alot better. Not gone yet.. but better. Thank You Jesus. I needed that.