Pain Scale

[Hooch]

The "pain scale" (1-10) is very subjective, of course, and (I hate to say) meaningless.

It can always get worse, nasty fact. I wonder if 10 should have a picture of 'the scream' there instead of mr angry face.

Sorry to hear about 9 Susanna, mentally it must be extremely difficult for you right now.

[Jack-of-all-trades]

Susanna,

Congratulations on the positive attitude. I would bet six months from now you will only remember what it was like, not what it is like.

The first 24 hours are the worst. After that pain lessens rapidly. I was up and walking the day after surgery. The second day I was walking the halls. The third day I was becoming a pest walking, and talking politics and gossip with the nurses. I packed all my stuff and set it 1/2 way out the door so everyone could see I was ready to leave even before the discharge order was written.

For me the only thing bad about my post-op stay was that I was on opioids pre-op and the hospital staff were given SOP pre-printed post-op orders for pain control meds. Not only was the pain not controlled but I could feel the onset of withdrawal. If I had it to do again, I'd make sure what I would be given post op for pain control. I have carpel tunnel in my right hand. I should have told the anesthesia people about this as it felt like my right hand must have been in flexion during the whole case. It hurt almost as bad as my back. I did tell the pre-op to leave the foley in until I felt like I could go to the bathroom. For a relatively simple natural act, it can be very painful during the first 24 hours after surgery.

[Susanna]

Thanks, I feel like I am as prepared as I can be. I know I have made the right decision. So all there is to do is to do it! I hate pain, but I have been in it for so long that I don't know what it is to live with out it any more. It has been nice to have the reprieve of the leg pain the last couple of weeks, but that has only shown me just how bad the back pain really is. So, tomorrow will be the beginning of the healing process. Hopefully something new won't creep up after this. I will always have my Systemic Sensory Periphoral Neuropathy that I will have to deal with, and I don't know what all that will involve, but to not have to deal with this pain, will be so much better. If I can go back to work next year, than that would really make me happy!

Hopefully, I will see you on the other side in the next couple of days. I'm sure Greg or Katie will keep everyone informed of my progress as I have put them in touch with my friend who is in charge of my care, since my husband is a billion miles away.

Susanna

[Susanna]

Hooch,

Being off the pain meds since late January has been the hardest thing to tolerate because I have had no way to deal with the pain I am feeling. Laying on the couch is the most comfortable, but even that doesn't give me complete relief. There have been times I have fantasized about cutting off my leg! Or cutting into my leg with a knife and cutting the nerve out with my own two hands. I have imagined that this is one of the worst kinds of torture that a person can go through. Of course, having your P.T. twist your arm out of a frozen shoulder is worse and I don't think that there is EVER anything more painful than that, not even child birth, ladies! It is like having a bone reset over and over again, or having an arm pulled out of the joint. It is so incredibly painful. I remember trying to take enough meds so that I was almost dead to get away from that pain. But still it was beyond words. And way beyond a 10!!

Ok, sorry, just doing a bit of remembering, maybe that will help me with tomorrow too! lol. But I know that this has been important for me to do so that I can take pain meds for this surgery. The itching from the pains meds was awful and hopefully that will not happen now that I have been off of them for 8 months. Time will tell.

Susanna