Getting ready to go

[solarbird]

Okay so they're going to give Anna another round of IV anti-inflammatories and then take out the IV and ship us home. We have the paperwork and various procedure documents and all that crap already, but we'll have to pick up her pain meds on the way. Fortunately that's not a very big deal. She can't lift anything for a while but should do range-of-motion exercises and stuff.

I slept quite badly last night, as you'd expect, but I'm good to drive home, particularly since it's lower-speed surface streets the entire way. I am irritatingly hungry, tho', given that I had breakfast.

Comments

[angharads-house.livejournal.com]

Are Towbin, etc. being good about pain management? Staying ahead of the hurt really makes a big difference -- my twins are busily reminding me of that right now, have drunk way too much coffee lately. ^_^ Nobody's ever been dickheaded about pain management up here -- they accept the current thinking that addiction potential is minimised during periods that one's body has legitimate need for analgesia.

**very** gentle hugs, of course.

[technoshaman.livejournal.com]

I don't imagine (and have had no indication) that things have changed since I had my surgery under the same MD and in the same facility (different wing, though).... and, no, they're totally cool with the pain mgt thingy... they had her on a PCA (she mentioned it), and she only mentioned "ow" once and in the same keystrokes mentioned pushing the button, with no further complaints...

No, they seem to have very much the same philosophy this side of the S&W line, at least in Cascadia...

Mother's thinking (and she's an old-school RN) is that it has as much to do with time on the stuff as anything, and that if you're only on'em a few days when you really need'em, it's normally a non-problem.

(Of course, I like the fact that I'm so responsive to naproxen that once I'm past the need for IV-based meds I can go straight to that, skipping the narcotics, and I'm totally fine... matter of fact, I can't remember *ever* having to have prescription-grade analgesia outside of a professional building. Including the time I had a tooth extracted.)

[maellenkleth]

Oh, there is a great comfort to hear it! When we last were in the hands of the surgeons, they did a local anaesthetic plus a rather large dosage of something intravenous which left us quite disinterested in worrying about anything at all.

In general terms, we have striven greatly to avoid becoming enmeshed in the coils of any for-profit hospital system anywhere, being of the mind that the hospital is a place best avoided, and that the true place of healing for many of our people may be the seashore, or the pool of a waterfall, or perhaps a mossy glade in the forest.

For some years now, we have had a more or less open prescription for very strong narcotic analgesics, but they are strictly of use in those times when we are so distracted by external stressors that it is not possible to address directly, negotiate with, and reframe the pain. There lies a skill that ought to be more widely taught. Perhaps you possess that skill at a native level; for us, it is doubtless a (non-documentable) software feature rather than a hardware feature.

[technoshaman.livejournal.com]

Whatever it is I have, it's definitely a receptivity to the drug rather than any particular tolerance for pain; I have some, but not anything extraordinary as far as I can tell.

Oddly enough, the last time I was at a *for-profit* hospital was quite a few moons ago, somewhat close to a granite monolith at the southern tip of some of the oldest mountains in the world. The ones I've had the relative pleasure of visting of late have all been non-profit, run by the county, a private organization, and the state, respectively... now, of course, the docs (and the insurers) are all definitely in it for the bucks, but all the ones I've run across here have also ultimately had their hearts in the right place, being minimally invasive, prescribing generics where possible, and generally being a credit to their profession. And it seems that whether driven by insurance or philosophy, the result is similar to your desires; our wounded heroine just checked in from home alreddie.

And, yeah, they gave her something for the worries, too... it seems to have worked.

[annathepiper]

Actually, they didn't give me any prescriptions for anxiety, aside from "just before the surgery", when they gave me the Versed. I think my current general amiable frame of mind mostly comes from the knowledge that I don't have to do fuck-all over the next three weeks. ;)

[technoshaman.livejournal.com]

*chuckle* There is something to be said for that.

[solarbird]

Yeah, they're big on pain management at Evergreen. So far, so good.

[angharads-house.livejournal.com]

Good. Very good. One --must-- avoid needless suffering.

[zarq.livejournal.com]

Very glad she's going to be ok. Drive safely. Hope it's a quiet day for you both now.

[lisa-marli.livejournal.com]

Make sure she takes good care of the pain, don't skimp on pain meds. Aand also remembers her range of motion stuff, very necessary after full mastectomies, she really needs to keep moving.
*gentle hugs*

[starfallz.livejournal.com]

*hugs* I hope everything goes well and that you'll be around for all the cat lifting that will be necessary. :D

[cafiorello.livejournal.com]

Encourage Anna on the pain meds (you may notice she's cranky before she notices the pain has crept up), but also make sure to take care of yourself!

*hugs* to you both!

Cathy

[annathepiper]

Yeah, I do tend to undercompensate on the pain meds and get cranky as a result. Good advice. :)

[janne.livejournal.com]

Welcome home! Hope you both have a very restful weekend.