Pre-/Post-Op Pain Management...

[jerseyot]

Thanks Melissa - i will definitely be asking about post-op pain management and who will be following me at that point. Hopefully i will be off pain meds within a few months like my first 2 surgeries...but with these 2 upcoming surgeries being (according to the docs) "bigger and more complex" i'm not sure if i'll be in the same boat pain-wise so i just want to be sure i don't get tossed by the wayside after surgery. KWIM? I hope i get my needs met pre and post-surgery too so thank you for the support!

[jrnyc]

hey jersey..
i think i got your posts mixed up with Anna's for a minute...i believe you are both having surgery end of January...

i go to NYC every month to every other month to see my pain doctor
he is really good...the pain doc in CT, who is also a surgeon, i just use for sacroiliac joint injections....
i don't get pain meds or botox shots from him...he doesn't use botox....
i get botox from NYC pain doc to treat muscle spasms in thoracic area...every 3 months...

i have not had surgery....yet...
but as i said, Dr Lonner wanted me to see his pain guy for consult when i was planning surgery....& wanted me
to cut backon pain meds....
i think Lonner's pain guy has retired by now, and i never did see hin....but i never had the surgery....
i had another medical issue come up, involving a tumor in left femur that was supposed to be operated
on but then there was a change of plans, and personal stuff came up as well...
anyway, i haven't gone ahead with the surgery...yet...
i do believe it is in my future....

i have been to at least 4 different pain docs, trying to find a good one in CT, closer to home....mostly for steroid injections...
haven't found a local one as good as my NYC pain doc though...

i think some surgeons hook their surgical patients up with pain management while the patient is still in the hospital...

jess