My sister is very sick, she has lung cancer and is in a hospital in Dallas/Ft. Worth area; one of many hospital stays she has had. The big difference this time is she is on some very, very strong pain meds. She needs them.
I talked to her recently and she wanted to warn me about my upcoming hospital stay. She said, "don't ever piss the nurses off, and asking for pain meds before they are due will do just that..they will make you wait longer the next time, and sometimes into the next shift".
That made me mad, and it took some constraint to not call the nurses station and raise hell, then I remembered that she sometimes doesn't have the best recollection of events because of those meds. Also, it seems like that would simply be inhumane for a nurse in an oncology ward to make a patient wait.
Some of you have had some horror stories about hospital care (I still shudder when I think of poor Janet who had to call 911 in a rehab hospital) and another who demanded to see the anesthesiologist on staff. I do intend to discuss the pain management program with my doctor to prevent any problems in advance but I'm wondering just how common this is? My jaded self is thinking it happens more than it should.
I talked to her recently and she wanted to warn me about my upcoming hospital stay. She said, "don't ever piss the nurses off, and asking for pain meds before they are due will do just that..they will make you wait longer the next time, and sometimes into the next shift".
That made me mad, and it took some constraint to not call the nurses station and raise hell, then I remembered that she sometimes doesn't have the best recollection of events because of those meds. Also, it seems like that would simply be inhumane for a nurse in an oncology ward to make a patient wait.
Some of you have had some horror stories about hospital care (I still shudder when I think of poor Janet who had to call 911 in a rehab hospital) and another who demanded to see the anesthesiologist on staff. I do intend to discuss the pain management program with my doctor to prevent any problems in advance but I'm wondering just how common this is? My jaded self is thinking it happens more than it should.
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