19 Year Old Male. Scoliosis Progressing.

[rohrer01]

No it wasn't stadol, they gave that to me and it didn't do a thing. They also gave me demerol with another one of my kids and it didn't do a thing either except make me throw up. AHHHH, it was NUBANE. I don't know if it is used for post surgicals or not. At least I remembered it! He can at least ask about it.

[jrnyc]

were they male doctors, Sharon?

i like to think female doctors are more sympathetic to women in general...but i know it is not true...
i had a woman doctor at Stonybrook Hospital in Long Island years ago...
she was as bad as the others...
she said i didn't need anything for pain because "Lyme doesn't hurt that much"
she was a real gem...just as ignorant as the rest of them!

i thought surgeons give morphine after major surgery that is as
painful as scoli surgery...

jess

[mabeckoff]

were they male doctors, Sharon?

i like to think female doctors are more sympathetic to women in general...but i know it is not true...
i had a woman doctor at Stonybrook Hospital in Long Island years ago...
she was as bad as the others...
she said i didn't need anything for pain because "Lyme doesn't hurt that much"
she was a real gem...just as ignorant as the rest of them!

i thought surgeons give morphine after major surgery that is as
painful as scoli surgery...

jess

I had morphine. It works great

[Pooka1]

Jess I think I was dealing with female nurses and then my male gynecologist. Hard to remember. I just think it was a huge chart mistake and when I started asking for drugs, they should have asked me if I signed on to natural childbirth at which point I would have likely used an expletive.

I apologize for hijacking.

[jrnyc]

i hope you are resting John...
i wonder if your next surgery will go ahead as planned....

hope the pain meds are giving you some relief now....

jess

[rohrer01]

Here's a nice chart on opiod potency. It appears that fentanyl is much more potent than morphine, which is what I thought.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opioid#Pharmacology
It might be helpful in asking about pain control, then again maybe not. These docs know what they are doing and what is safe. I do not know what is safe.

[jrnyc]

i don't get it, rohr...
i hated fentanyl patches..i never felt pain relief from them...
morphine gave me total pain relief.... had me zonked, too....
but it made me so nauseous...even the nasal spray form of it made my stomach sick...
i find it very surprising that fentanyl is considered stronger!
stuff didn't help me...i told the pain doc not to prescribe it for me anymore....

jess

[rohrer01]

I've had both IV morphine and IV fentanyl for bad flare-ups of pain. I don't know what the dosages were but it took multiple shots of each to get my pain under control. Maybe your body metabolizes it differently. Not all drugs work the same for everyone. I was looking up fentanyl and found that it stores in fat cells and continues to release. When I wore the patches they were no good after just two days instead of three, like they were supposed to be, probably because my BMI is only about 17. Hopefully the fentanyl is working for JDM. But I posted that list "just in case" so maybe he could ask for something different if it wasn't working. I feel really bad that he has to keep going through this at such a young age, but then again age is on his side.

Hope you feel better soon, JDM!!!

[JDM555]

Thanks. Here's another update. The wedding was fun, but meh. I finally got into surgery out patient center are like 7-7:30, laid back and relaxed. Then got wheeled upstairs to talk about the surgery. Then before I knew it, got rolled into OR and was put under. Woke up in recovery, was harder than the previous surgery. I didn't get up right after going to my room. Was very very hazy. Said the XLIF looked fine, but the surprising part that I wasn't expecting is that he removed part of my rib. I guess it's for better mobility, but lol, whatever.

I'm going to get X-rays tomorrow and that will help determine what I will be doing. Fentanyl isn't even helping much. Wish me luck.

[jrnyc]

bet the rib removal is part of why the pain is so bad this time....
i am not surprised about the fentanyl...i'd put my money on morphine every time....

good luck with the X ray later today....
i hope it makes it clear to the surgeon...and to you...what the next step should be...
so sorry you are in so much pain....
i hope the pain meds relieve some of it, and you can get some sleep...

jess

[Pooka1]

They may have taken some rib for autologous bone transplant. Better there than from the iliac crest per what I have read. The pain goes away from the rib removal whereas that is not always the case with iliac crest. Also, the rib will grow back.

Stay positive.

[rohrer01]

Let them know about your pain! They can give you more than one kind of pain med at a time. Sometimes it's getting the right combo. I can't stress enough about letting them know.

[mabeckoff]

Let them know about your pain! They can give you more than one kind of pain med at a time. Sometimes it's getting the right combo. I can't stress enough about letting them know.

That is so true. Here in rehab, they are great about making sure that my pain is under control, using whatever combo of drugs is needed. Good luck John

[LindaRacine]

You need to expect some pain. Narcotics are meant to take the edge off so that you can get up and move around. Taking massive doses of narcotics can really delay recovery. Having just been through it, I understand the desire for less pain, but I actually started feeling much better, both mentally and physically, when I cut way back on the drugs. There's nothing quite like a big surgery to put perspective on what you thought was bad pain before surgery, huh? :-)

[rohrer01]

I agree that some pain is to be expected. But out of control pain can inhibit recovery, as it inhibits movement, appetite, thinking ability and willingness to cooperate. Not to mention that it brings about fear which triggers "fight or flight" hormones that can be harmful over extended periods of time. If someone's pain is out of control and they need a revision later on, they will be less likely to seek help. I'm a firm believer in pain control. I'm not talking about over sedation here.