Please...I hurt so bad...could really use a kind word or two...

Lisa,
I'm so sorry to hear about your experience!  As a nurse who takes care of bariatric patients (as well as having been one!), I can tell you that that is NOT the norm in the way that we treat our patients at CMC-Northeast.  If I were you, I would definitely write a letter of complaint to them to let them know of your experience.  They can't fix what they don't know about, and that definitely sounds like a situation that needs to be reported and corrected!

That having been said, let me also tell you that I have a HIGH pain tolerance and that this was STILL the worst surgery I have experienced.  The worst pain I have ever experienced.  It was horrible.  I won't sugar coat it (or Splenda coat it, either).  It was BADDDDDDDDD.  Fortunately, I felt much better by day 2 and was back to work one week postop.  But everyone's experience is different, and I wish I could say it was better, but it is PAINFUL! 

As for pain meds, you can certainly take pills and the one that we give our patients on day 2 postop when we stop their pain pumps is called Roxicodone, or oxycodone.  It is a 5 mg tablet and they can take 1-2 every 4 hrs if needed for pain.  It's great stuff!  Our patients are sent home on Mepergan Fortis, which is a combination capsule that contains pain medicine & Phenergan ... and it is FANTASTIC, but it is a capsule.  I had no problem swallowing it personally, and it was very effective for pain control. 

There are definitely other options, and your surgeon should know that and offer you something else for pain since what you've got isn't working for you. 

Best wishes ... hope you feel better soon!  It does get better, I promise.

Dena, when i get through this, I"ll fill you in on everything that happened to me in that hospital...I do plan on praising those who deserve it and letting the powers that be know who was subpar in performance. 
Why on earth did his tell me I couldn't take a pill of any kind under any cir****tance without crushing it???  I'm feeling more than a little ticked off at this point.  I mean, I could be moving so much easier, and feeling so much better if he'd let me have that to begin with. 
I think I'll survive tonight....must be you sweet gals who prayed me through, but if I feel this good when I wake up in the morning, I may feel like I"m gonna live!
Phew!
Thanks again for your love and concern,.
Lisa

Lisa
Im sorry your having so much problems with your surgeon giving you some sort of relief... i wish you lived closer as I would bring my ENTIRE collection of *pain management* over to you and let you get whatever you needed and NO Im not a addicted pill popper... I just have a lot of neck and back issues that allows me to have a large variety of happy pills

I hope you feel better this weekend..

Big hugs

Darcie

I wish I knew why some surgeons tell their patients they can only take liquid or only take crushed pills.  I have never, ever crushed a pill yet ... and don't plan on starting now!  That is nasty talk.  lol  My surgeon is very conservative in his approach to our eating, but we are definitely allowed to take pills (and we give them to our patients in the hospital).  I haven't seen it be a problem for any of our patients, either.

Hey Lisa:

I responded to your PM before reading this post.   I have fruit punch and grape bullets which are only 3 ounces and taste like a thicker jello but have 42 g of protein.  I can drop so off to you if you think they would help mask the taste of the pill.   They have 0 sugar.    Just call me and i will drop them by if you think they would work.    No one should have to suffer like you have been. 

Remember to watch your temp.

Take care, Pam

Oh, Lisa,
Hang in there dear, it willl get better.   Here's a trick to learn about post op pain.  Take the pain meds every time you can!   Do not miss a dose or be late!  It is easier to keep pain at bay if you don't let it get out of hand.  Once you feel the pain it is harder to get it under control.  Take the Phenegran religiously if you are having trouble keeping your pain meds down!   Pudding or applesauce are the ideal maskers for nasty pills.   Put a little on a spoon,  pour the crushed pills on the spoon, then use another small spoonful to put on top of that!. Try and swallow in one gulp!  That is how I made it!  DO NOT try to swallow crushed Ibuprofen.  It burned the Hades out of my esophagus!!  Use your pillow against your abdomen when moving or coughing, it really does help!  

My prayers are with you!
Cathy in Haw River

I'm sorry to hear you're having such a hard time.  I loved the IV pain meds in the hospital but quickly found out that I was allergic to the pain medicine the doctor sent home with me.  My surgeon said there was no other alternative except tylenol so the only pain meds I had after the first 2 days post op was children's chewable tylenol.  Just hang in there and know that its all worth it.  Take Care Christy