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THR Seeing the Light!

(And thank you, @Layla . Restaurant and theatre went well — made possible by the tramadol that I am no longer able to have.)

So confusing.
 
Hand over open mouth in disbelief reading that. The drama of that woman fainting in your lap,
in the midst of all the other confusing news about meds is an awful lot to absorb. I feel for you. What a day!

I'm sorry you are concerned about managing pain. Can your PCP help you? Could you try Josephine's Tylenol schedule and see if that would be effective, coupled with lots of icing? It's so sad with the Opioid crisis how people have to fight for pain relief.

The word psychological being mentioned more than once would have bothered me also. I would have felt like I was with a counselor rather than in an Orthopedic office.

I hope your swim took the edge off after the drama. I also hope it wasn't too much activity, initially.
I'd rest and ice for the night if you're able. Maybe a nice bath and some relaxing music will help also, rough day! I'm sorry you had to experience all of that. I'm happy to hear the restaurant and theatre went well on Saturday.

Hopefully with the meds you have left and some round the clock OTC pain relief, for a time.....you will get through.
Hugs and wishes for a peaceful night.
@lovesstars
 
lovesstars said:
When he told me I wasn’t getting any more pain meds I got a little choked up. I told him that I was afraid that I was going in be in pain I wouldn’t be able to manage. He said “yep, we cut everyone off at 8 weeks”. Then he said to me “it seems like you are having a psychological problem accepting this” (I suppose because I was a little choked up). I told him “Please don’t use that word anymore. I am fine” (“Psychological”)
Click to expand...

I have to say, @lovesstars, that the "psychological" comment strikes me as stunningly unsympathetic and patronizing. It's almost as if nurse fainted from an overdose of bad vibes.

I hope you will be able to taper properly with the meds you have left. Maybe paddling in the warm water will help you to sleep.

What about @Layla's suggestion about consulting your PCP? Not even to try and sidestep the OS and get meds, but to talk to a doctor you can communicate with.
 
Sheesh, that sounds like an awful appointment, in so many ways! I am sure you left the office feeling stunned, and pretty much in shock. I, too, hope the swimming in the small therapy pool helped you physically as well as to calm your nerves. I'd check in with my PCP about pain control as well, and hope for a more nuanced, helpful response. By the way, I found religious icing and Tylenol very effective for me, although admittedly I've never had the kind of pain and issues you've had to deal with. But I'd definitely be looking to those if indeed they refuse to give you anymore of the stronger stuff. Best of luck to you, a very difficult day indeed.
 
So sorry for such an upsetting day. Just thot I’d tell you What I am doing to ease off heavy meds. I am cutting ($5 pill cutter at pharmacy) pain pills in half. Also my visiting nurse suggested Tylenol slow release Arthritis taken 1 1/2 pills every 8 hrs. (I was told regular Tylenol wears off in 6 hrs.) this way I am keeping Tylenol at a steady level and I’ve found that it works better than the pain med. hope that helps and you find comfort.
 
Wow @lovesstars . I couldn't make up a story like that if tried! Good grief what a gong show! I agree with @Layla, try going through your PCP about the pain management. Get the pill cutter as per @wcgirl to help breaking the pills down while you work with your PCP. The other suggestion from @wcgirl's visiting nurse about the slow release Tylenol sounds like an avenue to follow too.

Hoping your warm swim helped you decompress from that horrible OS visit today. Try to remember to breath. Thinking of you and hoping you find a combo that works. More cyber hugs coming your way.....:console2:
 
Oh my gosh @lovesstars I am blown away. I thought I had a bad day at my OS office, your experience is something that should go into the book of instruction for new physicians "how to perform horrible bedside manners". I do hope you give feedback on your visit (namely the OS who, in my own opinion, was extremely RUDE). How are you feeling physically after the laps today?

I do hope you can see your PCP and comfortably explain everything that happened. I find the entire scenario quite amazing actually and yes, I agree with @Layla that the unfortunate Opiod situation has caused so many who have ongoing pain to be pitched forth into yet another struggle.

I do so wish you a peaceful night of deep sleep (something that so many of us on here chase night after night). My 4 legged sidekick is snoring away but she will be up and at it within a few short hours trying to tell me it's time to feed her (she's incredibly mischievious when my husband is gone). Hopefully I will be too sleepy to even notice and can coax her to wait until at least 5 a.m.

Take care - thinking of you!
 
Wow! What a visit and your OS is a complete git. Well done you for not panicking at the fainting nurse and for taking yourself off for some r and r in warm water. Good for you!

Re the pain meds. Hopefully Josephine can come up with a viable alternative. Do see the PCP. I don’t understand this opiod scare at all. It seems so unfair to ban it after a certain time and is causing people a lot of unnescessary pain. I hope you get a resolution soon. Xxx
 
Psychological:skep:
Do you mean Emotional, doctor?
You darned Skippy I am emotional.
Comes with the territory!
Not Helpful.
Shake it off...he hasn't had hip replacement I bet!:umm:
 
To add, and I’m only 2 weeks out, but I use a timer to wake me to take meds on a schedule. Once I slept through and became ouchy ouchy it took a day to get back on schedule. Last night I started the arthritis Tylenol and decided to skipped next Dilaudid and didn’t need it til the next scheduled dose.

@Josephine may have the best suggestions. Perhaps a couple of ‘sick’ days to really lay low and let a really good friend to pamper & wait on you. :console2::fingersx:
 
@EL11 to be honest, I was so agitated after my appt yesterday (and wasn’t feeling too great about myself and my progress....look how powerful a motivator shame is!) that I decided I just could not come back to that same building one day later to see the PT. I called the PT’s office and scheduled for his next available appt (two weeks). I also unilaterally decided to use the cane.
So yesterday I went swimming (10 laps of only kickboard....15 minutes...then done) and used the cane. I had my tramadol first thing in the morning and powered through the rest of the day and only took Tylenol.
No I did not sleep well at all.

This morning I took Tylenol. Used cane. I went to the pool and swam 12 laps of only kickboard. 15 minutes. Done. Took uber to have a casual lunch — really needed to break my mood still from yesterday. Then was driving the car a bit. Now on couch and sore. Will take Tylenol again. If it doesn’t work I will need to add one Tramadol. But only one. Now we will see how it goes.

After my doc said that the need for PT is “only psychological” I just couldn’t make myself do it. I feel patronized and diminished.

Thank you all for your kindness and support — of course you lovely @EL11 and also the very helpful @wcgirl , @Mojo333 , @SurreyGirl (what is a “git”?). @NanaKP the laps made me feel free but also were uncomfortable to do. Not sore yesterday but sore today. @Alitm Right? You just cannot make this stuff up. No matter how creative I am I could not have fabricated something like this. @Layla @Barbaraj I am not going to call PCP yet. I will not be shamed. Just going to see if I can get through.
 
While I was changing from my bathing suit into sweats, I saw someone I knew from a couple of years ago in the locker room. She saw my super long scar on my bottom :)shocked::shocked:) and said to me “did you get a butt lift”???

“Haha, I wish”, I answered.

:bolt:
 
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Hi @lovesstars, as the young people would say, OMG!!!!!! ... I'm tempted to insert an additional letter in there for emphasis! ... Wow, your surgeon is setting back the orthopedic profession's attempt to humanize themselves.

I agree with the others. I would talk to your PCP ... and even ask your PCP's advice and sympathy for dealing with this guy ...

Any chance that assistant was freaked out by the surgeon's coldness ... and inappropriate language?!
 
@Going4fun nah...more likely her knees locked while she was standing or forgot to eat that morning (it was 8 am) or is pregnant. But...not my business.

It’s okay to add the extra letter to OMG.

I may or may not have set my locker combination to “WT_”. Insert same letter. :yikes:
 
lovesstars said:
@EL11 to be honest, I was so agitated after my appt yesterday (and wasn’t feeling too great about myself and my progress....look how powerful a motivator shame is!) that I decided I just could not come back to that same building one day later to see the PT. I called the PT’s office and scheduled for his next available appt (two weeks). I also unilaterally decided to use the cane.
So yesterday I went swimming (10 laps of only kickboard....15 minutes...then done) and used the cane. I had my tramadol first thing in the morning and powered through the rest of the day and only took Tylenol.
No I did not sleep well at all.
Click to expand...

I commend you for moving forward, because that's what you're doing, dealing with the situation and being proactive—including postponing the PT appointment. You'll be in better shape mentally to see him in 2 weeks.

You know, there are many things he could have said that still incorporated the unwelcome reality of x number of weeks being a cutoff. Suggestions he could have made.

In 1994, the year of the fearsome Northridge quake, at one point both of my parents were in the ICU in LA,; my father was dying and my mother had collapsed and needed a CABG operation. My dad had a pulmonary specialist who was utterly incapable of talking to me in a human way about what was going on. "His cough is his prognosis," he kept repeating like a robot as I was sitting by the elevator sobbing hysterically and he was leaving the floor. My mom later told me that this doctor was caring for a patient she was sharing a room with. This woman said to my mother, "I can't get well if he's anywhere around me." But then there are the wonderful ones, one of whom helped me understand the situation and deal with it later that week.
 
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