What did you do today?

[blessingx]

Always getting in the way of progress.

[Torpedo]

Jacob, the risk of suffering a respiratory standstill induced by opiates is higher (as the risk of becoming an addict) the lower the pain is, so deciding the drug and the dose is always a very conservative decision. The more the Dr knows a patient, and is familiar to his/her pain endurance or sensitivity, the easier that task becomes. It's possible your Dr didn't take your pain very seriously at first \ I think they use opiates more liberally in the US than here, where you'd hardly get vicodyn or percocet. Not even codeine is very popular but for cough relief.

Glad you're feeling better. Hopefully with no stress the fissure will heal and stop aching soon.

[Torpedo]

No worries Jacob, I can understand you very well. It sucks when you're really screwed up and nobody pays attention, worse if it's their job. However it's always difficult for a MD getting a clear and accurate picture of a patient. Some people are tough enough to have a tooth removed without anesthesia, and others will scream like a wee baby for getting a shot in their buttock.

I can't speak of other EU countries. In this one I can assure you that only oncological patients get as much opiate as they need. Even post surgical ones are usually treated with NSAID, paracetamol and metamizol (which is very little used in the US for a rare secondary effect that is more frequent there). Here to prescribe any opiate you need to fill a lot of paperwork

[Craig Sawyers]

hah, i've heard the opposite, that they are given out like candy over in Europe

When my mother broke her hip (it turned out to be a terminal event, alas) and we went with her to the hospital, they gave her a morphine shot. Then another. Then another, etc. By the time the pain was under control she was totally spaced out. Nuclear war could have broken out and she would not have noticed, or if she did she wouldn't have given a hoot.

[MASantos]

Same here in Portugal. It is very rare for doctors to prescribe the stronger stuff. I had surgery on my left knee for a ruptured meniscus and all I got after was 1g. paracetamol. It helped to some extent but I wished for something stronger for a couple of times. The policies are quite different, I can't get antihistamines without prescription here for instance.

[Craig Sawyers]

i guess i should have sung the pain away. maybe some Gilbert and Sullivan?

How about from Mikado:

To sit in solemn silence in a dull, dark dock,

In a pestilential prison with a life-long lock

Awaiting the sensation of a short, sharp shock

From a cheap and chippy chopper on a big, black block.

Seems kind of relevant to your hospital experience ....

Or from Iolanthe:

When you’re lying awake

With a dismal headache,

And repose is taboo’d by anxiety,

I conceive you may use

Any language you choose

To indulge in, without impropriety;

[tyrion]

A little work in the morning, now a little of this:

[Torpedo]

maybe Portugal and Spain are being punished for all those New World conquests, half a millennia ago

LOL, I'd agree if docs had been here from South America for the last 50 years In maybe 20 years most generalists will be.

Jacob, don't play the tough guy, pain prolongs recovery since increases distress. Ask for more painkillers when needed, that's what I recommend patients. Some pain, specially knowing when it's getting worse, helps to detect when things are going wrong, but that's all its "utility".

[aardvark baguette]

aim for the red dot on the left, that's the deadly place.

"wow, right in the nuts! you even compensated for the crooked sight!"

/nelson

[Fitz]

just made a complaint with the USPS. apparently Cincinnati has had a recent rash of delivery people who just stick notices in mailboxes instead of ringing doorbells with packages that are signature confirmation.

Oh, that's a new thing in Cincinnati? That's standard procedure in the Atlanta area, assuming they even leave the notice at all.

[Dusty Chalk]

They're "delivery" people, and they don't want to make the actual deliveries? WTF?

[Salt Peanuts]

^ Which is why they have folks checking on route carriers on intermittent basis. It probably doesn't help that it's appearently really, really hard to fire them.

[Craig Sawyers]

just made a complaint with the USPS. apparently Cincinnati has had a recent rash of delivery people who just stick notices in mailboxes instead of ringing doorbells with packages that are signature confirmation.

Yeah - happens here across the pond too. In our case it is Parcel Force (or Parcel Farce as they are known). You're lucky if you get a note left. On one occasion, having bought from a seller on the West Coast off eBay, it was never delivered and no notes were left. 6 months later (I kid you not) I got a mail from the guy with a photo enclosed - they had sent a 50lb weight electronic instrument all the way back, by surface. I was apoplectic with rage - so much so that Farce refunded the re-shipment cost.

Farce have got a monopoly with imported goods. And they behave in precisely the way that monopolys do, with apathy and zero customer service ethic. The most irritating thing is that they not only charge the tax on the goods on behalf of the government - they also charge an

[boomana]

Reks, just come to Florida for pain meds. There are numerous pain clinics within a few miles of my home. All you need to do is walk/limp in. They'll even tell you what to say to guarantee you'll get whatever you want. It's a shame, but job security for me.

[Salt Peanuts]

Finally got through some of the photos I've been meaning to process since Thanksgiving. Tomorrow, I'll get to go through the (digital) pile form the past month.

[Fitz]

Well I froze my ass off today at work going on site to help get this fucking apartment complex remodelling project caught up, then I came home and have listened to a lot of music, drank a lot of beer and watched a bit of anime. Not a bad day all in all.

[The Monkey]

Drove out to my parents' place in East Hampton for the long weekend. Now I will drink my father's wine. Because that's what sons are for.

[Fitz]

It's a family obligation, you have to do it.

[Augsburger]

Your a good son Dinny.

[The Monkey]

Thank you for your support.

[Voltron]

You need to find the old ones to save your father from disappointment. They could go bad, you know.

[Fitz]

Drank moar beer, am in a happy place nao. CHAT FTW.

[Augsburger]

You need to find the old ones to save your father from disappointment. They could go bad, you know.

If you can't pronounce the name then it must be the good stuff. That's the way I roll anyways......

*now off to find the "What are you drinking now" thread*

Edited December 31, 2010 by Augsburger
Butter cooky and a banana

[Torpedo]

I've finished my last on call shift for this year. No more on calls until third week of January Bad part is I'm going to need all that extra free time to study

[n_maher]

Woke up finally feeling a bit better after having been sick for the past week with a nasty cold and sore throat. Only problem is that now the wife has it. Eff. At least Lily started with it two weeks ago so hopefully she'll avoid a repeat performance.