Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Hip Blog Day Five: Part One

Pain Medication: The Good, The Bad, and The Obvious, or "What a difference a pill makes"

I've had to deal with pain in the past.
Tooth aches, occasional back spasms, even the intensity of a cholesterol and stress-related heart attack in 2002 (for which I received no invasive procedures: no stents, no bypasses, just ongoing hypertension and blood pressure pills).
Now, as my hip pain increases towards the day when I become a "Hip-Op" star, I've been "experimented on" by nurse practitioners and doctors to monitor my pain. Don't misunderstand: on the 1-10 scale, I started with a 3, and over the past 6 weeks they've only advanced to a 6 or 7. But the steady nature, which builds as each individual day wears on, is more than enough to need pharmaceutical control.

First it was Motrin, 3 pills, 3 x a day. When that wasn't enough, I "graduated" to a twice a day muscle relaxant and Vicodin at night. Then even that needed augmenting with Ambien. But for the past few nights my sleep has been interrupted, waking because of my aching bones. Yesterday (see previous post) I was switched to Percocet, the minimum dose to get me to next Wednesday.

Like night and day: literally. I slept all night and I'm productive today.

I don't find the sensation particularly pleasant or unpleasant, I simply don't notice the pain. With a history of youthful experimentation and learning to cope with my generation's choices to find an external aid to help us to "feel good", I am concerned and aware of the pitfalls of Percocet and other narcotics, but I'm also following doctors' orders and keeping to minimal use, not abuse.
And I'm also aware that that's probably what Anna Nicole, Lindsay and MJ were thinking.
20,702 days down, 8 days to go till Hip Day.
One pill at a time.

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