Posted by seattlebill on January 04, 2008 at 08:16:47:In Reply to: MMA recuperation posted by HVMMA guy on January 02, 2008 at 14:56:51:
HV.
First, the current issues.
Pain. Everyone has different pain thresholds and experiences. Some of us were so numb that pain never entered the picture for many weeks. Some have more pain than others.
I am distressed that your practitioner has a lack of empathy and understanding with regards to this. Some people need pain meds longer...so what ?(and vicodin is NOT a strong narcotic. I actually hate it because it isn't strong enough for most people !) I think this is his ego being interjected into your circumstance. He is invested in weaning you off narcotics before you are ready. Take him up on the pain specialist referral. There is absolutely NOTHING wrong with being treated for pain...if that persists for several weeks, that isn't a problem either. You are NOT drug seeking, you have legitimate pain management concerns.
Beyond a few weeks more, you shouldn't require much for pain management. The exception that I faced was when I started actually chewing months later. The odd new angle of my jaw placement made my muscles sore. That was easily overcome with naprosyn. If you have pain months afterward, you should have someone check an XRAY and make certain your bones have healed. Or, make certain that there isn't an infection. But, you aren't there yet.
Be aware , however, that constipation does happen with taking pain meds. So, do take your fiber ;-) !
As for your hospital stay. The blood tranfusion is a bad SNAFU that should be addressed. All in all, transfusions are very safe nowadays. But that misuse is NOT good medical practice. Plus, there are major JACHO initiatives about the proper use of restraints in hospitalized patients. Administrators are very sensitive to this. While post-op delirium and confusion may justify you being restrained for your own safety, and many people are restrained for this reason...your inability to communicate with a banded jaw and swelling, makes your restraints a topic of reasonable dispute.
Bottomline, write a letter to the hospital administrators (head of nursing, head of quality assurance, etc...) and request that these issues be addressed, and that you receive a written response. You shouldn't need to pay for your transfusion, nor your costs for banking your own blood. Furthermore, you deserve a written explanation as to why these issues happened (they may very well explain the use of your restraints as needed for confusion, but it will help the next MMA patient communicate their needs better ). Hopefully, a letter of complaint that is well-worded will help the next guy out.
Hope this helps,
Bill
- Re: MMA recuperation HVMMA guy 18:03 1/04/08 (0)