Maria and Oxycontin

Maria bore an uncanny resemblance to my mom.   The one difference was her clipped style of speaking which gave you the impression that she wasn’t listening to you.  I listened to her explain to the neighboring surgery patient why she couldn’t give him his pain medications until 7:30 PM . . two hours from then.  The patient moaned, shouted, banged his cup against the metal . . all to no avail.  In the end she didn’t distribute his pain medications until nine.

 

I don’t know what that was about.  However, I don’t see any upside to allowing pain, which was caused by a known source, like surgery, to destroy a person quite like that.

 

But, I am not a doctor, so there.

 

When I was supposed to receive my pain medication that night, she didn’t distribute it . . too busy.  But, I was patient and got it two hours late.  Fortunately, I was still able to function.  But, then the pain got worse.  I was put in another room where the nurse said that my medications had been prescribed earlier and gave me enough to get me through to morning.

 

But, here is the tradeoff.  Pain medications lower your blood pressure, making you more susceptible to be dizzy . . and, of course, if your blood pressure is too low it can be dangerous. This is a judgement call.

 

But, I can’t imagine being in so much pain is a good thing.

 

One last thought.

 

In the throes of pain, I thought I would do anything, ANYTHING  . . to get the oxycontin, the pain killer that made the pain go away.