Wednesday, August 05, 2009

The name of the game remains pain.

So it is Wednesday morning and Br'er Liar has returned to dungeon room NW20 here at the WHC. While Lisa Marie received the expert care and compassion we have come to expect from her pal Kate the Kind, the fact remains that at some point in the past 12hours the relevant hospital personnel have absconded with her pain pump. More specifically, about 10:20 a.m the nurse (Brandi) took it and at 10:30 a.m. Lisa Marie got a Percocet. Needless to say that referring to this as causing Lisa Marie some discomfort is similar to referring to Rwanda having a small problem concerning people with machetes.

So basically, while there are some clear juices in the room for Lisa Marie to consume she is disinterested in drinkin the same. She does not want to go for any more walks because of the pain. In fact, when I walked in the door she opened her eyes and looked at me rather dismissively. Upon further examination I determined that was not a dismissive look, but simply the appearance of someone whose face is all scrunched up from being in pain. I know that everyone says that pain is preferable to nausea, but unlike nausea pain is more easily managed. . . So I will give this a day to see if Percocet is adequate to the task. If it fails to manage pain then I will of course be forced to initiate the slowly escalating levels of demands for better pain management. We can hope that it does not reach the level of unholy ruckus that those who know and love me see once a while as the shining example of my undersocialized self.

Despite being informed by Kate the Kind that Lisa Marie slept better last night, she looks exhausted and as beat up as any day other than her wonderful interlude in the ICU. See her posted pictures in posts below for the details of the new "in" look of puffy eyelids. While Lisa Marie no longer resembles someone struck by the entire fleet of Ryder trucks, she is definitely in pain. Suffice it to say that I am counting down the 213 minutes until she can have another Percocet. Or maybe that should be 12,780 seconds?

7 comments:

Sara said...

So sorry to hear about the pain. I hope that 12,780 seconds goes by quickly. I'm even more hopeful that the percocet will eventually do the trick.

We're crossing our fingers and hoping for the best!

Anonymous said...

Hang in there LM... there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Also, a new video is coming later today to, hopefully, put a smile on your face and brighten your day.

Hugs,
Michael

Anonymous said...

I know they always say you can't be discharged until your pain can be managed with oral medications but there has to be a happy medium. Ask to see the doc or his nurse manager and tell them. Find out what the orders are for pain management. This much pain is counter productive to the healing process. LM needs her rest and nourishment and exercise and it seems like all of those are not happening. She's come too far to slip back now. Keep up the fight you two.

Anonymous said...

Good job Art & Kate, so happy you're there to see Lisa Marie through this. Much love to you both and tell Lisa I'm praying for her pain to ease.
Auntie Carol

Varina said...

If they won't bring back the pump, perhaps a higher dosage of percocet? There should also be smaller dose percocet available for breakthrough pain (when it's too long in between major doses).

Anonymous said...

Ray spoke with Art about seeing if you can get some toradol. Sometimes it can cause bleeding, so they may not want to give it to you, but it may help manage your pain a little better than the percocet. Look into it. I hate to know that you are in pain. Allison

sally said...

Kate, What a horrific last few days and nights for Lisa. So happy you and Art were there. Do you and/or Art want a break this afternoon? I can be at WHC by 12:30 pm. Please let me know. Sally (708) 289-4498;sallyhastings09@gmail.com