My doctor and I discussed my medication before surgery, I thought all was well.

It is 3:38 a.m., it’s my first night home from yet another surgery, and I’m counting the seconds until I can call my pain management doctor in the morning.

You might be asking, “did they send you home without medication?”  The answer, “of course not.”  But what they gave me is the wrong medication.

I understand that our country has an addiction problem,  but for individuals like myself, or some of you with chronic pain, birthdefects, or life altering illnesses, and who responsibly use our medication as directed, these medications make our life bearable. I need my medications like I need my wheelchair.

This surgery was of a different nature than my 35 previous, but still connected in a lot of ways due to my unstable joints and having skin that does not heal due to hEDS.

Before surgery, my doctor and I reviewed my current medication list, we discussed recommendations my pain specialist of ten years sent over prior to scheduling, and I felt I was all set.

Anyone who has ever had surgery knows that when you wake you are given pain shots ASAP so you do okay the first few hours.  But when the shots go away, you need your meds. To my suprise, I was not getting the IV machine as discussed, and I learned the meds written were much lower than my daily meds. I asked my nurse to contact the doctor and was told, “it’s late, you will be okay, just take deep breaths.” I did something I never thought I would do, I started to cry. 

I hate hearing if I only ate this, or tried this exercise, or used this supplement AHHHHHHHHH!  The fact is, I had major surgery and I felt like I was being offered a Tick-Tack.

Around 2:45 a nurse came to give me meds. I asked her to look at my daily med list and bless her, she called a pain specialist who offered me a shot that helped for three hours.

As my suregon came to check on me the next morning, I asked what went wrong and was told, “you take a lot already, my intern must have messed up.”

To be made to feel you are doing something wrong because you don’t fit the typical medication outline set by our government is wrong. What comes next, they can decide my wheelchair is no longer needed, or take away my braces.

Why is it when you don’t fit the normal medication mold, you are made to feel your doing something wrong?