My finicky pseudocysts & a question about pain patterns

[Guest guest]

Hi y'all,

Yesterday was my ultrasound checkup at my doctor's office with my favorite

ultrasound technician. This woman is so great, she takes all the time in the

world, checking everything out and explaining in full detail at what we're

seeing, as she films my abdomen. Then she gives me little wallet-sized films

of my pseudocysts....hehehe, to carry around and show off if anyone's crazy

enough to want to see my pics!

It's good news and bad news. The pseudocyst in the head has reduced

down to 3.5 something, but the larger one in the tail is still unchanged. She

calls it the " monster " cyst She had a lot of difficulty finding the pseudocyst

in

the head because a loop of my bowel kept crossing in front of it. It's weird

how those little buggers move around when you poke at them. She didn't

give me the exact dimensions of them, but I will have that when I see my

doctor for his follow up and review of the films next week.

I also had to stop by the PM clinic to get a refill of my pain meds. That's a

long story, a problem that I've been working on for the last several days. I

ran out of morphine since my doctor told me on the phone to go ahead and

double up on the dosage two weeks ago. Unfortunately, after telling me this,

HE DIDN " T MAKE NOTE OF IT IN MY CHARTS, and then he took off on a

week's vacation to Disney World. So of course, when I called in for a refill,

the doctor there said that I'd gone through my alloted meds too fast and that I

wasn't supposed to have a refill until next week. You all know how that goes!

Luckily, I had noted in my pain diary the day I called the doctor, and although

they were able to find a record of this call, since he hadn't written down his

instructions that it was okay to double up on the meds, they said that they

couldn't do anything. I was fit to be tied, I was so upset.

But the doctors at the clinic pursued, calling me back several times to get the

story straight. SInce I am a brand new patient there I was afraid that I was

going to be up the creek. The nurse who was on duty the day that I called

who also spoke with me about doubling up, and I figured could back up my

story, wasn't there. Isn't that the way it always goes? Expecting total defeat

and a weeks worth of horrible pain, I was delighted when one of the doctor's

finally called me back to tell me that they would have my script ready for me

to pick up. He did warn me that they were only able to write a script long

enough to last me a week, but that my doctor would be back by then and

wanted me to call him. It turns out that they actually called my doctor in

Disney World and spoke to him. They also told me that my doctor said for me

to try to only take one 15 mg. pill of morphine.

So I guess that's going to be the next battle, since 15 mgs. morphine for

breakthrough just doesn't do squat!! I tried it for a week, and was in pain and

doubled over the whole time. If he doesn't want me taking 30 mgs. every 4

hours instead, then we'll have to find something else, because the 15 mgs.

just doesn't work.

The 75 mgs. duragesic patch does seem to work, but I wanted to ask some

other people about their daily pain to see if what I am experiencing shows

that it works, or not. Every day, usually mid-afternoon or early evening, I

start

to have some bad pain that starts up. So I take the BT meds, sometimes

having to take a second dose 3-4 hours later, but usually the whole pain cycle

is gone within about six hours and then I'm out of pain again. I always have

to lie down and rest while this pain cycle is going on. If I continue trying to

work or do anything, it only gets worse. A few days a week, I don't have to

take any BT meds at all. This is what my pattern is, and why I think that the

duragesic is doing what it's supposed to. What do you think?

What is your pain pattern like, and how do you determine whether or not it's

being handled effectively by your meds? Feedback on this would be most

appreciated.

With hope, prayers and love,

Heidi

Heidi H. Griffeth

South Carolina

SC & SE Regional Rep.

PAI, Intl.

Note: All comments or advice are personal opinion only, and should never be

substituted for consultation with a medical professional.