Jeff,

to be honest I don't remember a lot about the first day or so following surgery.

I have been in pain management since 1998 due to 9 major spinal surgeries since I was 12 - I am now 49. Lots of other stuff like arachnoiditis, severe scoliosis and the fact that I am an extreme athlete....yeah I guess you might consider me a masochist of sorts....anyway- I have been on about 100 mg/day of long acting narcotics for over 5 years - which makes me narcotic tolerant....

I am bringing this up because following my surgery this team and hospital did not have a Pain Mgmt doctor available until the second day following my surgery. This meant that ICU could only give me medications like they would give a person who was not narcotic tolerant.....

Therefore - until the Pain Mgmt doctor showed up and kinda gave the ICU team one of those - what the hell is wrong with you kind of speeches (or so my family told me) - I was kind of on my own regarding pain.

I have learned to meditate throughout the years and although I never believed in it and always thought that meditation was for "those types" of people.....it truly saved my life during my 1.5 days in ICU.

I even had a physical therapist tell me how impressed she was when I told her that I needed a few minutes to meditate to get my pain under control and then we were able to do the exercises.....

So make damned sure if you are narcotic tolerant that you know what the plan is immediately after surgery and that you know - verbally how much and what they are going to be giving you....

Usually you are on a pain pump for the first few days following the surgery and you press a button when you need pain meds....they make sure you are comfortable - honestly.

I had surgery Thursday and went home Sunday - I would have gone home Sat or even Friday except for the ICU debacle.

Trust in The Lord. That is all you need. Everything else is meaningless. Trust in God and all His helpers - They will get you through.

Kelli