Good to hear from you!
Hope you are feeling much better now that the battery is out!

When I took the time-released, yes, like you said....spread it equally thru-out the day (approx every 8 hrs) to keep it consistent in your system.
I had to pay out of pocket for that med and it ran me in excess of $700 month!! So, I had better luck by switching to the Fentanyl patch and I didn't have to worry about forgetting to take pills all the time.
I have now titrated down to the lowest dose of the patch and am hoping to be able to get by on just Lortab for breakthru pain.

I'm not sure what the situation with the Oxy is to date, but when I took it last year, there was so much hassle in obtaining it due to something with the manufacturer and the pharmacies weren't able to keep it in stock. It was such a headache in keeping that script filled, I just got fed up.
I hope all that confusion has let up by now. And I hope you do well on it.
You deserve pain free days! Good Lord you've been thru the wringer!

Your Friend
Rae