Once the doctor decides to put in the pump that's your first hurdle and a major implant plus healing experience. There's nothing easy about getting one of these things or getting use to it.

After the pump is installed, let the doctor start down his conservative list of whatever he decides to use as far as dosage and pain medication. You don't start out at the top end, but instead work your way up till you find the safe and correct dosage. Because we're talking about some pretty heavy duty drugs, there must be extreme caution used when the doctor is ramping up the dosage and when choosing which pain medication he'll respond too best. This could and will take months, but I assure you that no matter where the doctor starts at, your dad will be in better shape than he is now as long as the test proved that this would work for him.

The worse case I ever read was about a person who was unhappy with their pump after it was installed since it wasn't helping with the pain. The reason was because the patient had lied to the doctor during the test and had told him that it had worked when it really hadn't one bit. When it comes to pain management, it's just as much about our relationship and trust with the doctor that matters here as the actual medication(s) we eventually use. Also make sure your dad understands that just because you have a pump does not mean he'll instantly be pain free. I'm still taking two kinds of oral narcotics in addition to the pump so when we're talking about this level of pain, there are times when all of us climb the walls even with the huge load of medications we're on. All my best for you and your dad.