Monday, January 26, 2009

If "10" is how it feels to be hit by a truck ...

... does that make "9" what it feels like to be hit by a Buick?

Today was day one of the pump trial. At 6pm last night, I cut BR's Fentanyl dosage by 2/3rds and stopped all breakthrough pain meds. By the time he was on the doctor's table at 2pm today, he had been at a solid "9" on the pain scale for several hours.

And he's still at a "9".

I'm praying that today was placebo day.

He'll be back on the table for day two of the trial tomorrow. It's really hard to watch him suffer like this.

2 comments:

Kim said...

What happens if the pump doesn't alleviate the pain? Are you back to the previous regimen? Fingers crossed that today was a placebo day...

steve said...

The doctor made a point to tell me that this was a very advanced procedure, and the chances were good that BR will get good pain relief. I ask what if the trial fails and he stays in pain. My attempts to plan contingencies beyond the next 2 days were not encouraged. As with so much of MS, I was told to stay hopeful for the current treatment.

We have pretty much reached the safe limit for Fentanyl patches, so if the pump doesn't work, methodone and morphine will be next up. We know that methodone leaves BR entirely too sedated. He would have to give up the power chair. That's about as far down that path I'm willing to venture until we get the final word on the pump.