Smile

Had a chance to finally speak with Mrs. Smile directly. It was wonderful to hear her voice. She is so grateful for all your comments and wanted to thank everyone personally, but at this point can’t get to a computer yet. She is slowly starting to feel better although she reports that last night was “very tough”. Mrs. Smile was allergic to the pain medication that was given post-operatively, and because the facility was quite busy, even getting the staff to keep up with her pain medication was a challenge. Thankfully, today, she reports that she is getting adequate pain control and was able to eat a small amount.
Note: my personal soapbox: pain control is so important after surgery. What happens is that once pain spikes above a certain level, it is very difficult to bring it back under control, and of course, if you are in alot of pain, it makes your body tense up which then makes the pain worse. A much better scenario is to have pain medication be given regularly and monitored closely so that you can “catch” the pain spikes before they escalate. This helps the body heal much more quickly because the body is not under more “stress” from pain. So if anyone is having surgery or has family members who are planning surgery, please make sure that the person having the procedure has an advocate who can make sure that the hospital staff is providing adequate pain control. Mrs. Smile’s husband had to intervene yesterday on her behalf, but it looks like the situation is improving today. Hopefully if anyone reading has to be hospitalized, you will know to be pro-active and use your family or advocate to make certain that your pain is managed and does not spike out of control.

Wishing all of you a safe and good weekend.
Mrs. Smile’s friend