the 100% directionless thread

[UnkiEMT]

For real. 150 tablet Rx and according to the bottle it's a 14 day supply... :wacko: the last one before the one I spilled was 120 and it took me almost a month to go through it. That one said it was for 10 days. How do these people function taking that many narcotic pain killers daily?!?!

When I came home from the ER with a leg fx, they sent me with 10/650 percocets q 4h. Those things would destroy me. I'd take one, then an hour later pass out for 2 hours, wake up and actually be able to focus my eyes after about 30 minutes, wait another 30 minutes and repeat the cycle. This went on for 3 days.

My last narc script (after surgery and a bunch of recovery) was for 5mg vicodins, those would still put me to sleep if I made the mistake of relaxing during the first couple hours after I took them.

 

[Handsome Robb]

Best of luck with your hunt for a child I guess?

Well that's just creepy when you put it that way.

I'd climb the tree myself but that'd be a tough one to explain if I fell out of it considering I don't think if walk away from that. My don't think I could even make it up it at this point in my life which is sad because it's not a tough looking tree to climb lol.

Unleashed your picture worked fine, *** :lol:

They had me on roxicet 10mg q4-6 PRN with the Norcos as well. Combined those two once and not doing it again lol.

 

[unleashedfury]

Well that's just creepy when you put it that way.

I'd climb the tree myself but that'd be a tough one to explain if I fell out of it considering I don't think if walk away from that. My don't think I could even make it up it at this point in my life which is sad because it's not a tough looking tree to climb lol.

Unleashed your picture worked fine, *** :lol:

They had me on roxicet 10mg q4-6 PRN with the Norcos as well. Combined those two once and not doing it again lol.

My son climbs trees kinda well.. but I don't think I can ship him over from Penna, to Nevada for you..

Besides he'd up the price.. He would probably demand video games, or Legos..

 

[9D4]

Well that's just creepy when you put it that way.

I'd climb the tree myself but that'd be a tough one to explain if I fell out of it considering I don't think if walk away from that. My don't think I could even make it up it at this point in my life which is sad because it's not a tough looking tree to climb lol.

Unleashed your picture worked fine, *** :lol:

They had me on roxicet 10mg q4-6 PRN with the Norcos as well. Combined those two once and not doing it again lol.

I'm one of those stupid people that refuses to take pain meds. May have just not been in enough pain, yet though :unsure:
Had to go to the dentist a couple months back for an infected wisdom tooth and didn't have insurance, so he offered me penicillin and vicodin, then turned around and said "then again, I remember you as the one that let me fill 7 cavities without the numbing, so is it a no one the vicodin?"
(I grew up with an addict mother and a drunkard dad, so I don't particulary care for drugs and alcohol. Lmao)

 

[Handsome Robb]

My son climbs trees kinda well.. but I don't think I can ship him over from Penna, to Nevada for you..

Besides he'd up the price.. He would probably demand video games, or Legos..

Only if I get to play with the legos with him.

I'm one of those stupid people that refuses to take pain meds. May have just not been in enough pain, yet though :unsure:
Had to go to the dentist a couple months back for an infected wisdom tooth and didn't have insurance, so he offered me penicillin and vicodin, then turned around and said "then again, I remember you as the one that let me fill 7 cavities without the numbing, so is it a no one the vicodin?"
(I grew up with an addict mother and a drunkard dad, so I don't particulary care for drugs and alcohol. Lmao)

I take them, otherwise I'd be even less functional physically. Generally will take 2 tabs in the morning then another single one 6-8 hours later then 4-6 hours later I'll take another before I go to bed. If I'm really hurting or I can't sleep I might take 1.5 or 2 at bedtime. Even that throughout the day feels like a lot. I was taking less narcs and taking naproxen for a week or so which worked alright, not nearly as well, but then I realized my kidneys probably hated me between the naproxen and the maxxed out dose of meloxicam over the last 3 months. Was going to add more tylenol and take out some narcs but there's no real evidence that the reward of >325 mg dosing is worth the risk of hepatic toxicity. I'm ready to get this MRI, even though it's going to blow laying supine for that long, gonna have to zonk me out for that, find out exactly what needs to be done, do it and be done with all these meds, doctors and other nonsense.

Any change in position will elicit at least one snap, crackle or pop from my back or shoulder. The chiropractor doesn't even adjust me, just does traction and ultrasound because he's not comfortable with "all the noises you make until I can actually see what's going on in your spine so we don't make this even worse."

 

[UnkiEMT]

I'm one of those stupid people that refuses to take pain meds. May have just not been in enough pain, yet though :unsure:

For me, there's a threshold before which I don't take pain killers, It's somewhere around the "aches" line...the way I figure it, if my shoulder is injured, but doesn't hurt, I'll be a dumbass and forget to favor it.

When it becomes serious pain, though, I'm all about the pain killers. I've injured myself a many times, and been in a great deal of pain. It's not much fun, I don't see any reason to endure it for the sake of enduring it.

That being said, there are times when there are other reasons to skip the pills, when I'm working for example, in which case I just deal with it.

I can see how having your early experiences could change the math on the good idea vs bad idea scale.

A side issue, I don't know about anyone else, but since I've started doing this work, I find myself consistently under-reporting my pain levels, because I'll be damned before I become one of THOSE pts. The scary thing is that I wind up with adequate or even too aggressive pain management.

 

[Epi-do]

So I get news about two weeks ago that my hospital-based employer is closing its doors. April 10th is the day. Friday I have open inguinal hernia repair. So right now I can't work, can't apply for a new job (can't pass a lift test or physical), and will have no full time job after April 10th. I kinda got :censored::censored::censored::censored: on all at once haha.

Will you be on short-term disability after the surgery? If so, even if your doctor hasn't released you to go back to work before April 10th, your employer should have to continue to pay your benefits until you are released by the doctor. I know this, because my husband was in a similar situation a couple years ago.

It may not be as much money coming in as you get while working, but it at least would be something.

 

[alphamikefoxtrot]

Managing pain is critically-important to the healing process. At whatever tolerance / level a person becomes distressed as a result of the pain you then begin to sacrifice a great deal of your metabolic capacity dealing with the stress in your body vs alowing your body to heal from the trauma of surgery (in this case heriopathy). The better rest you're able to allow yourself to get (and by rest I don't mean drooling in front of the TV, I mean overall comfort and quality sleep, most importantly) the better / faster recovery you're going to make. Rest, Hydrate, Recover.

Take the edge off, but don't go over it.

 

[Household6]

Robb, have you looked in to Lidoderm patches? I use them when my shingles flare up, greatest pain relief ever.. and no narcotics.. Just lidocaine..

 

[unleashedfury]

Will you be on short-term disability after the surgery? If so, even if your doctor hasn't released you to go back to work before April 10th, your employer should have to continue to pay your benefits until you are released by the doctor. I know this, because my husband was in a similar situation a couple years ago.

It may not be as much money coming in as you get while working, but it at least would be something.

Epi I don't think he has the Short Term disability option available to him if he gets hurt. Through his employer anyways. And Last I remember to pay for one on your own is kinda pricey.. Not exactly the most affordable thing to do as a EMT.

 

[Handsome Robb]

Epi I don't think he has the Short Term disability option available to him if he gets hurt. Through his employer anyways. And Last I remember to pay for one on your own is kinda pricey.. Not exactly the most affordable thing to do as a EMT.

Damn really!? As a full time employee? How long has he been there? STD generally applies to out-of-work injuries because workman's comp covers at work injuries.

We get:
Medical
Vision
Dental
STD
LTD
AD&D
Then 100k of life insurance (I believe, I can't remember off the top of my head)

All for free unless you want to bump to the PPO then it costs a little but not much. I pay like 9$ a month for an extra 150k of life insurance. They just take $4.50 out of each check every pay period.

 

[Handsome Robb]

Robb, have you looked in to Lidoderm patches? I use them when my shingles flare up, greatest pain relief ever.. and no narcotics.. Just lidocaine..

No I will have to check them out thank you!

 

[TransportJockey]

Hmm made a contact with a news channel photographer today. Might pan out to some freelancing jobs I hope

 

[Handsome Robb]

Hmm made a contact with a news channel photographer today. Might pan out to some freelancing jobs I hope

Nice dude!

 

[9D4]

No I will have to check them out thank you!

They do work. I got them when I shattered my leg a couple years ago. They are very uncomfortable at first, at least for me, but they work. That was my alt to taking narcs.

Also, cadaver lab was a success. I got passed over for being able to cric one, but it was still great. Went 2 for 2 with central lines, 7 for 8 with intubation attempts and got a few IOs and alternative airways.

 

[Handsome Robb]

Cadaver labs are fun. I didn't get to crichs it but I got to place a chest tube.

 

[9D4]

Cadaver labs are fun. I didn't get to crichs it but I got to place a chest tube.

Yeah, I did a hyalin cartilage cric (is it still a cric if it's not the cricoid cartilage??) wasn't what I expected.
I was proud of myself for the central lines, but IO... So much faster and easier. Intubation is easier on an actual body, rather than a mannequin.

 

[Handsome Robb]

I was really looking forward to that dispatch job.

I physically cannot survive on a 66% salary for the next year anyone in the NorCal/Nevada area know of desk jobs that are hiring and pay well? Busted my *** to get this far, got my revert paperwork right him and I'm considering just tossing it and letting my card go.

You're short on medics and have open shifts every day yet you hire two field medics and don't hire the one who's out on disability?

That's a :censored::censored::censored::censored:ing joke.

 

[STXmedic]

Screw that place. That's :censored::censored::censored::censored:ed up.

 

[VFlutter]

Hmm to recert my Basic or not. I am not sure it is worth the paperwork unless I go flight, which is not really that desirable anymore.