I am now not only a provider of pain relief but I am a pain patient. On the 16th of June 2010 I underwent a partial knee arthroplasty, or a knee replacement that was done to two out of the three compartment of the knee joint, therefore partial, or unicompartmental, knee replacement. I will not go into the difference between a total versus a partial knee replacement as that is the responsibility of an orthopedic surgeon. But I will go into some of the thoughts of a pain patient as I now have a better empathy for the need to relief pain, the thoughts that go through the minds of someone in constant pain, and the understanding that you are not alone.

As a pain patient we constantly wonder if we will have enough medication to relief our pain since the doses we as physicians only have your response to our questions to guide our dosing habits and medications used. What happens if the dose utilized is not high enough? What happens if the dose utilized is too high? What happens if the medication does not work? What happens to us as pain patients when we run out of pain medication since our provider usually will only prescribe and see us once a month? All these questions run through our minds from the time we arise until the time the bed calls our name? I wonder some times because my pain gets so high if a take an extra “dose” of medication? In that scenario in order to reach the months end I will have to forgo a dose or two and our physician may from us from the program since we did not follow his/her directions for taking, for example, one tablet every 4 to 6 hours. But what do those directions mean anyway? We have a medication prescribed 1 tablet every 4-6 hours, that can be 4, or 5 or 6 pills in a 24 time period but our prescription for the month is a 112 tablet, therefore if I take 5 pills some days, some days 6 pills because therapy was extra hard that day, and some days 4 tablets? My pain remains uncontrolled since I do not have enough medication and cannot get additional medication before my next scheduled visit. I am sure in a messy situation calling for one of two responses only; take more medication to control my pain and hope the pain is controlled adequately the last week of the month or take the prescribed 4, of 4-6 hours, and me in pain the rest of the time that is throbbing constantly, sharp at times and radiating at other times. All these situations do exist for the patient in pain. Why does a physician feel that surgery is necessary to relieve a medical condition and than as a patient who has just “knifed” as in an alleyway robbery dosed not feel it is necessary to prescribe adequate pain control medication after the surgery? I cannot answer those questions at this time I can hope that the Lord above places pain patients in my path that I will be able to understand and control their pain. And as a final though; I DO feel your pain, 24 hours a day and 7 days a week.