As a double mastectomy with reconstruction patient, I made the stupid decision to try to wean off pain medication only two weeks after cancer surgery.
BY Barbara Tako
PUBLISHED May 08, 2018
Barbara Tako is a breast cancer survivor (2010), melanoma survivor (2014) and author of Cancer Survivorship Coping Tools–We'll Get You Through This. She is a cancer coping advocate, speaker and published writer for television, radio and other venues across the country. She lives, survives, and thrives in Minnesota with her husband, children and dog. See more at www.cancersurvivorshipcopingtools.com, or www.clutterclearingchoices.com.
As a double mastectomy with reconstruction patient, I made the stupid decision to try to wean off pain medication at two weeks after cancer surgery.
I was feeling stupid because, well, I guess I was. Over the course of life, I had many procedures and surgeries where I began to feel better after a few days and I certainly felt better from all of them by two weeks. I know it is always wise to complete a full course of antibiotics when they are prescribed and to not stop them early. Symptom management medications, including pain management medications, do not have that same requirement, plus we are taught, wisely, to be cautious of possible addition to narcotic pain medications. Unfortunately, that left me in a claustrophobic box of pain a couple of weeks ago. I stopped early because they are narcotics, not because my pain had strongly improved.
I was feeling stupid because, well, I guess I was. Over the course of life, I had many procedures and surgeries where I began to feel better after a few days and I certainly felt better from all of them by two weeks. I know it is always wise to complete a full course of antibiotics when they are prescribed and to not stop them early. Symptom management medications, including pain management medications, do not have that same requirement, plus we are taught, wisely, to be cautious of possible addition to narcotic pain medications. Unfortunately, that left me in a claustrophobic box of pain a couple of weeks ago. I stopped early because they are narcotics, not because my pain had strongly improved.
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