Back in 1983, I got ibuprofen before the surgery. There may have been something in the IV after, but I kind of doubt it. On the second night, the nurse came around and asked if I wanted the pain pill or the pain shot to help me sleep. I asked if I had to have either, because I hadn’t had any problem the night before. She didn’t believe me at first, but checked my charts. It had been missed. And since it hadn’t been a problem the night before, she just let me go back to sleep. So, yeah, things get missed sometimes.
Post-surgery hurt, but not nearly as much as a solid gallstone attack had. No one ever identified what was in either the pill or the shot, so I don’t know what I missed. This was a County hospital, so they may have been a little more stingy with the pain meds. I was the only patient on the ward not there for something drug or alchohol related. For awhile I thought that the woman who had been shot in the belly was another exception, but found out that she and her boyfriend had been drunk at the time of the argument.
The nurses liked me. I didn’t ask for pain meds or complain at them. And if they told me to do something, I did it, even if it hurt. I was surprised that it took that little to be the good patient.