With the death of Whitney Houston, and stories of her life of excess filling the media, I was reminded of my own experiences at the time of surgery.
When the anesthesiologist visited before I was taken into surgery, he asked if I'd like something before I left pre-op to “calm me down.” I was surprisingly relaxed (given I had never had surgery before) but, being a child of the sixties and living by the motto “take anything they offer you”, I said, “Sure!” and soon he was back screwing something yummy into my IV.
Following surgery, I don't recall I had any particular pain...but when the nurses asked if I wanted something, I said, “Sure!” and soon they were back screwing something into my IV. This went on for about thirty-six hours. Then it hit the fan...
The difficulty I experienced was, apparently, due to my lower GI being slow to awaken. And my lower GI was slow to awaken due to the pain medication I so eagerly accepted. I could not blame the nurses, they only responded to what I told them. Nope, I did it to myself; and it delayed my release by another day and one-half.
Lesson learned: “Sometimes that which we accept in an attempt to avoid potential pain can inhibit our growth and healing.”
True beyond the hospital
I ended up in the hospital after being injured on a construction project in Utah. One of my visitors during that time was a coworker who had studied with a Native American medicine man and his advice was quite similar. He strongly encouraged me to "confront my pain head-on" and not "use it as a way to hide from discomfort." He said medication was useful in dealing with real pain but Nature had a way to 'collect with interest' if it was used to hide.
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