T+7 (Pain Management Update)

As mentioned in my last blog post, one of the side effects of the stem cell transplant process is mucositis. For me, it affects both my mouth and my throat. The inflammation that characterizes mucositis is quite painful. Chewing and swallowing irritates the inflammation which makes eating more of a chore than a pleasure.

I enjoy eating, more so that I am confined to a hospital bed. Equally important, I am losing weight (about 5 lbs since entering hospital) so I need to maintain a decent caloric intake. Hence, pain management is not only about comfort but also about making eating less of chore.

The past two days have been spent putting in place a pain management plan. The typical “go to” medications make me feel groggy (I only felt alert enough to write this short post after 3pm). During my last transplant process we settled on Fentanyl patches as the pain medication of choice.

My medical team approved use of Fentanyl patches yesterday. My first patch was applied late yesterday morning. Now, we need to determine if the dosage is appropriate.

Today, the pain was reduced but not to a sufficient level. We supplemented the Fentanyl with Dilaudid® and morphine, both of which make me feel groggy. The combination did reduce the pain to a tolerable level. Based on this information, my medical team will hopefully adjust the fentanyl dosage tomorrow.

I look forward to getting the appropriate fentanyl dosage. I have several projects that I planned for my hospital stay (this blog is one of them) and I’d like to have a clear head so I can work on them.

Thanks for listening,

Mike