Help! Dealing with rib pain – any advice?

This is a direct plea for help. My husband is in absolute agony—he’s suffering from bone pain due to lung cancer metastasis. He is currently staying at the Mayo Clinic following surgery to remove a brain metastasis, and while they administered a Severus tablet at 2:00 PM, by 5:00 PM he was already doubled over in pain. They refuse to offer anything else—they just insist on waiting until 6:00 PM to give him another Severus, which clearly isn't cutting it. He is weeping from the pain; it's heartbreaking to watch him—it's at the point where he just wants to throw himself out the window. To make matters worse, there isn't a single doctor on the floor right now. It's the middle of the night.
Is it actually possible that we are still living in the 17th century? It feels like nobody can help us. We are here in Miami, and we don't have any kind of connection in Washington, D.C. Can anyone please help us!!!!!
electricgardener14

electricgardener14 said:This is a direct plea for help. My husband is in absolute agony—he’s suffering from bone pain due to lung cancer metastasis. He is currently staying at the Mayo Clinic following surgery to remove a brain metastasis, and while they administered a Severus tablet at 2:00 PM, by 5:00 PM he was already doubled over in pain. They refuse to offer anything else—they just insist on waiting until 6:00 PM to give him another Severus, which clearly isn't cutting it. He is weeping from the pain; it's heartbreaking to watch him—it's at the point where he just wants to throw himself out the window. To make matters worse, there isn't a single doctor on the floor right now. It's the middle of the night.
Is it actually possible that we are still living in the 17th century? It feels like nobody can help us. We are here in Miami, and we don't have any kind of connection in Washington, D.C. Can anyone please help us!!!!!
electricgardener14

I am truly sorry for what you and your husband are going through! 😢 I really wish I could help you! You should contact the hospital director immediately. Or reach out to the Secretary of Health, or email the local news outlets—usually, things only start moving around here once the media gets involved!

If you want accountability, start making threats. From what I gather, they’re giving him 10 milligrams of Severus. For an illness like this, that’s a joke—totally insufficient. Hit me up in the PM.

Don't take no for an answer when you talk to the nurse; demand to see the doctor on call, and honestly, don't be afraid to be a total pain in the neck if you have to. The attending physician needs to authorize either some heavy-duty patches or IV morphine right now!

The attending physician just informed me five minutes ago—quite bluntly, I might add—that they aren't authorized to administer any more morphine. Honestly, I’m at a complete loss here... I have no idea who to even approach about this. Please, if anyone knows how to navigate this bureaucracy, I need help.

electricgardener14 said:The attending physician just informed me five minutes ago—quite bluntly, I might add—that they aren't authorized to administer any more morphine. Honestly, I’m at a complete loss here... I have no idea who to even approach about this. Please, if anyone knows how to navigate this bureaucracy, I need help.

How much morphine are they getting right now? Is it Durogesic patches? Or are they hitting them with an IV?

This is absolutely insane. 👎

It’s just 10 mg of Severus every four hours, nothing more.

I can't believe they aren't trying to actually help people deal with the pain... My old man usually ends up needing over 100 milligrams of Severus a day on top of those 200mg Durogesic patches every three days. And honestly, we’ve had to push it up to 300, sometimes even hitting that dose in just two days instead of three. Either they have no clue what they're doing, or they're just total idiots.

Now he’s gone and developed a fever of 100.4—just sitting there, sleeping and whimpering through his dreams. Someone is going to pay dearly for this, I swear to God...

Good grief, there's no way they're only giving him that. They’re almost certainly bundling it with something else. You should ask if they can just sedate him so he stays asleep; I know that's standard procedure for people dealing with severe trauma just so they don't thrash around from the pain. Maybe try catching one of the anesthesiologists for a quick chat. Anyway, the staff at the Mayo Clinic are usually pretty approachable. Rounds are about to start, so just hang out outside his room and grill them with questions.

Durogesic isn't morphine; it's fentanyl. I find it hard to wrap my head around someone on a ward dealing with metastases receiving an oral analgesic... one can only imagine how poor their gastrointestinal mucosa might be. It seems most appropriate for an anesthesiologist to step in and likely coordinate a cocktail of morphine alongside other analgesics... do they have rib PCA at the hospital?

Sam Hall15 said:Durogesic isn't morphine; it's fentanyl. I find it hard to wrap my head around someone on a ward dealing with metastases receiving an oral analgesic... one can only imagine how poor their gastrointestinal mucosa might be. It seems most appropriate for an anesthesiologist to step in and likely coordinate a cocktail of morphine alongside other analgesics... do they have rib PCA at the hospital?

They're getting 10 mg of Severus, which is basically morphine, right?
Can you take that alongside Durogesic? Like, do they start with low doses and gradually ramp them up?

LISTEN, IF YOU HAVE ANY FAMILY MEMBERS IN WASHINGTON, D.C.,
please, for heaven's sake, have one of them pick up those pain relief patches for me. Good grief, I don't know how much longer I can take this. I’ll personally ensure I extract the source of this discomfort myself if I have to. I spent the entire day arguing with my sisters just to get them to give Mom her back medication; she is in absolute agony from being bedridden.

ANYONE CURRENTLY IN THE D.C. AREA, PLEASE—IF YOU ARE BRINGING HER ANYTHING, FIND A WAY TO SMUGGLE THOSE PATCHES IN. Surely someone must have access to them somewhere.

I suspect this won't be effective since the underlying mechanism remains the same; it would be better to utilize two different analgesics that target pain through distinct pathways (central and peripheral effects). Regarding the question of morphine titration... for terminal patients, the risk of dependency isn't the primary concern—the goal is simply to manage the pain... I believe this specific case definitely necessitates an intervention from an anesthesiologist.

electricgardener14 said:This is a direct plea for help. My husband is in absolute agony—he’s suffering from bone pain due to lung cancer metastasis. He is currently staying at the Mayo Clinic following surgery to remove a brain metastasis, and while they administered a Severus tablet at 2:00 PM, by 5:00 PM he was already doubled over in pain. They refuse to offer anything else—they just insist on waiting until 6:00 PM to give him another Severus, which clearly isn't cutting it. He is weeping from the pain; it's heartbreaking to watch him—it's at the point where he just wants to throw himself out the window. To make matters worse, there isn't a single doctor on the floor right now. It's the middle of the night.
Is it actually possible that we are still living in the 17th century? It feels like nobody can help us. We are here in Miami, and we don't have any kind of connection in Washington, D.C. Can anyone please help us!!!!!
electricgardener14

He needs morphine, subcutaneous. Period. Transtec or Durogesic patches work slower, but they last longer. But in this situation, you can't be stingy with the morphine, though obviously you can't overdose him either.

Jesus. 😢

I really hope someone stepped up to help him out. 🙂

Harold Richardson4 said:LISTEN, IF YOU HAVE ANY FAMILY MEMBERS IN WASHINGTON, D.C.,
please, for heaven's sake, have one of them pick up those pain relief patches for me. Good grief, I don't know how much longer I can take this. I’ll personally ensure I extract the source of this discomfort myself if I have to. I spent the entire day arguing with my sisters just to get them to give Mom her back medication; she is in absolute agony from being bedridden.

ANYONE CURRENTLY IN THE D.C. AREA, PLEASE—IF YOU ARE BRINGING HER ANYTHING, FIND A WAY TO SMUGGLE THOSE PATCHES IN. Surely someone must have access to them somewhere.

It’s impossible to just get those patches; the system is designed to make you suffer through red tape until you're exhausted. This damn country.
Just don't give up. You have to be relentless, even a little bit difficult, and demand to see ten different doctors. You know how it goes—in their eyes, you're just a nuisance for actually caring about him.😠

electricgardener14, please just keep fighting. Don't back down. Cry, plead, threaten—honestly, just forget about being polite or following social norms. There's no other way to navigate this broken-down system we're stuck in.

What exactly happened?

This post is incredibly unfair and totally inaccurate...
I actually work in a neighboring department, and I have to say, the staff at the Mayo Clinic are absolutely appalled by what’s being claimed here...
It was actually quite eye-opening to look over the medication logs from the timeframe the patient mentioned; seeing everything they were given completely contradicts her claims that nobody tried to help manage her pain. She's flat-out wrong about that...
Furthermore, there are always two doctors on call in that unit, and I can assure you both were present and accounted for. The records clearly show that multiple anesthesiologists were brought in for consultations on several different occasions...

A close friend of mine was treated at the Mayo Clinic, and I can honestly say she had nothing but wonderful things to say about the doctors and nurses there. Those people are working themselves to death—the workload in that unit is absolutely relentless...
In my opinion, this entire post is dishonest and simply doesn't hold up under scrutiny.
Regardless of what you choose to believe.

Best regards,

Anonymous said:This post is incredibly unfair and totally inaccurate...
I actually work in a neighboring department, and I have to say, the staff at the Mayo Clinic are absolutely appalled by what’s being claimed here...
It was actually quite eye-opening to look over the medication logs from the timeframe the patient mentioned; seeing everything they were given completely contradicts her claims that nobody tried to help manage her pain. She's flat-out wrong about that...
Furthermore, there are always two doctors on call in that unit, and I can assure you both were present and accounted for. The records clearly show that multiple anesthesiologists were brought in for consultations on several different occasions...

A close friend of mine was treated at the Mayo Clinic, and I can honestly say she had nothing but wonderful things to say about the doctors and nurses there. Those people are working themselves to death—the workload in that unit is absolutely relentless...
In my opinion, this entire post is dishonest and simply doesn't hold up under scrutiny.
Regardless of what you choose to believe.

Best regards,

You hit the nail on the head, my friend. I agree that everyone is doing their job AND THAT EVERYONE IS STRIVING TO HELP. The nurses and doctors at our local hospital, where my mother is currently staying, are professional and decent—especially the nursing staff. My mother says she’s well cared for, that she isn't in pain, and that they help her with everything. BUT OUR AMERICAN HEALTHCARE SYSTEM IS IN SUCH A DIRE AND PATHETIC STATE THAT THERE IS NO MONEY, SO THEY CUT CORNERS ON EXPENSIVE, HIGH-QUALITY MEDICATIONS. Honestly, they should just be upfront with families: "Look, we don't have the budget; this specific drug would be better, so please purchase it yourselves if you possibly can..."
My mother was undergoing chemo and had to share a single bed with another woman for six hours while the infusion dripped. She worked hard her entire life and paid into Medicare, just like my late father did, yet when he fell ill, we had to pay out-of-pocket for expensive chemotherapy ourselves. It is a disgrace!
And one more thing, dear friend: those of us fighting alongside our loved ones through these devastating illnesses are particularly sensitive to all of this—not to mention being driven to the brink of panic and madness. I suggest you medical professionals try to find some empathy for us.
Oh, and another thing—our doctor actually told us, "Don't give her false hope." What am I supposed to say to her then? "Mom, you're dying"? Please, tell me, what would you say to your own mother in such a situation?