Wouldn’t It Be Nice…

This article was featured in our weekly newsletter, the Liberator Online. To receive it in your inbox, sign up here. Last Friday, I had surgery for the first time. Don’t worry… It’s nothing major, and I’m back at work already. Kinda. The pain from the incisions and the stitches, both internal and external, is the worst part. To help me manage it, I was prescribed a narcotic painkiller. In addition to pain management, I was warned about the nausea that often follows anesthesia. The opiates did nothing for me in that regard, and I spent virtually the whole trip home with my head out the window to combat the nausea I experienced. Unfortunately, I live in Indiana, where legislators are slow to accept that cannabidiol, a compound found in marijuana, can be used to alleviate pain in place of opiate narcotics, as I was prescribed. Cannabidiol can also alleviate nausea. With the prospect of vomiting being among the worst things that could happen after abdominal surgery, it would have been great not to worry about it. The side effects of the opiate I was prescribed include lightheadedness, dizziness, anxiety, nausea, vomiting, upset stomach, drowsiness, constipation, headache, mood changes, blurred vision, ringing in your ears, dry mouth, and difficulty urinating. My biggest struggles are with concentration and train of thought. When I take them, I don’t have the ability to follow the plot of a sitcom. Seriously, I wanted to binge-watch the 4th season of House of Cards during my downtime, but I wasn’t able to concentrate on the 6 episodes of Fuller House (and mindless sitcoms backed up on my DVR) that I watched instead. I’ve also found that I am likely to be trying to have a conversation, only to trail off mid-sentence and be unable to complete the thought or return to it. Wouldn’t it be nice if my doctor and I could find the BEST way to manage my post-op pain and nausea without the concentration issues that may have made this post unintelligible?