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Don't you think a 51-year old neurosurgeon is far more knowledgeable than you about pain levels and management of his surgeries rather than a mindless legislature or governor?

How do you know 14 days is even sufficient for the specific procedure? Do you even know what it will be? I needed a full 90 days of pain meds last time to make it through recovery and horrendous physical therapy (which is the norm). After that, I had to see a pain management doc for another three months of a lower strength narcotic. These time lengths are within the normal ranges.

We have a state registry that every narcotic is logged into at the time of every RX and then again at pharmacy pick-up. Doctors must look at it to see what has been prescribed/filled by anyone else before prescribing narcotics for any reason. Bottom line is that this easily prevents opioid over-use/abuse.

Bro, I love you, but your off on this one- if you only consider the crisis and not the true needs of the individual patient on a case by case basis...

That would be a felony here, despite true need. Period.

The only two ways around it are for the doctor to prescribe 3-4x what you really need and to use less than what the bottle says by agreement with your surgeon to stretch out the length of time of use. They can also prescribe like 4mg of dilauded that you split into 2mg doses to make the meds last longer. The other alternative is to be under the care of a pain management specialist for a long time( 1-2 years) BEFORE surgery.

To make matters worse, my board certified anesthesiologist/pain management doc is limited to a small number of patients who he can prescribe narcotics for by state law, despite being 100% legitimate. He may even have to kick someone else in need off his list to get me what I **might** need. Most thankfully, we are friends, which might help.

Almost all shoulder surgeries (except for total replacements which are rarely performed) vs. posterior cervical fusion with rods, brackets and screws are entirely different things pain-wise. My mom ( 83 yrs. old) just had shoulder surgery and did not need any pain meds after the second day.

The two are incomparable. Believe me, I have been there.

I think they still burn coal in their furnaces in those states.

Robert, I wasn't comparing pain, brother... I was pointing out that I was waaaaay over-prescribed a potent narcotic.

My buddy joked I could have sold the 40 pills for 10-15 bucks apiece... he worked narcotics.

Back in college, a handful of friends and I decided that for spring break we'd go mountain biking and camping somewhere different. The plan was hatched the night before we left (under the influence of mind altering substances, of course). In the morning we loaded up a VW bus and a hatchback car with camping gear and bikes strapped to the bike racks and roofs of the vehicles.

We didn't really have a destination other then we wanted to go somewhere new but we had one of those road atlas books of the US states. Packed up and drove... and drove... and drove. Made it to somewhere in West Virginia. Tired of driving, we set up a temporary camp off of a dirt road. This wasn't what we were looking for so the next morning we pack up and head out again.

Ended up in the Daniel Boon National Forest in Kentucky. We set up camp on the edge of a small river/stream where we stayed for about 5 days. We had a blast biking through the trails and making it up as we went along. Didn't see many human life forms other than some local and really colorful characters that actually lived there in the back woods. Best I can describe it is a scene from Deliverance.

Anyway.... the river/stream where we set up camp had raw chunks of coal that speckled the stream bed. It's like free charcoal for cooking. NOPE... Big mistake to add them to the campfire. It burned nice and hot but it really stunk up the place and you didn't want to use it for cooking.

Tree 5 NINE!

The continued joy of home ownership.

Have a contractor to keep things running smoothly. Wish he was smoother.

Wonder if the Southeastern combo of heat and humidity is tougher on a furnace/ac until that the Sconniw winters. Maybe ours are heartier, as the suggested lifespan of the units in one presentation was 15-20 years.

At least you don't have to go to the store for fertilizer and tampons. Maybe you could plant cotton.

Found an amazing new shawarma place near the house. Took the fam there tonight for dinner. Best shawarma I have had this side of Tel Aviv. Home made pita, great fallafel... I have a serious belly ache.

Had the same experience one time in Bombay............but at the same time my ass was exploding from the venturi effect all while doing the Poo2Loo dance

You two otta do standup.

Happy Mothers day to any Mothers out there....

Are you breaking up with me?

All this talk about home improvements and stuff, ouch!

Makes me think that renting ain't so bad. With that said, the place I'm in isn't a typical apartment complex. It's a converted old furniture factory and the units are pretty large (that's what she said). It's a pretty quiet complex with some nice amenities. Population ranges from young families to old retirees. Most people keep to themselves yet pretty friendly. There are little social clicks as you'd expect in any small community.

If I were to buy another house again, I'd just be paying rent to the bank for the rest of my life rather than the landlord. Then I'd still have to deal with the upkeep of their investment out of pocket along the way. Even if I cut a 15 yr mortgage I'd be in my late 60's before it's paid off. I'm too old for that $hit.

Tree seven NINE!

Good Mother's Day Sunday Morning! It's 64 on the way to 71 today. Just got back from a Mother's Day Breakfast that one of our Grandsons and his wife put on, had a great time.

Call you Mom or take her out to lunch or dinner. She had to deal with you/me a holes for many years, it's the least you can do.

If your Mom has passed, do something in her honor... like behave yourself, wash behind your ears, brush your teeth, hold a door open for someone or plant a flower in her name.

I dread the day(s) when it comes time for my folks transition to "another existence" or whatever you might call it. They are getting up there in age and I'm not sure I'm ready for it

See... here's the thing... they plan ahead. Plots picked, wills done, money socked away for it so the kids don't have to pay for the stuff.

About 10 yrs ago they had us (me and my siblings) go through the paperwork as "next of kin" thing and the will. That was uncomfortable even contemplating the idea that nobody lives forever... but it is what it is.

It’s not you... it’s me

Power outage.

Bucky, if you owned a house, no one could stop you from feeding da birds!


Well, except the HOA.

The lifeguard is likely there to enforce the "no bird feeders in the pool" rule.

I have a pellet gun for that if need be.

On a side note: I think I might of bruised a rib (get it? side note... rib....).

Took a bike ride earlier today and leaned a bit too hard on a turn. Tires slid out from under me on the sand.... Zip... ***crash*** (they haven't done the street sweeper thingy to clean up the sand from the winter yet. Them bass turds).

It didn't hurt right away but it's kinda painful to take a deep breath. I'd stop breathing but the side effects of doing so would be rather detrimental to my overall health.

Morning gents. Up at 4:00 for an early flight to Austin. Hope my pre-flight routine of antihistamines works. If I don't do it correctly I get an excruciating headache as the plane descends. At one time I swore off ever flying again until I learned how to control it.