Watch out for pain medicines

Just a note of caution about the class of oxycodone drugs that are so readily prescribed after surgery. The side effects can be life threatening. I just took care of a friend who had back surgery and they gave her a huge supply of Percoset (Tylenol and oxycodone) to deal with the pain. The advice was to take it regularly to keep ahead of the pain. So she did and also followed the protocol to prevent the side effects. But she (and now I hear lots of stories of others) suffered severe and potentially life-threatening side effects of intestinal blockage and then hemorrhaging, and mental disorientation and hallucinations. Luckily she is now recovering from what is turning out to be successful back surgery. So if you must take these painkillers, get yourself off of them as soon as possible and make certain that you have a support system in place if you do suffer the side effects.