In May of 2009 I was accidently diagnosised with a long brain tumor (it was found when they were looking for something else). The surgery went well, the tumor was not cancereous, but my pain was not managed well in the hospital (leading cause of persistant post operative pain-PPOP). When I saw the neurosurgeon at three months he asked if I was having any pain and I said yes, he said (very coldly) “people this far out from surgery don’t have pain” Fortunately being a pain management nurse I knew better. I also knew my neurologist at that time was not good at pain management so I decided to have my PCP work with me to manage it (fortunately he has always respected me as a pain management nurse). I have a low level of pain nealy all the time but there are times when it gets bad, feeling like an ice pick or screw driver stabbing at my brain at the sutures (which is where the pain is; I have about a 1/4 inch depression where the piece of skull was put back in place. Sometimes it aches unbareably. Negative stress is my most common reason for breakthrough pain. Like most people when pain is bad I become terribly despondant. Fortunately my pain plan works well.
Do you have PPOP?