My elderly father has advanced lung cancer, emphysema, and advanced osteoporosis (I hope I spelled all that correctly). He was in extreme pain all the time. His doctor would only prescribe Tylenol!
I called a psychiatrist friend of mine and asked him what to do (he said for Dad to ask for a morphine patch), along with my Dad’s doctor (who would not return my calls) and the hospital’s social worker. Finally, a week and a half later, my Dad’s doctor gave him a low dose morphine patch, which helps a lot more than Tylenol ever did.
Now, in my Dad’s case, the doctor’s do have to worry about respiratory failure, because of the large tumor in his lung and his emphysema. There must be a trade-off between that and quality of life, though.
I think a lot of doctors, based on my vast experiences with them both as a patient and as the parent or daughter of a patient, are afraid to prescribe narcotics, or at least to prescribe them in sufficient doses at which to satisfactorily alleviate severe pain.
When seeking adequate pain relief for myself or a member of my family, I am frequently forced to pull out my “I am a lawyer” card, and it’s the only time I have ever had to play that card.
In your case when you pull out your lawyer card, I’d refer you to another doctor. Intimidation will not get you good medical care!
“Now, in my Dad’s case, the doctor’s do have to worry about respiratory failure, because of the large tumor in his lung and his emphysema.”
Why? When you say advanced lung cancer, I assume we’re talking terminal? If the pain medication necessary to keep a terminal patient comfortable also happens to hasten their death, is that such a bad thing?
I am speaking from experience here. My Father died aged 54 from terminal kidney cancer that had metastasized. I don’t think the cancer is what directly killed him, however. His appetite had been minimal for some time and he was on fairly large doses of Dilaudid for pain. In pill form at first, but at the end he was on a pain medication pump with a liquid form. In the end he died from the combined effects of calorie starvation, and depressed respiration from the pain drugs. Keeping him alive, but in pain, for longer wouldn’t have been any benefit to him or anyone else.