Yep ....pain is “whatever they say it is.”
Dude sitting there wolfing down a cheeseburger in the hospital bed gets his immediate dilaudid dose because he says his pain is a 10!!
You nailed it.
Have played an unwilling role in this dark comedy too many times. But...it is changing, hence the heroin/fentanyl abuse.
Who woulda thunkit, eh?