At the hospital, taking medicine is great. All you have to do is press a button--that is, if you're awake to do it. (But then your parents or friends can do it for you.)
Once you're on your own at home, though, you'll be taking pain pills throughout the nights. If you're like me, you might have a few problems with that.
First of all, I don't like to drink anything (especially water) in the middle of the night, and definitely not two seconds after I wake up. After a while of taking my pills with water and feeling sick afterwards, it was time to try something else. I tried Capri Sun, water, grape juice, and who knows what else. But I found that Ensure was the only thing that didn't make me feel sick. Plus, I still wasn't eating much at that time, so it was good for me to be drinking.
Tip number two: Buy straws. It's really hard to swallow a pill while lying down. And trust me, as often as you'll be taking these pills, you won't want to keep getting up and down every time. I was able to lift my head up and take it with a straw. Less choking and no sleeping on a wet pillow.
(I was perfectly capable of eating on my own, but my sister took advantage of the opportunity.) :)
No matter how tired you are or how you feel, at first it's wise to take your pain meds faithfully. You'll probably pay for it later if you don't. Every four hours I took mine, and I'm glad I did. But I was really able to back off of it about a month later (approximately).
I know this surgery and recovery is sort of a trial-and-error thing, but I want to give you any helpful tips (no matter how small or seemingly insignificant) to make it that much easier for you.
