HCal,
OMG!! I wish you pain relief as soon as possible. This is a very tough situation you are in. It is so hard to hold on longer than expected for that medicine. Stuck in that bed and the nurses changing all the time asking me the same questions over an over. Don't they have this stuff on the chart??? I had a similar situation when after being checked out of the hospital after my MVD. I soon had to go to an emergency room at another hospital for complications from the surgery. I got moved to a regular floor. The resident neuro saw me the first day but never got back to me for my 5 day stay. What????? My surgeon spoke by phone with my hospital doctor (resident?) but only a couple of times. Surgeon was a couple of hours away and and did not have privileges there. They were not familiar with MVDs except for the resident neuro who was not around. I was in severe pain at times and needed stronger pain medicine at times. When I did not get it in time it was rough. I had a very noisy roommate that also was disturbing. The nurses are pulled in seven directions at once so I don't blame them for not giving me the pain medicine on time. Pressing the call button more than once was not going to help. If I had a visitor, they were able to run down the resident in the hallway to get attention.