Pharmacy short handed. Couldn't fill my pain meds after knee replacement. They claimed at first it

[brewens]

didn't come in with their order and probably wouldn't until tomorrow. They came up with it after an hour and a half, so I think they had just not unpacked all their stuff or misplaced it somehow. That turned what should have been about 45 minutes of riding along with my sister and BIL to pick it up and take me home, into three hours.

If you have a choice, like I did, don't sign yourself out before you get confirmation your prescriptions are filled. I could have just stayed to eat lunch and the hospital could easily sent the prescription to another pharmacy for me. My being discharged evidently made it more complicated. On the bright side, the pharmacist thanked my sister for being so nice about the whole thing.

After a rough start, I'm feeling really good. Up in the middle of the night because I crashed hard and slept most of the afternoon and evening. I've had both hips and both knees replace, so I'm getting pretty good at this. Good thing, because I need both shoulders done too. I'm 61. Old sports injuries and hard physical labor caught up with me. I'm doing pretty well considering. I'm retired on disability, don't have a lot of money, but don't need a lot.

[MaryMagdaline]

1. That's a long time to wait for pain medication

I learned late in life to ask for pain medicine to be administered before I leave the hospital. They don’t like to give it out but they do. I still remember the pain I was feeling after wisdom teeth were extracted. About 45 minutes to get the pills and then 15 minutes to take effect. Waiting after major surgery like yours must have been awful.

[brewens]

11. They did give me pain meds right before I left, which is why I got out before lunch. I figured I'd

be home and comfortable, eat my food, then be ready for more meds. The timing should have been about right.

[multigraincracker]

2. I'll never have any big pharmacy fill my prescriptions again.

Like CVS, Walgreens, etc.
I've found 2 local independent drug stores that have outstanding service. They remember me by name, love to talk about my my scripts if asked and don't seem to screw up.
I had one script that I could get anywhere, even though they had to order it. Then they "said" they couldn't get it anymore. Found a local independent druggist that said no problem, and then explained it to me. The drug is too cheap for them to want carry it. He said he had no problem getting it. The drug has saved me from going to the ER for over 20 years. I gave him ten bucks and told him to buy coffee for the crew.

[mgardener]

5. My CVS

Pharmacy knows my name and says hi to me while I'm shopping.
It's in a Target store.

[Auggie]

9. Mom and Pops have been shut down by corporate chains. Chaos ensues.

Same old story

[Hortensis]

15. I hate that we can travel the nation and see the same stores

everywhere (HATE it!), but not the chaos part. My observation is that individual irregularity has been replaced with depressing, soul-killing uniformity but improved order and dependability.

We winter in the boonies in FL, no shopping out there, but there are 3 Walmarts 15 minutes away in three directions, open long hours every day. I'd very gladly trade 2 for a few family stores that may close for a grandchild's birthday or are out of eggs when I need them, but keep the third in case I needed pain medications on Sunday, and, let's face it, a wide range of lower-price staples.

[ProfessorGAC]

16. We Have A NEW One Here

But, the twist is that the pharmacist/owner came from a CVS in another town. (He lives here.)
He realized there was a niche because CVS doesn't accept Blue Cross/Blue Shield. There's no national contract between the 2. We only had a CVS in town.
So, we had hundreds of households who had to go to the Walgreen's in either the bigger town 18 miles south or the much bigger city 20 miles north.
In 7 months, he had enough scrips transferred to be modestly profitable!
An odd case where corporate intransigence actually prompted the opening & success of a tiny independent!
In 99 other cases, what you describe is exactly the case.

[Rebl2]

19. We don't have

any mom and pop’s in my town anymore. I refuse to drive 10 miles away to get a script when I have CVS, Walgreens and a store pharmacy I can go to. The Mom and Pop store we had charged to much for prescriptions compared to the chains. Also the owner was a right winger, as were his pharmacy assistants. I quit going to them several years ago and have found the CVS pharmacy I go to, to be friendly and helpful.

[Throck]

3. Local chain begging for help.

Shorthanded for labor in that area too.

[AverageOldGuy]

4. I read somewhere . . .

. . . on the night of Dec 16, I read somewhere the pharmacists at CVS and Walgreen's will walk out on Monday, Dec 20, to protest shortage of pharmacy techs and low pay for pharmacy techs.

Here are a couple of links, but neither of these is the article I read.

https://www.wlwt.com/article/pharmacists-concerned-with-job-demands-causing-many-to-leave-profession/38489612

https://www.reddit.com/r/pharmacy/comments/qnkkc0/anyone_here_participating_in_the_pharmacy_walk/

[cstanleytech]

6. Well its easiest if you can get your doctor to give you a prescription before any planned surgery.

That's what my doctor did for me before I had 2 artificial discs installed in my neck to replace to 2 bad ones that they had to remove in early November.
That way you have the meds you need when you need them and don't have to wait.

[oldsoftie]

8. Thats a great idea! But I wonder how many are scared to do that

With all the focus on opioids these days. And i'm afraid the govt will go too far, as they usually do, and hurt people who truly NEED these medicines

[cstanleytech]

10. Well, it was the doctor who thought of giving me the prescription's beforehand.

Of course since he probably does a few hundred such surgeries if not more per year he has the experience to knows how save time for everyone involved.
I would probably never have thought about doing it.
Also the surgery was in October 4th so my bad there lol.
For some reason I was thinking November.
As for what he gave me it was a prescription for 80 5mg oxycodone of which I have used a bit over 60 slowly since then when I have a flare up as the neck still gives me pain but its no where near as bad.
Before I was at the point where I was waking up with a grinding feeling in my neck every morning with a blinding headache to go with it.

[Ka-Dinh Oy]

7. In the town next to me half the pharmacy workers left

Meds take longer to fill and the drive through is shut. That is a Rite Aid.

The Rite Aid down the road from me never lost any employees so it has been business as usual.

[Demsrule86]

12. My friend was sent home with no pain meds from knee surgery...told to take Naproxen or

Tylenol...which is ridiculous. The war on pain meds has gone too far IMHO...sorry you had a rough start. They sent my husband home from spinal surgery...and forgot to put his prescriptions in the book they give you. I had to drive back which took over an hour both ways and get it filled at the hospital which took another 40 minutes.

When I got back, he was in so much pain that I had to call an ambulance and take him back to the hospital. He couldn't move. It was over the fourth of July weekend a couple of years ago...and his doctor said he was released too soon on top of the pain meds situation. He spent another week in the hospital.

[Duncanpup]

13. Hope pain disappears fast

[Ilsa]

14. Express Scripts couldn't fill a script

my mother-in-law takes daily for high cholesterol. Fortunately, she will probably be okay if she misses it for short period, but she can't drop it entirely.

[csziggy]

17. Glad you're doing good

After my operation last month (four weeks ago today) my husband drove me home then went back into town to fill my prescription. The hospital had dosed me not long before I was discharged, so I was not hurting while waiting for him to get home with my pain meds. Plus, I had my home made cold packs to put across my tummy where all the incisions were - which helped with the pain a lot.

By the way, those cold packs were the best thing to use while recovering from my knee replacements. One part rubbing alcohol, three parts water. A pint of this in a gallon ziplock, double bag with the zippers facing different directions. Freeze flat. They stay flexible and can be wrapped around the knee (or whatever area needs a cold pack) and stay cold a long time. Put a towel between the cold pack and the area.

Heal fast!

[woodsprite]

18. We have a thing at our hospital called "Meds to Beds"

If you’re in the hospital for a procedure and your doc prescribes something, you can gat a full script from the hospital pharmacy. They charge you, but they take your meds policy and the pharmacy charge was within cents of my regular pharmacy (Walgreens, which was having trouble filling my scripts). They will also do post op supplies.

I will never leave the hospital again without utilizing their service if needed.

[Hortensis]

20. Thanks, Brewens. Lots of good info here.

We made the mistake of picking up a prescription after a procedure in the doctor's office, only to find that he'd written for something that cost nearly $300. (We always tell providers we don't have medication coverage, and zero tolerance for those who don't bother to remember or care.) Since we live out of town, we ended up having to wait for him to get around to sending a new Rx to the pharmacy for a $20-30 oldie, which meant a delay of nearly 4 hours while my husband's local wore off, and then the trip home before we could finally get him in bed.

Glad you're feeling good now, and of course for joint replacements. My husband's had one, a shoulder, so far.