I hope you are being eloquent with your "recommendations" as to what Meds the hospital should be giving your Grandpa. Doctors don't like being given medical advice on how to treat their own patients whether you have his best interests in mind or not. On the flip side you have the nurses who can't illicit any change to treatment themself, rather must OK it thru the treating Doc, and Nurses are so used to the family coming up with their own diagnosis's and presenting "new" problems, that you have to be careful how you bring it up. Nurses are also not pain specialists. That also goes for most hospital Docs. They treat ACUTE pain, and you throwing around Oxycontin 40mg is something never Rx'ed by a hospital Doc. His job is to treat the acute pain, and by trying to get your grandpa on 10mg of percocet -- he's actually maxed out what he can do for him in terms of take home pills. If you feel like this wont be enough, then talk to his Doc about making sure he gets a pain clinic referral ASAP to be seen before his Perocets run out.
Old people are tougher than us, btw. They've been through hell. Once he's out of the hospital, why dont you re-evaluate his pain score. I think it's admirable that you want to help him, obviously you care for him. Obviously you also have a strong interest in opiates, so you've been exposed to a lot of forum convos and wiki-esque research. Realise what you know is WAYY more than even the Average Physician knows, who again - are there to treat Acute Pain (Fentanyl, Dilaudid, percocet). You may be right, but I imagine you're barking up the wrong tree. The hospital probably has access to OxyContin to provide to patients who come in who are already Rxed this med - but you wont find a Doc at that hospital, outside of a pain clinic, to write a new prescription for it.
Good luck, I hope the best for your grandpa.
I had NO, ZERO, NADA intention of sounding like a Dick in my previous post. Do you know how many people steal meds from family? My wife had her Oxycodone stolen by her teenage sister the same evening she was released from the hospital following a fucking Spinal Fusion. Plus, you're at a drug forum. Not a pain forum. A forum people come to discuss the use and abuse (with harm reduction in mind) of drugs to get high. The question had to be asked. It was of no personal meaning.
you know, reall, IMO...Let your grandpa be the one to evaluate his pain level after hes out of the hospital. Again, i know you're anxious to help him by using knowledge in an area that you feel like you know a lot about. But at the same time, get that referral to a pain clinic for your G-Pa, and have it on the books prior to his meds running out.
One step at a time here.