Me and My Cough Buddy

My Cough Buddy is not cuddly and soft. He’s not plush and comfortable. He might look cute on the outside, but on the inside he’s thick and hard. He’s built of bricks, not of down feathers. And so you wouldn’t give my Cough Buddy to a baby to huggle and you wouldn’t win him at a carnival for your girlfriend. And yet, my Cough Buddy is my comforter, my pain killer, and my new best friend.

One of the biggest changes following surgery is the feeling of pain. PSC and Crohn’s Disease are not really painful diseases. They make you tired, weak, malnourished, and at times, uncomfortable, but never writhing in pain. But countless stitches and 61 staples later, I’m now in constant pain following the transplant. And since pain meds can cause other problems, even in the hospital I was barely allowed to take enough to calm myself down. Only a day after surgery, I was already off of the PCA, where the patient gets to push their own pain meds. Each subsequent day, the doctors tapered my pain meds to the point that I only take a couple a day now.

Since the surgery occurs right at the stomach muscles, almost every activity you do can become painful. Getting up and walking are at least a 4 on the pain scale but even worse are sneezing, coughing, and laughing. My brother is the funniest person I know, but post-surgery he was causing as much pain as he was humor. And so with minimal relief from medicine and every activity causing pain, it can be a pretty brutal experience. And this is where my Cough Buddy saves the day.

I received the Cough Buddy in the ICU, only a day after surgery. The nurse told me that if you pressed him against your stomach when you took deep breaths or needed to cough, it would lower the pressure on your muscles. I initially scoffed at the idea since I was pretty sure he was made of cotton and not Vicodin. But when I began to cough, sneeze, or laugh, I would press him against my stomach muscles and he really would relieve some of the pain. I don’t know how he does it or why it works, but for some reason, my Cough Buddy is the best medicine I have. In a few days, the surgeon will take out my staples and I’ll begin to start feeling a lot better. But until then, with my Cough Buddy (and morphine pills) by my side, I know I’ll be ok.