@emilybee I have cringed at all of your posts because it sounds so painful. Glad you are improving.
@rom828, thank you.
Toast experiment was successful - just had to tear off little bits but was able to chew them. 
Off to the market to buy much needed food since I haven’t bothered in 3 weeks. H has been working very late anyway (got NYS PR disaster aid stuff dumped in his lap last week) so no need to have much in the house for him either.
And the pendulum swings the other way. I remember stories of terminal cancer patients dying in agony in the 70s, as the 80s loosened up the opiate options, now it’s become a storm of addiction to opiates and eventually it will be difficult to obtain them again.
I cannot do opiates, they make me sick, I would generally rather tough it out, though I wish the hospital had offered me the tylenol as well as the advil, post op, since it hurt pretty bad. I do, though, always fill those Rx for opiates and keep the freshest bottle in the first aid kit, just in case someone breaks a leg when we are hiking etc.
It’s great to see a new trend, but I do hope the medical professionals are allowed to recognize that people react differently, I react strongly to most meds, struggle with anesthesia and opiates, DH is the opposite, it takes a horse sized dose of anything to affect him. One kid is like me, one is like him.
If you’re interested in learning about opioids, read this excellent New Yorker article about the Sackler family of Purdue Pharma and how they used opioids to get rich. Really, really rich.
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/10/30/the-family-that-built-an-empire-of-pain
I’ve had a few bouts with kidney stones, always when it wasn’t possible to see a doc fast. Once, I drove myself to the hospital. Now, with this accumulated experience, I know what’s the stone vs, say, a muscle ache or pull. I know when to try the ibuprofen, regular or the 800. But if bad, I need more. I’ve had this enough that I can tell over hours, how it’s hitting me, when to actually see the doc. (Key is watching to see if this resolves itself with the right painkiller or needs a doc.)
My doc gave me the talk about restrictions, reporting, etc, how I could call after hours, have an Rx called in. But that doesn’t put them in my hand. Imagine trekking to the overnight pharm in that condition.
Plus my doc practice isn’t open Sat night or Sunday. I asked for 4 tablets, he wrote for 12. It’s 10 months and they sit in a safe place, unused. Trust me, I can usually take just 2-3 rounds, then revert to regular ibu. My doc knows me well enough to trust me.
I called my oral surgeon because of improvement and I can cut in half amount of Advil/Tylenol per day and by half again in a week if improvement continues at a good pace. Of course I still need to do the exercises heat, massage and PT for now.