The most pressing issue for the orthopaedic team was my left shoulder, which was visibly dislocated. Before attempting to reattach it, the doctor told me I would be given a dose of fentanyl: an opioid that is up to 100 times more potent than morphine. He went away, returned and started using a bed sheet to try to pop the shoulder back into the socket. Alarmed, I told him that I had not been given any pain medication. He didn’t believe me and kept using the bed sheet to try to yank my shoulder back into place. I was howling in pain as I underwent what felt like an excruciating form of medieval torture. When a nurse walked by, the doctor asked her how much fentanyl she had given me. She said she had not given it to me yet.
Horrifying.