Facing major surgery and very scared

I’m new to posting here, though I’ve read a lot and am really impressed with this community. So I’d like to give a little background and maybe you guys can chime in with exactly how screwed you think I am.

I’ve been on subs since January 2011. Previously, I was on oxy, which helped with pain and diarrhea from having Crohn’s disease. I was having massive flare-ups from Crohn’s, and the oxy worked better than anything else, which is how I got carried away.

Anyway, initially I wanted to do a quick taper, as it wasn’t my intention to stay on subs for long. However, I realized subs helped with my Crohn’s in the same way oxy did, and I opted to stay on. Problem is, I was still having a lot of pain, and I upped my dose to 14 mg a day, which is where I’ve been for a while. While my Crohn’s has been in remission (knock on wood), I have another problem rearing its head. In 1999, I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease that affects my liver, though it was never that bad. Until now. My doctor tells me I need a liver transplant and is aiming for it to happen from six months to a year from now.

This will require about a week in the hospital and another six to eight weeks (estimate) to recover at home. Needless to say, I’ll need real pain meds. Here’s the problem: I know I need to start tapering ASAP (already started), but I don’t know exactly which route to take. Going completely off subs sucks under normal circumstances, but I’m going to be feeling even worse. The other side of that coin is that it might help me take advantage; if I get sick from WD, I can blame it on my liver (I work full time, though largely from my home, thankfully). The other option is tapering to a low enough point to where I can switch to Percocet, which I will probably end up on anyway. I just have no idea how I would go about doing that.

While I definitely will talk with my sub doc, liver doc and everyone else about this, I’m just curious what you guys think, as I value your opinions. I sincerely appreciate any constructive advice in advance.

Right now your best bet is to have your sub Dr an the Dr doing the operation talk with eachother and form a plan that best works for you! And da reason i say this is bc u hve certain medical issues that have to b taken into consideration bfore you choose a plan. And besides the Dr non of us are truly qualified to give you a safe answere.
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Yes these drugs saved our life's. But does that mean we have to give the rest of our life to these drugs?

Indeed, I suppose I should take advantage of whatever time I have to plan this. It's still early in the process, as I still have to meet the transplant team and I will see my sub doc this week (the first time after learning of my transplant).

One thing I know is I will do whatever I can to document this whole thing. I'm tempted to view it as an opportunity to write a book, as I'm a journalist and always think of life experiences in these terms. I know that might sound silly, but if I'm going to go through this, I want to get something out of it, ya know?