There is no way to completely eliminate pain following a major surgery. It's a huge trauma to the body and the goal of post-surgery pain medication is to help bring pain down to tolerable levels. Additionally, with the current opioid/addiction issues so many areas in the country are grappling with, there has been a move across the board to decrease the amount of narcotics being prescribed for everyone. 21 years ago, prescribers used a very different set of standards to decide what pain meds to give and in what doses.