Josh
I'll bet that "conservative pain management" UAB doctor would be the first one demanding a fentanyl patch if he were the one experiencing the ear pain. Your description brought back bad memories. All of EricS suggestions are great.
There is no law prohibiting you from getting pain medication prescriptions from your ENT as well as the UAB doctor, although some pharmacies are so bullied by the DEA you might have to switch as I did.
Until the tumor shrank enough to quit pressing on my nerves, I just kept up the opiates and used glycerin suppositories for bowel movements. Laxatives were too unpredictable while the suppositories worked every time and within 20 minutes of insertion.
Oh, and Morphine has been sold by Merck since 1827. Laudanum (Tincture of Opium) has been around since the 1660s. Straight up Opium as pain medication was being used by the Babylonians as far back as 4000 BC. of course without radiation or chemo, base of tongue cancer patients died back then.
Charm