OK, so I am lying in bed last night, not sleeping well as usual and I started thinking about last week when I felt so awful. I now realize why. It was not the chemo at all that caused all the nausea and other symptoms, I was having severe withdrawal from the Methadone pain med I was on. I decided to take it through the weekend of Mieke's wedding, but on Monday when I started chemo I thought, I will stop taking it. Now when I look it up and read about how you are suppose to stop SLOWLY or you will suffer, I realize how dumb on my part. No one told me this, they did not say anything at Freedom Inn on my discharge from there. My oncologist/surgeon and his nurse knew I was on it and they never mentioned how I should gradually decrease taking it.....So, I am mad at myself for not reading better the papers you get when you get a new prescription?? I just threw them away. I did remember my friend Karen saying once briefly, aren't you supposed to decrease that slowly? I should have listened to her better. I am glad to realize that I am not going to be sick all summer with the chemo, and why the drugs I was taking for all the nausea was just not doing anything.
Enough about that mistake, I rode my bike to a friends this am and we did some garage sales. That was fun. Got my house cleaned today, this is the last of many cleanings from my dear neighbor girlfriends as a gift. Thank you , thank you, so very much appreciated!!
Oh Debbie....I should have asked you about ALL the meds you were on ( or off!) I think this still proves what a smart nurse you really are. Sometimes these aha moments have to come in the middle of the night when our minds are quieted from the distractions and moments of the day. This was another God moment. Hopefully your residual symptoms will lessen day by day. What a fun morning we had. I can't wait to take my little Chicken Dance Elmo to work for the children.
ReplyDeleteKaren K.
Hi Deb,
ReplyDeleteA good reminder to actually read those pages of info. I tend to dump them too.
We will certainly be praying for Mieke. Oh my, this sounds like the perfect position for her. Those would be some VERY fortunate kindergarteners!!!!!
Kent made it through about 6 hours of work today and then had to come home. He was so tired. His chemo scedule is every 2 weeks on Thursday. He stays there several hours and then goes home with the pump til Sat AM.
Now we just have to figure out how to entice him to eat. Being gluten free is a little more tricky. But I've been on the websight: All recipes.com and have gotten some good ideas.
You continue to amaze me - biking to garage sales???!!! Great! If you find a 16 inch boys bike - let me know. I'm not so good at the garage sale thing.
oops - that last comment was from me - Linda B
ReplyDeleteDon't you love when you finally get one of those light bulb moments? When Gary was going through his treatments, that was the hardest part for me....keeping track of all his meds. I was like a fiend reading up on all of it and making sure he got the correct dosage. I'm glad you figured it out, one less thing to divert you attention from the real goal of becoming healed. It's been a year now and Gary is still in remission......your turn next! Let us know if there is anything we can do for you.
ReplyDeleteI'm still praying for you, Deb Rollans
I think doctors and nurses "underteach" those patients who are known to be doctors and nurses! Whenever I have been a patient, I plead with them to just treat me like any other patient they are teaching----just for the reason that you just described. I am so sorry you have been living a week of withdrawal symptoms, but I am glad you figured it out on your own and I am super-happy that it was not the chemo after all!
ReplyDeleteEllen J