Arent we always reminding our children not to exaggerate just to make a point and then we catch ourselves saying "I've told you a million times" to do/not do something or other? Well, years ago I started using the word "countless" instead. Now there's one less thing I can be accused of being inconsistent about!
Why this is relevant at all to the matter at hand: of all the prescriptions we had to load up on for post-operative care, the one I had steadfastly avoided was the Percocet (oxycodone) - whatever, it's a narcotic painkiller and I was told that if I could manage without it my digestive system would be a lot better off, plus, hello, it's a narcotic. I put away in a drawer figuratively marked "never." So in the meantime I gave in to the Valium and made do with extra strength Tylenol (no aspirin-related products for 2 weeks on either side of the surgery, so no Advil (which is looking real good right now.)
Sometime in the middle of the night on Saturday I woke up in so much pain (from something related to the giant ace bandage, I figure) that I dug through the drawer I had hidden it in, and took a Percocet. And you know what? The damn thing worked. It worked so well that I stayed awake for a while ON PURPOSE just to enjoy the painlessness. But still I reserved it for nighttime.
Yesterday morning I was in so much pain that I called the dr's service and reached Pat. The first thing she said? Did you tighten the bandage any more than when I put it on you? I told her not really, (ok, so I might have just a little, using the "more is better" theory.) And no, apparently I don't know any better by now. At any rate, she said to take the Valium and Percocet together, every 6 hours. Period. Got it. And it's (mostly) working. Not feeling like a walking Zombie or anything, just a little (more) tired after a couple of hours.
Today at 1:15 there's an appt with the breast surgeon and then we go down and across the street (literally) to the plastic surgeon. I don't even know what to hope for any more. If I could end the day with at least one fewer attachment and one more reassurance from an actual doctor that a lot of this stuff is normal and will get better, that would be awesome.
I desperately want to "turn the corner" everyone keeps talking about. Where is it?
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Hi Rebecca,
ReplyDeleteI am so sorry to read of your pain and I wish that I could lighten your load. Hopefully with each passing day (and Percocet) you will get through this ordeal with less pain every day.
I send you tons of love and all the best wishes.
Luiza
Hi sweetie. I'm so sorry I can't be there to hold your hand and force feed you your drugs... At least I know Rod is doing the former! Don't try heroism right now, healing is slow going sometimes - just take your pills so your body can concentrate on healing, not hurting. You're so right, this is a very twisty journey, with many corners, but know that every day past surgery is another corner you've rounded. You're fantastic. Tia aka the GMOYK or YMOH
ReplyDeleteI'm a firm believer in staying ahead of the pain! Hang in there, kiddo, there will be an end to this. Really!
ReplyDeleteDefinitely take the percoset! It was my best friend for over 3 weeks. I loved it! Hope you have been getting my posts and E mail. Karen Charne
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