Re: Another One Bites the Dust!
Posted: 20 Jul 2013, 11:36
I'll slip in another update for those who are following the saga. Last week, I mentioned the Gabapentin tablets that I'd been prescribed to fight the nerve pain that I was getting and I also mentioned that I'd had to go straight to the maximum dose. They brought me relief for a few days but then my least favourite pain came back with a vengeance. This is the one like hives that encompasses my right breast down into the tissue and then runs in a band under my arm and over my right ribcage. It feels hyper sensitive to touch as though the skin and tissue has been badly sunburned. The only respite was to sit still with no shirt on. As it was late in the week I suffered it through the weekend and called Simon the hospice nurse first thing on Monday morning. He was great. He consulted the cancer specialist doctors and the physio at the hospice and by Monday afternoon I had been fitted with a tens machine and got a new prescription for steroids.
The tens machine sends an electric current into the path of the nerves running from the source of the pain to the brain with the intention of getting the brain to focus on the new pain instead of the old one. It does bring relief but temporarily and it's a bit of faffing about as the electrodes have to go on your back and in this hot weather the gel's got sweaty and they keep moving around.
The steroids, however, hit the sweet spot and although the sensitivity is still there it's barely noticeable. So now I'm up to 14 tablets a day plus the machine and I've had to create a chart on my laptop so I can keep track of when I take them all. Of course they all have different possible side effects but the steroids are my favourites. The best (and fairly common) are feelings of mania and seeing things that aren't there. If, after taking them for three weeks, I stop without a slowdown routine, my blood pressure will drop dramatically and I may die. Still, if they stop that pain, I'll happily see fairies at the bottom of the garden (Actually I think I did, yesterday
).
So I had a happy few days as the steroids are also 'uppers' and improve your feeling of well-being and energy. But yesterday a new pain developed lower down in my back - like a constant muscle pain - and that's kept me awake for two nights. Hopefully it will go away again but Simon's coming round on Monday so we'll see what he says. The only one of my tablets I can increase is the steroids so it may mean something else. But it's a bit worrying that I'm having to increase painkillers so quickly. I worry that if the next level is morphine based I may have to give up driving already which would be too soon.
Speaking of which, I've traded my Mazda for a little Toyota Yaris so that Tom, who fresh back from Uni is making another attempt at passing his test, can use it to drive me about. Then when I have to give up I can give it to him - and hopefully he will still be willing to drive me about if I can find him!
Next week we'll see what Simon says about my new pain - but hopefully it will have moved on by then.
Ian
The tens machine sends an electric current into the path of the nerves running from the source of the pain to the brain with the intention of getting the brain to focus on the new pain instead of the old one. It does bring relief but temporarily and it's a bit of faffing about as the electrodes have to go on your back and in this hot weather the gel's got sweaty and they keep moving around.
The steroids, however, hit the sweet spot and although the sensitivity is still there it's barely noticeable. So now I'm up to 14 tablets a day plus the machine and I've had to create a chart on my laptop so I can keep track of when I take them all. Of course they all have different possible side effects but the steroids are my favourites. The best (and fairly common) are feelings of mania and seeing things that aren't there. If, after taking them for three weeks, I stop without a slowdown routine, my blood pressure will drop dramatically and I may die. Still, if they stop that pain, I'll happily see fairies at the bottom of the garden (Actually I think I did, yesterday
).So I had a happy few days as the steroids are also 'uppers' and improve your feeling of well-being and energy. But yesterday a new pain developed lower down in my back - like a constant muscle pain - and that's kept me awake for two nights. Hopefully it will go away again but Simon's coming round on Monday so we'll see what he says. The only one of my tablets I can increase is the steroids so it may mean something else. But it's a bit worrying that I'm having to increase painkillers so quickly. I worry that if the next level is morphine based I may have to give up driving already which would be too soon.
Speaking of which, I've traded my Mazda for a little Toyota Yaris so that Tom, who fresh back from Uni is making another attempt at passing his test, can use it to drive me about. Then when I have to give up I can give it to him - and hopefully he will still be willing to drive me about if I can find him!
Next week we'll see what Simon says about my new pain - but hopefully it will have moved on by then.
Ian
The memsahib popped in a few little moans recently and I've reacted. I've had some ladies in to do a garden makeover, a man in to do an oven clean and I'm having the carpets done next week. I'm husband of the year and I haven't had to lift a finger except to make phone calls!
Best wishes EricT