It's inevitable. If you take certain classes of drugs for pain medicine, a lot of very odd things happen to your body. I started this chapter thinking I was going to describe in detail the effects, but quickly realized many of these would not be appropriate for my family-based blog. Instead, I've decided to play a word-association game in this post, where I will imply what the undesirable side effect is and invite you all to imagine it, realizing some of you may have context and really "get it", whereas others are lucky enough to have not experienced anything like it.
So here we go.
So here we go.
A. Constipation: Also referred to as "Stuck in the middle with poo." A very painful condition where your digestive track pretty much turns to concrete. Can last several days.
B. Diarrhea: Also referred to as "the breaking of the damn" whereby condition A is alleviated by condition B. This is a cyclical series of events where one just repeats A, then B, then back to A and B, etc.
C. Incontinence (pronounced in continents). Unbelievably, this has hardly anything to do with traveling the continent of Europe, staying in youth hostels and hiking around the Swiss country side.
D. Bertie Go (actually spelled Vertigo but I'm positive this is they're saying) Bertie Go). I wasn't really sure about this one, but it seems to be related to someone named Bertie who can't tell down from up and falls down a lot, possibly due to extreme dizziness.
E. Partial hearing loss from whole brain radiation. (Might explain Item - D Bertie Go).
F. Extreme fatigue - Sorry. I fell asleep while writing this.
G. Cold symptoms - stuffy nose, congestion, etc. If you have allergies you pretty much endure this all the time. I was on allergy shots before all this happened and had to stop. So I'm getting this one doubly bad.
H. Back pain - if you've been reading this whole blog, you're likely aware that back pain is where the journey began.
I. Broken bones - that's right, some of these meds cause bone weakness that makes it a lot easier for a patient to bruise or break a bone. Couple that with the fact that I have bone damage from the cancer, particularly in my spine, and you'll know why I walk with a cane. I can't afford to fall down go boom!
J. Numbness/tingling legs. This one has caused me to sit on the edge of the bed at night and rub my legs. I don't think there is anything about numbness that is comfortable, as Pink Floyd would have you believe.
K. Inability to make strong decisions. I don't think I've suffered from this particular side effect, but I may have at certain times. I couldn't really decide whether to even mention it in this posting. I asked Connie and Mom and both said it was my decision to make, and I agree with that; so I flipped a coin. Heads for yes, post it; tails for skip it. It was tails so I went for best of 3 flips. Tails prevailed again but to ensure I'd considered all aspects of the decision before making it, I drew straws, played some mumbly peg and in the end threw a dart at a paper on the wall that had the words "Post" and "Don't Post" on opposite sides. It came up post so here it is. Of course I can't decide what to say about it so I'm just going to let you all figure it out for yourself. Be decisive. That's my advice; I think.
L. Blurred vision - I hope Robin Thicke and Pharell don't read this; or Marvin Gaye for that matter.
M. Insomnia - this is quite possibly the bane of my existence. If I can't sleep, I can't function the next day. If I take too many sleep aids, I can't wake up all the way the next day. So between the fatigue and the insomnia, it's a tough row to hoe. I had an employee in Ohio who asked me once "what's a rode-a-ho?"
Sometimes these can happen more than one at a time, and if it does it is very difficult to deal with. Especially if it involves any part of the digestive tract. Planning is essential in these times as you can't ever tell when a situation might become urgent, if you know what I mean... All in all I find it better to stay close to home as much as possible.
There are many other potential side effects. These are only the most common.
In my next post, I'll be talking about the cyber-knife experience from December of 2016. I'm catching up to real time, slowly but surely. If I had started blogging from the beginning, I think I'd be current, but at that time it just seemed too daunting of a task and I wasn't comfortable sharing a lot of this information. Now, as intended, I'm finding it helps me keep a good attitude, and also like the fact that I may be helping other people struggling with this (or any) disease to cope and see the good side whenever possible. Please feel free to share the link with anyone you think might benefit from the content.
Take Care,
JenMc
B. Diarrhea: Also referred to as "the breaking of the damn" whereby condition A is alleviated by condition B. This is a cyclical series of events where one just repeats A, then B, then back to A and B, etc.
C. Incontinence (pronounced in continents). Unbelievably, this has hardly anything to do with traveling the continent of Europe, staying in youth hostels and hiking around the Swiss country side.
D. Bertie Go (actually spelled Vertigo but I'm positive this is they're saying) Bertie Go). I wasn't really sure about this one, but it seems to be related to someone named Bertie who can't tell down from up and falls down a lot, possibly due to extreme dizziness.
E. Partial hearing loss from whole brain radiation. (Might explain Item - D Bertie Go).
F. Extreme fatigue - Sorry. I fell asleep while writing this.
G. Cold symptoms - stuffy nose, congestion, etc. If you have allergies you pretty much endure this all the time. I was on allergy shots before all this happened and had to stop. So I'm getting this one doubly bad.
H. Back pain - if you've been reading this whole blog, you're likely aware that back pain is where the journey began.
I. Broken bones - that's right, some of these meds cause bone weakness that makes it a lot easier for a patient to bruise or break a bone. Couple that with the fact that I have bone damage from the cancer, particularly in my spine, and you'll know why I walk with a cane. I can't afford to fall down go boom!
J. Numbness/tingling legs. This one has caused me to sit on the edge of the bed at night and rub my legs. I don't think there is anything about numbness that is comfortable, as Pink Floyd would have you believe.
K. Inability to make strong decisions. I don't think I've suffered from this particular side effect, but I may have at certain times. I couldn't really decide whether to even mention it in this posting. I asked Connie and Mom and both said it was my decision to make, and I agree with that; so I flipped a coin. Heads for yes, post it; tails for skip it. It was tails so I went for best of 3 flips. Tails prevailed again but to ensure I'd considered all aspects of the decision before making it, I drew straws, played some mumbly peg and in the end threw a dart at a paper on the wall that had the words "Post" and "Don't Post" on opposite sides. It came up post so here it is. Of course I can't decide what to say about it so I'm just going to let you all figure it out for yourself. Be decisive. That's my advice; I think.
L. Blurred vision - I hope Robin Thicke and Pharell don't read this; or Marvin Gaye for that matter.
M. Insomnia - this is quite possibly the bane of my existence. If I can't sleep, I can't function the next day. If I take too many sleep aids, I can't wake up all the way the next day. So between the fatigue and the insomnia, it's a tough row to hoe. I had an employee in Ohio who asked me once "what's a rode-a-ho?"
Sometimes these can happen more than one at a time, and if it does it is very difficult to deal with. Especially if it involves any part of the digestive tract. Planning is essential in these times as you can't ever tell when a situation might become urgent, if you know what I mean... All in all I find it better to stay close to home as much as possible.
There are many other potential side effects. These are only the most common.
In my next post, I'll be talking about the cyber-knife experience from December of 2016. I'm catching up to real time, slowly but surely. If I had started blogging from the beginning, I think I'd be current, but at that time it just seemed too daunting of a task and I wasn't comfortable sharing a lot of this information. Now, as intended, I'm finding it helps me keep a good attitude, and also like the fact that I may be helping other people struggling with this (or any) disease to cope and see the good side whenever possible. Please feel free to share the link with anyone you think might benefit from the content.
Take Care,
JenMc
Who knew Steelers Wheel and Pink Floyd would play such a roll in shaping your future. What's a Rode-a-ho?
ReplyDeleteThe one (and best) thing that seems to be intact is your wit and sense of humor. I could relate to so many of those in your list, and would add my least personal favorite, N for Nausea.
ReplyDeleteRode-a-ho - I'm still laughing at that one!
As always, your delightful way with words is entertaining and full of truths. I appreciate your art of sharing and your honesty. Your days are not easy. Some better than others and I am so glad you have those good moments. Your experiences remind me to enjoy the important things in life: love, fun, and kindness.
ReplyDeleteOur high school friend John (Moose) McCallister commented to me privately on Facebook messenger after reading your blog: "Hi Vicki. I am reading your sister's blog. Just started today. Having been near the cancer crap, I appreciate what she is doing. She probably does not remember me, but please tell her she is helping people. jmc"
ReplyDelete