More meds...

My Mum went to Kerala, South India yesterday. Her older brother (89 years old apparently) just died over the weekend. He was bedridden and very, very ill for a long time, so this was an expected death and, without a doubt, 89 is a very good age to get to! She will be in Kerala for a week and a half, back on 16th Jan.

My wonderful Dad went to the hospital yesterday, on behalf of my Mum, my Husband, AND another friend :-). Mainly to collect all the various medications required by all three. For Husband he came back with 20 Durogesic (fentanyl) pain patches (enough to last maybe 20 days), enough Haloperidol, Celebrex (Celecoxib) and Neurontin (Gabapentin) to last a month, and even aqueous morphine for the breakthrough pain. I know haloperidol is quite cheap, but all the other medicines are not - with the pain patches being the most expensive at just over RM50 for ONE patch. Guess how much that lot cost though? Well, as a local resident, we pay all of RM5 (YES, I said FIVE Ringgit) for the whole bunch - which is amazing! I know that going to a government hospital is not as 'conducive' as a private hospital (especially the waiting time involved), but the cost savings are definitely worth it, and they still have some of the best doctors in the country (like our pain management doctor!!)

The down-side now is that the pain seems to break through earlier and earlier. The first time we tried the double pain patch it kept Husband's pain relatively manageable (not completely gone, but tolerable) for 3 days. The second round was the same. Then it went down to 2.5 days, and as of yesterday it has gone down to less than 2 days per 2 patches. I spoke to the hospice doctor (wonderful person too!!) and he wants me to track the situation for a couple of days, giving Husband aqueous morphine at 15ml per time that the pain breaks through. If the pain is a "constant" as opposed to short break-throughs, then he thinks it is worth while adding one slow release morphine tablet per 8 to 12 hours, to supplement the pain patch and manage the pain better. So, for now, just watch and monitor, and try not to cry when I see Husband suffering :-(.

So, yesterday, at 5.30pm, 2 new pain patches were applied, and 15ml of liquid morphine given, to tide him over till the patches take effect (as the previous pain patches had already given up the ghost as of yesterday morning, and it would take another 12 hours, from appication, for the new patches to take effect). As of this morning, Husband says that the upper spine pain (YES, he now has UPPER - cervical - spine pain as well) is almost negligible, while the lower spine pain (the original location of the pain) is at 3 or 4 in a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being GOOD and 10 being EXTREMELY PAINFUL, and he feels he can manage that for now. As of now he has had his breakfast and is now lying down and resting.

I am off for my 3rd round of physical fitness training (otherwise known as "torture") soon - leaving at 9.30am, for a 10-11am session, and back by 11.15am - leaving Husband with strict instructions to eat a banana and drink some of his Ensure protein drink at 10.30am. Both banana and drink already being set ready next to him - drink in mini fridge, banana on top of mini fridge :-D. I hope I come back with fewer aches than the last round. I am still creaking around the house like an old lady from my last session!

That's it for now folks, please continue to keep Husband in your thoughts and prayers, that he get stronger each day and more able to bear with the pain that he is suffering, and that we can keep up with the pain and control it better and better.

Till next time, stay safe, stay HEALTHY!