Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Pain Management

It is hard to believe that two weeks ago today Ernie rang the bell signifying the end of his radiation treatments.  Since then the skin on his neck has turned from Hawaiian tan, to sunburn and now to a blistered mess.  His throat has also gotten increasingly sore.  No wonder, if the outside is worse I guess it stands to reason that the inside is worse as well.

Since narcotic painkiller prescriptions must be written in-state, today we visited Ernie's primary care doctor to get refills.  Between the doctor's office, the pharmacy and a stop at the supermarket to get more pudding, we were only gone for a few hours.  Still, Ernie was exhausted by the effort. 

Looking back at the discharge notes from the doctor, he cautioned that we may not see any improvement for at least two weeks.  Unfortunately, it looks like he was right.  Ernie is such an over achiever, I guess we set our sights too high in terms of conquering the pain.  Despite the pain, however, Ernie has been doing a stellar job of maintaining his weight and consuming his three puddings per day.  And, we still wake up every morning optimistic about his recovery. 

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