Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Home Again

We felt like Dorothy when we walked into the house tonight: "there is no place like home."  Even a nice hotel room is not fun when you don't feel well.

We both slept fitfully last night--worried about the drug interaction.  The doctor cautioned me to "monitor Ernie's breathing".  So much was happening during the appointment, I didn't even think to ask her what she meant by that.  As bedtime approached, I decided to set the alarm for 1 hour intervals so I could wake up and check on Ernie.

This morning, I decided to call the triage nurse to see if this is really necessary.  Turns out, it is the prudent thing to do at least for a few days.  Although JH has not lost a patient due to this drug interaction, it is reported in the literature.  The only other option is to wait two more weeks--the time it takes to gradually withdraw him from the fentanyl painkiller (an opiate)--before addressing the thrush, somthing the docs do not want to do.  Just call us "sleepless in Winston-Salem." 

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