[5/31/12] Thank you, Mr. Freund and Mr. Speyer.

Someday I would like to personally thank Mr. Freund and Mr. Speyer, who, according to wikipedia, invented percocet, also known as oxycodone, at the University of Frankfurt in Germany in 1916.

Oxycodone has become one of my lifelines the past few weeks. My doctor first put me on Tylenol with codeine after my laparoscopy, but after a couple of days of very little sleep and very strange dreams when I did finally fall asleep, I knew it wasn't for me. I called my doctor and he prescribed oxycodone, and we got along really well. I could sleep, my pain was controlled, and life was good.

I had my doctor send me home with a prescription for oxycodone for my hysterectomy, and life was good. Yes, I still had pain, but I could control it.

Which is a fabulous thing.

(To alleviate any worries, I normally do not like to take medicines. I take them as little as possible.) 

I began the weaning process last week by extending the time between oxycodone pills and supplementing with ibuprofen in between as needed, and that was going well, until Monday morning, when I took my last oxycodone.

I had high hopes that I could control my pain with ibuprofen alone.

But by Monday afternoon life was not really very good anymore. Not good at all. Ibuprofen alone was not working very well. At all.

It's amazing how much harder it is to handle life in general when you don't feel well, and I haven't really felt really well since the middle of February when all this started. This was a new experience for me since I usually am very healthy and am used to doing what I want to do when I want to do it. My pain wasn't debilitating, which from what I've heard is a huge tender mercy in itself. My doctor still can't believe, based on what was going on inside of me, that I didn't experience pain sooner. I am so thankful for that tender mercy as my class load was really heavy last semester, and I was able to do what I needed to do not only in school but with my family and church stuff despite how I was feeling. I've talked to other women who have experienced totally debilitating pain for a long time before their hysterectomies, and I'm very thankful I didn't have to go that route. I did have to stop running a couple of weeks before my first surgery, but I was still able to go walking. 

And I have a whole new level of compassion for those who deal with pain for any period of time.

But I am so ready to feel like "me" again and to be able to do all the things I like to do. 

Running is at the top of that list.

I had to wait until Tuesday morning to call my doctor since Monday was a holiday, and I called the office pretty much the minute it opened to ask for a refill.

I didn't hear anything from his office, which is odd because they are really good about returning calls pretty quickly. I figured maybe the doctor was off that day, or he had several deliveries, or something.

I called again first thing Wednesday morning just in case they hadn't received Tuesday's message. (I always tend to worry about being bothersome to others. I guess I need to get over that a bit).

They called back a little later and told me my prescription was ready. Since oxycodone is a controlled substance, they can't just call in a refill to the pharmacy.  I had to go and pick up my prescription in person, show my i.d., and sign my chart. 

Luckily Kam had just left for work (I'm not driving yet), so I called her and she came back home and took me to pick up my prescription and we dropped it off at CVS. She picked it up on her way home from work.

And last night life was good again.

So good.

I was able to sleep pretty well, and my pain was manageable again.

And I am so thankful for modern medicine that is able to help control our physical pain when we need it.

Because it is so much easier to feel good and deal with the other non-physical areas of life when your physical pain is somewhat under control.

So much easier. 

*Image courtesy of graphicsgrotto.com