May 21, 2015. Harper, Texas. Reality.

A cold wet dose of reality is always a good thing. Our favorite Neurologist, the good Dr. Stotz, delivered a dose to me yesterday. He was asking me about pain medication, so I told him that I had been taking Iboprofen every four hours around the clock, until Ken suggested that I should use Tylenol during the night. I further told him that the Internist suggested that I was taking too much of both, as there were side effects from both. Evidently Iboprofen tears up your stomach and Tylenol does damage to the liver. So the good doctor, the young Internist, prescribed me pain pills with codine, in small dose, to be used on an as needed basis. The problem with this new pain medication is the constipation so he suggested two other medications to counter the constipation. Dr. Stotz just laughed. Now the Internist is young and Dr. Stotz has been in business for a long time. His two sons work with him now, one as another Neurologist and the other doing all the testing, so he is not old, but he is not young. He asked me what type of the pain medication seemed to work well for me. When I told him the Iboprofen, he suggested that I use it. "Often the side effects will only be apparent for years," said Dr. Stotz, so he suggested I use whatever I felt using. What he was really saying, was that my dire disease will end my life long before the side effects kick in. It certainly made sense to me so I am taking whatever I need at the time. Actually, in the early months of the diagnosis and treatment, I was taking the anti nausea pills and the Oboprofen regularly, but now I do not keep a chart nor track the hours. I don't know if the cancer has left parts of the bones or whether or not I am accustomed to the feel of the bones. Anyway, reality is always a good reminder.