Skip to main content

More difficult than I anticipated

I realize it's only been 8 days since my chest was zip sawwed open, my heart stopped for a few hours while the doctors worked on it, and then rewired together so I can breathe without my sternum splitting back open, but that doesn't make what I am going through any easier.

There are just no words that can adequately describe how difficult this whole ordeal is.

One step I have taken is to stop taking my pain meds this morning. They only make me feel strange, and don't seem to do much to alleviate the pain, although the oxyconton does allow me to sleep a little better.

My last pill was an Oxycodon at 1:30 AM. I'd only been taking 5 mg every 4 hours with 325 mg of Tylenol in between (couldn't tolerate any more). It's been almost 7 hours since my last pain med, and the pain is still tolerable. (I'll see how much that changes as the last of the residual medicine in my body wears off.) If it gets any worse I may just try a Tylenol and see how that goes.

In the mean time I am progressing. My breathing gets better every day. I am almost up to 1500 ml on the Voldyne 5000 Spirometer, and I'm able to do 3 walks a day for 7 minutes each, covering just over a 1/4 of a mile. That might not seem like much, but it is a workout.

OK, enough for now. Still don't have much strength, but I did want to give everyone an update.

Comments

Alan said…
Your 21 minutes/day of walking is a lot more than I do. Maybe you'll inspire me to start exercising.
Marc said…
Then that will be at least two good things that come out of this
Gerry said…
Want to use my GPS so you don't get lost on your walks?
Trust me you will get better everyday, good choice on the meds I did the same to know how I really felt.
Marc said…
Yeah well, that didn't last long. I'm back on the meds again. They seem to take just enough of the edge off to make life more tolerable. I'm still in pain, but without them my HR goes up about 10 bpm. So for the mean time I'm back on

Going to the clinic tomorrow to discuss my progress.

And no thanks on the GPS. I already have one, and using it. :)

Popular posts from this blog

My concerns reaffirmed today

When I was first diagnosed with MCL, I pretty much read just about everything I could get my hands on, I attended various conferences, and I talked to anyone who would listen. One of the most important lessons I learned, and which I've mentioned numerous times before was No one cares more about you than you. But in addition to that, I learned to fear the drug Doxorubicin , AKA Adriamycin, Doxil, Hydroxydoxorubicin, or more affectionately the Red Devil. Besides being a deadly chemical, as is the case with most chemotherapy drugs, it is one of the few chemotherapy drugs known to cause permanent heart damage. I even heard Dr. Sandra Horning , a noted Stanford lymphoma specialist, state at the first lymphoma conference I attended in LA, there was no evidence Doxorubicin provided any added benefit to chemotherapy protocols. This was music to my ears, since Doxorubicin is very common in most lymphoma treatment protocols. And even though Dr. Horning has since changed her tune [which my sk...

Bowling: A metaphor on life [sorta]

Over the past 15+ years the game of bowling has changed dramatically. Not only has the equipment changed, making it easier for bowlers of all ages and physical conditions to participate, and score well, but there have even been major advances to how the lanes are prepared for the start of bowling. No longer is it just heavy oil, light oil, long oil, short oil, or no oil, with the latest equipment, the amount of oil can be varied from front to back and side to side, producing a myriad of patterns designed to make the game more interesting, more challenging and as you might surmise, more frustrating. No longer does the "one ball fits all" approach work any more either. In order to navigate all the differing possible lane conditions, you need to have a varied selection of bowling balls. Most pros will tell you the average bowler needs 3 balls, plus a ball for spares, but to be an above average bowler you'll need at least 6 balls, with many possessing more than that. But just...

Fatigue! Part II - Maybe it is real?

Or it's actually Motivational Deficiency Disorder, MoDeD (pronounced Mo-Dee-Dee) for short. In a report this week by Roy Moynihan who reports for the British Medical Journal Austrailian scientists may have come across the reason for extreme laziness . The condition is claimed to affect up to one in five Australians and is characterised by overwhelming and debilitating apathy. Neuroscientists at the University of Newcastle in Australia say that in severe cases motivational deficiency disorder can be fatal, because the condition reduces the motivation to breathe. Neurologist Leth Argos is part of the team that has identified the disorder, which can be diagnosed using a combination of positron emission tomography and low scores on a motivation rating scale, previously validated in elite athletes. "This disorder is poorly understood," Professor Argos told the BMJ. "It is underdiagnosed and undertreated." Who knew? Maybe I have MoDeD, from my attempts to become a...