Withdrawal

When my body crashed on January 11th

And I entered the hospital for a week,

The only thing that brought me immediate relief

And enabled the week-long regrouping

Was intravenous morphine.

I had forgotten what it was like not to have

My body wracked with pain.

It was a wonderful thing!

The week in the hospital was mainly spent

Figuring out how to best manage my pain

As the tumor had grown significantly

And was definitely ravaging my whole body.

I was sent home with two opioids:

Dilaudid, a quick acting drug that could be taken every three hours

That would bring immediate pain relief

And...

Morphine Sulfate, a long acting drug taken twice a day

That would provide a base pain relief.

To make a long story short...

As my body began to recuperate

By God's grace

And with the help of immunotherapy and chemotherapy,

I began the process of weaning myself

Off of the opioids.

First, I quit taking the Dilaudid.

No problem.

Then, I went down to taking the Morphine Sulfate

Just once a day.

No problem.

Then, about six days ago

I completely quit taking the Morphine Sulfate.

Problem.

Withdrawal.

They aren't horrible withdrawal symptoms.

In my naivety, they were just unexpected:)

The worst symptom is "restless leg syndrome"

Which means that for the last several nights

Instead of sleeping

I am now walking

To bring some relief to my body

That is driving me crazy!

The good news is...

This should only last a few more days

And...

That I am able to eliminate the opioids!

And manage the pain just with Acetaminophen

Yay!

One final thing:

My nausea only lasted about five days

After my second chemo and immunotherapy treatment

Two weeks ago.

Yay again!

My third treatment is March 13th

After which I will have another CT scan

To evaluate what is happening with the tumor.

Thank you again so much for your prayer, support and encouragement!

Blessings,

Dave