NARCOTIC

I’m taking a new medication for my arm and it’s not really agreeing with me. It is a narcotic and it adds to my ever-lingering nauseous feeling. Also, as careful as I was about not touching anything at Dr. Tan’s office on Wednesday, I think I might have contracted something. It may have already been coming on but there are all those sick people at doctor’s office; that’s one reason I don’t like to go there!! Anyway, putting the effects of the narcotic and sickness together, along with my weekend trip recovery, has me a bit under the weather. But I still got out today, worked on our taxes, and aerated the lawn. Except for the intermittent chills, my Thursday evening is going pretty well. However, I did stop taking that blasted narcotic today. I’ll reserve it for the extremely bad arm days. It’s a warning though that I’m going to have to take it a little easier on my arm this summer, since the answer to my arm is that narcotic. It’s not really an answer in that it doesn’t really kill the pain; it just knocks me out!! While I’m awake, it’s not much help but instead it leaves me groggy, lethargic, and nauseated. A little of that goes a long way. I’d rather be awake, alive, and living life than deal with that other mess. I don’t want to give into that lifestyle if I have a choice not to…I have choice at this juncture. I’m glad to report that my leg cramps are much less. In fact, there are days they hardly bother me at all. Keeping active and getting Eileen’s good massages help them a lot. I still avoid beef and pork. I had a BBQ pork sandwich in January which didn’t sit well but that has pretty well been the limit of my pork and beef. My stomach seems to get along better without it. Finally, my stomach is quite temperamental. Although there is the ever-lingering nauseous presence I mentioned, the stomach pain is no longer constant. There is still not much rhyme or reason to its exacerbations; I just deal with it. All in all, except for my arm, I think I feel better than I did a year ago although I’ve lost a lot of strength. Having begun this cancer journey almost two years ago, I’m thankful to still have physical, mental, and spiritual strength in reserve!! That’s another reason I don’t like the narcotic; it leaves me feeling drained and washed out.