Pain Control

Well a lot of things have changed since I was last here. I took hubby to our primary care doctor to see if he could help us get his chronic angina under control. His cardiologist told us that pain management was not really his specialty and referred us back to the primary care doctor.

Anyway hubby is now on oxygen for when his pain is active and it does seem to help sometimes. His O2 saturations are fine on room air it is just that his heart isnt getting enough due to his blockages. He also started on Duragesic patches which is a narcotic in a patch form that is related to Morphine (opiates). He started off on 25 mcg and is now up to 50 mcg patches. He also takes Lortab for pain that breaks through. I hate that he requires so much pain medication but I am glad that he does get a little relief. I just wished it worked better and the side effects werent so bad. They pain meds he is on are also highly addictive...which is a natural concern for us.

It is so hard standing by watching him suffer so much. I hate it that he isnt the strong take charge guy that I once knew. It is such a role reversal for us. I miss the way things used to be. He is going to go on short term disability and eventually on to long term disability. It is hard for me to comprehend that at 43 yrs old he is going to be without a job and I will be the sole person working in the family. It will also be difficult for us financially since his pay with be cut by 40%. I asked him if I should think about a second job to help us out and he nearly cried..........he said no we will find a way to make it without resorting to that.

I have been dealing with low blood sugar over the last several weeks. I had some bloodwork drawn last week to have it checked and havent heard back from the nurse practioner yet. She thinks the stress and anxiety is part of the cause of my low blood sugar. She doubled my antidepressant and gave me nerve pills. So far the only difference is that I much more tired than before. I will give it another week then I will see about going back to the old dosage. I hate feeling worn out all the time.