Dec 4th Medical MJ and 2nd discharge

         2nd discharge.....  For those that come behind me.....otherwise, skip down to medical MJ..First, I want to tell you about the 2nd discharge and what to expect, what not to expect, and hopefully save you some headaches, not literally :(, with medications. First, always, always make sure that your name is the name on what ever sheets of paper are being given to you. For real. Also, it is very important to stay organized and have someone check behind you.
        With discharge, any appointment, and when ever you ask for one, a list of medications that are ordered for you will be printed out. I dated the top of this sheet of paper from my first discharge, 11/22, to 2nd admission, 11/27. I then put beside the medications which ones are PRN, the common names for some of the meds I didn't know or are referenced differently often then written, and high light any must remembers such as only take for the next 4 days, etc. For the PRN meds, especially the anxiety meds and pain meds, I put a date down of when I took the PRN meds to be able to map out side effects. It is hard to remember with chemo brain so in doing a little documentation, I can see now that my migraines start about a week after being on the oral chemo again at 100 mg. I can also see that the pain medication didn't help much today and that there may also be something else going on as well. During my first week at home, I had 3 medications discontinued and 2 new ones start. I made notes on the same list and added the new medications to the bottom. Of course, then you have to come home and go through your fancy pill box and take meds out and put new ones in..... party.
             So when I was discharged yesterday, I got a new med sheet. Most of the meds were the same, some of the doses were different, and I had a new one for PRN nausea. It would be very easy to get confused and then purchase medications that you do not need, or do not need yet, and have tons of bottles of extra medication laying around. The discharge coordinator and I went through my previous list of medications and compared it to the new list. I decided not to get the prescription for the PRN nausea because I already had one and have not used it yet. I was only home for a week so I knew I had plenty of the other medications and would be back for the 3rd admission in 3 weeks. Out of all the medications, I ended up only having to get 1 refill. Again, I put needed info on the sheet and will start documenting the things that I want to remember. It's great to be able to give the docs clear info so they can make the best decision, well, so you both can make it. It's ok to ask why, how, when, and what the heck is this for?

           Medical MJ........Well, coming home, I'm sorry, recovering at home from chemo, has been a little harder than I thought it would be. This whole week has been harder than I was told or could image that it could be. I'm starting to have the migraines again from the oral chemo, just about the same time after starting it the first time, and I think I'm still having headaches from the LP's. It is killing me that I can't take care of myself or my daughter.
        See the first go around, they have to recover in the hospital, after that, they shoot you up and then ship you out. Luckily, I'm able to follow up with GA cancer in Athens for my lab work 2x this week, 1x the next, and then see Dr. K at Emory the 17th. We will decide then, what day I'm coming back, probably the Monday after Christmas. At the appointments this week, it is more likely that I will need to get platelets or a transfusion because this is the week that my counts will be super low. If that happens, I'll have to go to Athens regional and spend goodness knows how long, you wouldn't believe what it takes to just get blood. I thought they match your type and hook you up, nope. Note to self Heather, bring something to do and tell the person that takes you to bring something to do. Chit chat when you do not feel well is not fun and neither is staring at each other. I go on Monday at 10 am to GA cancer and hope that it is quick and easy!
         Not sure what I'm going to do tomorrow about the headaches. I may call in to see if I can stop the oral chemo, or reduce it, or just give up, just kidding, we will see how it goes tomorrow.