Yesterday I was in an out of my treatment in record time. Everything seemed to be going great for me. Today I'm having my fourth treatment and already my left leg is experiencing significant pain. It's a painful throbbing that just won't go away. No repositioning of the leg was comfortable for long. My sleep the previous night was constantly interrupted by my incessant moving and leg irritation. I woke up before dawn, exhausted. I hoped I would be able to remain still for my treatment.
Mercifully this treatment, like the day prior, was brief. As I walked out of the treatment room through the Cancer Clinic I recalled the words of my Radiation Oncologist and nurse just two days before: that the pain would increase as the treatment took effect. It appears they were correct.
After treatment it was normal for me to return to work. I had a miserable day because of my leg. The pain never went away, never subsided. No position standing or sitting was comfortable. Ibuprofen, which up to now had relieved my pain, simply had no effect. By 4:00PM, exhausted and with little accomplished at work, I gave up and left for home. My only goal now was to fill my prescription that the Oncologist had given me on Tuesday. I hoped it would be enough.
I rode my bike from work to home. Formerly biking was an activity that I enjoyed because it was relatively pain free. Cruelly my disease was claiming even this cherished activity from me. My ride home was short, less than ten minutes, but I was crying by the time I arrived at my house, worn out by the battle raging in my shin. Yet I still needed my prescription filled. The tears I could brush away, the pain I endured as best as I could. I would ride another ten minutes to the pharmacy and submit my prescription. While the pharmacist filled my prescription, I sat nearby, letting the tears flow, head down, wondering if my days would remain like this. My name is being called, my pharmacist has my prescription ready. As I pay my share of it, the pharmacist comments that I don't get a lot of pain meds.
I leave the pharmacy but need to make one more stop. I had forgotten to pick up something for my techs at the Cancer Clinic. A small token to show that we patients are grateful for the care and quality of treatment administered. Finally I arrive home, and my pain meds - Tylenol-3's - advised 1-2 tablets every few hours as needed. I start with one for now.
This pain is nowhere near as acute as what I felt when I had kidney stones some years back. Yet it was enough to exhaust me physically and drain all my energies. As I lay on the couch, the pill gradually took effect, dulling my perception enough that I could fall into an exhausted sleep that my body and mind so desperately needed. The meds were working.
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