Just a little update on the patient... who by the way now has lost 36 pounds!! I'm not kidding that this guy is going to surpass my weight loss in like another month!
Anyway - after talking to the bariatric coordinator at the hospital yesterday and then his doctor as well, (have I mentioned how wonderful his doctor is?!) he is doing MUCH better.
Poor thing was trying so hard to stick with the food schedule that the doctor's office gave him that it worried him when he couldn't get it all in. Talking with the doctor was able to free him from that worry - and refocus on staying hydrated.
He also had some concerns about his digestive system that were discussed and gave him peace of mind. Further research on his part told him that the pain medications were part of the problem there - who knew those had an effect on your digestion?!
So he's taken himself off of the pain meds - and now is experiencing some withdrawl symptoms... jittery and shaky... those sorts of things, but seems to be doing much better today. I'm so shocked that he's experiencing this since I took ALL of my pain meds for my bypass and for my gall bladder and don't remember once having withdrawl.
I've talked to him twice though - and he's already done his workout for the day... which means that my old pal Jillian and I have a date on the treadmill tonight. It'll be interesting to see how my body reacts to getting back to a Jillian workout after walking with John all week - knowing that it wasn't pushing my body as much as the treadmill workouts would. In retrospect though, it has probably given my muscles time to recover from the weekend's walking adventures.
IF the withdrawl starts getting too bothersome, John can probably take a 1/2 dose for a couple of days (depending on the shape, he might can even to 1/4). I could give you a possible list but the easiest thing would be to call your pharmacist and ask if they can be cut (some are time release coated and cutting them messes it up.)
ReplyDeleteI don't enjoy the feeling narcotics give so I tend to cut them if I don't need the full dose (but still have a good amount of pain).