WebSlave

Nope. That is all I need to be putting even more stress on Connie telling her I need to go to the doctor to have my heart checked out because I am afraid I might be having a heart attack. I will be OK. If it were a continual problem, then yeah, you are correct, it would need to be checked out. But it was just a flash in the pan thing, and haven't had a repeat of it since then.

I am getting old. I will have pains here and there now and again. Heck, I did something unpacking some supplies on the porch and had a very sharp pain in my lower back a few days ago. I just plowed through it. It gets better with time, and just sleeping on my back for a night or so. My body seems to be pretty good at self healing. And I am a firm believer in mind over matter when it comes to the body. I treat pain as just an indicator alarm that something went wrong. OK, message received about the boo-boo, now shut the hell up and stop whining about it! I have things to do. This actually works really well with muscle pains when you exercise muscles that haven't been used for a while. Just let them know that their whining isn't going to save them from being used again by doing the next day what it was that got them upset today.


The valium (diazepam) was prescribed to me because of the stress I exhibited when I talked to my doctor about what is going on. That doctor likely knows nothing at all about the drugs that Connie is taking. The primary care level doesn't have much depth to it. At least here, they are just pill pushers and referrals to specialists that are better trained and equipped to deal with anything more than, well, anything actually. Anything even semi-serious and they will tell you to go to Urgent Care or the hospital Emergency Room.

Anyway, Connie is not taking that olanzapine. She tried it once, and that was enough. And when she was undergoing the anxiety attack, I was in communications with the oncology nurse in charge and specifically told her about the valium. She concurred that it was worth trying, so they are well aware of it. Besides, it was only a 2mg tablet, which was the smallest dose I could get

I can see where combining diazepam and olanzapine could be an issue since that olanzapine knocked Connie out like a left hook to the head. She said that would be taken again only as an extremely last resort if she became overcome with severe nausea. Honestly, even then I would be concerned with her taking that crap. Knocking someone unconscious while suffering nausea might not be a real good idea. Drunks die because they pass out, vomit while unconscious and ingest that into their windpipe, and choke to death. At the very least I would cut one of those olanzapine pills into half or even quarters. I believe the pill is 10mg, if I remember correctly.

And for the record, Connie isn't taking any anti-nausea drugs right now, and hasn't been for several days now. She exhibited no nausea after that first chemo treatment and those drugs she had on hand were for a limited time period after the chemo treatment. When she gets all three drugs next treatment, things might be quite different. She also has some drugs that are supposed to be sort of backups in case she has what they are calling "breakthrough nausea".

Right now she is only on the blood thinner med and a pill she takes to regulate her thyroid.

But thank you for your concern, Lucille.

Connie seems to be recovering well from the surgery, and since the first chemo treatment didn't really knock her down, she is actually feeling pretty chipper today. She is still afraid to cough hard, fearing it make shake something loose "down there". And coughs now scare her because it could be a sign that her right lung is getting compacted with fluid again. She still can't operate the recliner by herself, but the pee breaks are getting further apart. Last night it was 3 hours apart, so that isn't too bad.

I really wish I could get her outside to take some walks and get fresh air, but those damned yellow flies are going to be a problem for likely a month. Before the crap really hit the fan we were actually talking about abandoning this place for a month just so we could get away from them. I guess it is fortunate (?) that we didn't make any reservations because obviously we would have had to cancel them.

Connie isn't taking anything other than the prescribed drugs, but I am trying hard to keep myself fortified against COVID or any other bug. Matter of fact, I am taking doses of Ivermectin twice a week, plus all the usual zinc and other supplements recommended to keep the immune system in tune. I figure I will be the one going out running errands, so I have to be that first line of defense. Washing my hands at least twice as much as I used to when the COVID threat popped up. Got sanitizer at the front door, in the garage, in the building where we have the big freezer for food supplies and take supplies in to stage before taking over to the house.

I did a curbside pickup of some groceries from Walmart this morning. Connie wants some protein shake drinks because her oncologist said it would help with the swelling. Oh, while at that meeting we had on Tuesday, I bought up my concern about that blood clot that vanished. She (Dr. Ellison) said that the clot was small and didn't completely block the vein, so quite likely between the first chemo treatment and the blood thinner med, it likely dissipated. That was causing some, maybe most, of the swelling in Connie's left leg and foot. I am going to try to get her over to the other building (what used to be the reptile building) so she can ride the stationary bike she has there to exercise her legs some. I get to be over there with her and putter around on my arranger keyboard for a while to keep her company. I will try hard not to scare her away with the noises my fingers make on that keyboard.

Just rambling... Sorry if I repeat myself a lot here. It does help to calm me down quite a bit just writing this stuff, so please bear with me.