It's been four days since I took my last chip of Percoset. It was roughly 1/16th of a pill. I was tired of the whole business and it seemed likely my symptoms wouldn't be a lot worse than they already were. It was pretty intense for the next 24 hours. Since then it has been slowly getting better. I think I've got another two or three days of discomfort to go. Mostly the stomach thing. But the great news is I slept all night last night! That was a first since breaking my arm 3 months ago.
I had a follow-up appointment with my surgeon yesterday. I could see on the x-rays where my humerus had healed. I have a lot of work to do for the next year but the doctor thinks I could regain close to 100% of my range of motion. It is moving better and hurting less. I'm on the mend.
I've written a letter to the folks at my HMO. The first sentence reads, "[My HMO] gatekeepers were unresponsive, unsympathetic, and inappropriate when I asked for help withdrawing from Percoset." It goes on to describe how my HMO failed to offer assistance when I realized I was hooked on my pain killers and hadn't a clue how to stop taking them. It's a really ripping read, let me tell you!
I took a copy of the letter to the follow-up appointment with my surgeon. It was 2 PM so I was right in the middle of the worst withdrawal of the day. It always gets pretty yucky in the middle of the day. So there I was all edgey and extra-sensitive while trying to relate a rather emotion-laden series of events. I think I'm pretty expansive in my communication style under normal circumstance. This was not normal. So I probably appeared a bit unglued. I certainly felt that way.
Oh, well, as my dear friend Dawn might say. I have a strong opinion about being left on my own to deal with narcotic withdrawal and I wasn't going to sugarcoat it.
Despite my exuberant and impassioned presentation the doctor encouraged me to send the letter. So I'm sending it. Then we'll see if anything happens.
Meantime, I still have some detoxing to do.
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