Back from my Sabatical for now

Hi David

Glad you are posting again. 

Very sorry to hear about the pain.

Best wishes on pain management and future treatments.

Gerry

Welcome back David.
Sorry to hear about the pain you are suffering.

Monday Night Update:

Going to switch back to the Dialuid in the morning, and give it another chance, now that this chest cold has mostly gone away at last. Honestly, probably the first cold I have had in more than 10 years. If the med gives me any shallow breathing problems again, will have to stop it once more, and let my doctor know, that can be a dangerous warning signal, and I don't want to "wake up" dead, lol. Better safe than sorry, as I run cautious with any meds.

On the free book deal - all 5 have been spoken for, so thanks to those that asked for a copy.

And I found 2 more of the Prostate Cancer postage stamps, if anyone still interested, then just e-mail me your address and I will send out free of charge.

david in SC

Sheldon, my friend, always good to hear from you. You have always been there for me as long as you have been at HW, I remember the day you arrived clearly.

Pain is a funny thing. It's amazing how much pain the body can absorb, and yet a person still function at a certain level. There are some many different layers of pain I have learned about the past few years, and I don't just mean the simple Pain Level Chart of 1-10. That only tells the subjective general level of the pain. For an analogy, pretend you have a bad tooth ache, we have all had those at one time or the other. It will drive you crazy for a few hours or days, until you finally get to the dentist, and even if you are afraid of dentists (another great source of pain, lol), you will be eager to get the tooth fixed or removed just to be relieved of the pain. Well, some of the pain I experience is like that, but deep in the bones, and while the pain meds mute the pain to various levels, it's never entirely eliminated, and there is never a time where I am not conscious of the pain. That is what the world of chronic pain is all about. If you had a tooth pain that you knew could never get better, it would drive you mad or at the least, be overly anxious and edgy all the time. Most of what I am dealing with, is never going to improve or go away, its permament in nature, and can only be controlled by the right mix and dosages of strong pain meds.

So yeah, if I am a bit grumpy sometimes, don't mind me, I don't mean any harm, its truly the pain talking sometime. Glad you are doing well.

David in SC

thanks, sheldon, sometimes i worry that i am too much an open book. i am use to writing in a very descriptive manner, and i think in utter detail all the time (sometimes a good trait, sometimes annoying, lol). that's one thing my oncologist has remarked about the year he has been handling me, is that i can clearly communicate exactly how i am feeling at a given moment.

Purg,

When I read Sonny's update, I suspected that you would come back if for no other reason than to reply to him. Whatever the reason, I'm glad to see you back, but like others have said, I wish you had better news to report. When the heck are they going to invent that magic pill for all of us and what's taking so long?

Good luck to you.

thanks, c130j

gleason6 - thanks, yes, when i saw sonny's update on lynn, just had to break my own fast to respond, she is a very special lady, not only to sonny of course, but to all of us brothers here.

terry, thanks for your kind words as well

Aimzee,

One of my greatest personal fears, is what if the pain exceeds the ability to be controlled by meds. My oncologist, however is a Certified Pain Specialist, assures me over and over, that will never be the case, that he should always be able to keep the worse of the pain in check. My days do vary, as on a "good day", I will still hurt - but the meds keep it to a decent level, and I have much more functional time, and on a "bad day", despite all the meds, it's all I can but to want to lay around, and try not to move, and I have a very concious sense of widespread pain. If I am out of the house, or on the road and that happens, I can quickly get worked into a near panic state, and will rush home, so that I can be medicated properly, and lay down if needed. Most days I am somewhere in-between those two extremes.

Also, I am fortunate that I live in a state (SC) where with legitimate prescriptions of course, I have no problems or issues getting large amounts of pain drugs. If you spend time on the HW Chronic Pain site, you will quickly see that some fellow suffereers do not have it so easy getting their meds. All the drug abusers and recreational drug users are ruining things for those in need of true pain relief. That should never be allowed to happen. They need to go after the drug users and the doctors that run what they call "prescription mills", not make life even more difficult to legitimate patients in pain.

I am glad that the pain for Ron does have some breaks in it, its horrible to hurt all the time.

David in SC