Originally posted by hydromorphone
I'm happy that worked out for you. As ji always say, to each their own. I agree Lyrica is much better, over all, but for the moment 800mgs of gabapentin, 3x a day works for me. I have no problem feeling my Dilaudid, but it is going straight into my PICC line, and for me, the gabapentin potentiates my dialudid, and I feel it lasts a bit longer as long as I don't forget to take it(they don't forget in reality, and I forget to ask for it- yesterday though I got double dosed by accident. One nurse gave me it at 6, then another nurse gave it at 8, and I was a wee bit fucked up for a couple hours. Went and slept that shit off.)
For me personally, I'd rather be physically dependent on opiates and able to do shit, function, and live, having a life and able to care for my child than be stuck in bed all day unable to move for the pain. I've gone without, and I wasn't in WDs, and there were many days I was crying in pain, unable to even get up to go to the bathroom without help. We are all different though, and so is our pain, and how we cope with it. If I could function and have a half way normal life without opiates, I damn sure would be doing that, but unfortunately that's not possible.
What have you found so humorous? Asking out of curiosity.
Yes, you're on the right line of thought here. I'm not deemed "long term" at the moment, but there are many here, and !any younger people here for things such as blood infections where they need 6 or more weeks of antibiotics IVed and have a PICC line. There are folks here who fit the idea of an old folks home, who pretty much live and will die here. It's sad a lot of these people get no family visiting and are like stored away… It's a real mix of people here. Not your average nursing home.
Nursing homes in general aren't age specific. They're needs specific. Granted most people end up in a nursing home are your average grandma/grandpa, youngest being maybe in their 50's, but not here lol. It's located inter-city, so you find a lot of drug addict recovering from something they did to themselves from IVing, but there are the elderly here too.
Yeah, this place is similar to yours. I do physical therapy, but not occupational therapy because I can do everything to care for myself (i.e. use the bathroom, brush my teeth, dress myself, bathe myself, ect.) Even though I use a walker for short distances and get around fairly well that way, and I use a wheelchair for longer distances since it takes it's toll on me if I were to use a walker for all that. I literally have a lift my left leg into bed, it's so weak, and I cannot bear weight on it without excruciating pain.
I'm here pretty much for the IV antibiotics and physical therapy.
GNA stands for geriatric nursing assistant, since most the people here do qualify as being old as dirt and will likely be here for the rest of their lives. Same thing as a CNA, pretty much though.
What does LVN stand for? Never heard that one before.
Edit: I've not been posting much just because I e not been feeling to well. I really think they're struggling to control the infection, and I definitely can tell. Having this shit in your body really steals your drive and energy to do much. Getting a shower is a huge task for me, changing my bedding takes everything out of me… It's just all these little things that would be nothing before, are a real struggle now. Most the time anymore, I just wash my hair in the sink, use soap and water on a wash rag and bathe myself, rinse with another wash rag that's wet without soap, and then dry with a towel, rather than go through the ordeal of wrapping up my leg with trash bags, and my PICC line and worrying about getting either wet. Even just typing here, it's a task. Most days I just go out to smoke, come in and nap until I go out again, rinse and repeat. I hate it. Though some days my roommate gets me up and moving to so other shit, and offers to help me with shit like changing my sheets. She's a lovely lady… When she's not ODing on heroin.
OMG HYDRO, you're alive, its a miracle, lol.
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