Saturday, December 29, 2007

Pills vs. Pokes


If mom knows, she didn't give any indication of it over the holidays. And I appreciate that. There's something to be said for bourgeois suppression of emotions.

Got a call from the clinic the day after Xmas to let us know our donor is in tip top shape and began her protocol on the 27th. I was relieved to hear that we'd only be ruining her New Year's Eve and not her entire holiday. I really was.

Me, I'm just poking along. Literally. A daily morning injection of lupron now supplemented with estrace in pill form. You know the routine. First 2 mg, then 4, now 6. And after several "oh sh*t! the pills!" moments in the first few days, I think I am finally on a pill taking schedule that I can remember and follow.

Why is it that, even though the pills are just as vital to this whole process, I see them as less important or rather, easier to forget than any injection? My body's alarm clock is fine tuned to jump out of bed in time for my morning shot yet twice this week the afternoon has whiled away before I remember to take my lunchtime dose of estrace? I could blame the holidays and the disruption in my routine. Or, I could admit that I am just like scores of cancer patients who are not as timely with their meds as they should be.

I was not surprised by an article entitled, "Use as Directed" in the Fall issue of my Cure magazine.
Therapy in a pill has recently freed many people with cancer from an I.V. pole, giving them the ease of treatment already available to those with heart disease, diabetes, asthma, and other conditions. But with convenience comes a phenomenon long known in other fields: Treatment that is easy is also easy to forget.
Too true! The article states that costs and side effects are among the top reasons that patients neglect or choose not to take their oral meds but also
sometimes, when viewed through the prism of surgery, radiation, and hours in a recliner watching medicine drip into your veins, a little tablet can seem inconsequential.
I am fully aware that taking/not taking those little white pills is not inconsequential. And I will have ultrasonic proof of that come January 4th. But I do understand the dilemma. I even remember seeing my switch to radiation therapy from chemo as a sort of "down grade" when it happened so long ago. (How ironic, then, that radiation has caused so much more permanent and irreversible damage than chemo ever did). In a way, I am almost relieved that I didn't have the option of chemotherapy in pill form when I was in treatment. It would have been that much more for me to screw up.

So, to recap:
me and our donor are doing just fine.
She with her meds; me with mine.
I promise not to forget.
And in two weeks we'll be set
To start jamming that PIO in my behind.

I hadn't meant for that limerick to happen. It just did. Sorry.

9 comments:

Lori Lavender Luz said...

Love the limerick!

Good luck with the pills and pokes that prod you go be preggy (I'll play pollyanna).

m said...

oh pollyanna, you are most welcome here!!

Pam said...

Glad to see everything is on track. I used to set a reminder in my blackberry calendar to remind me to take my mid day pill which would popup on my work calendar. Not sure if a daily alarm on your cell phone would help you or not.

Good luck!!

stacyb said...

you're a poet and didn't know it...

two weeks will feel like no time at all. what a nice way to bring in the new year.

Waiting Amy said...

I enjoyed the limerick! And I second pollyanna. Good luck!

Kami said...

I had the same problem with the pills! I thought it was just because I was getting more comfortable with the whole IVF process.

Nice to hear things are progressing well too!

Mindy said...

Hi, I came here via creme de la creme. Good luck with the pills, the pokes, and the whole cycle!

Anonymous said...

you are adorable!!! i have to agree, pill form chemo is HARD to remember.
as you know, my job is that of an investigational new drug researcher. most of my patients have drugs in pill form now, and my elderly patients are ALWAYS forgetting to take them. its hard!!!
i'm getting excited for you friend. hurry up and get prego would you!!!
rae

Stacie said...

I came here via creme de la creme. I liked the post you submitted so much, I had to read more!

Good luck with your cycle!

Google