Checking in for 2024-02-09:

Content Warning: Bodily functions, somewhat graphic depictions of what happened.

I wrote about how last night went for me in the previous post but wanted to highlight some of the things that happened then:

• I took an Ondansetron (nee: Zofran) before heading to bed because I was starting to have some stomach distress. This usually makes me a bit constipated. I was constipated from the day before so I was hoping to keep that all at bay.
• Around midnight the constipation changed to diarrhea. This was not a welcome development.
• I started taking Imodium, starting with two pills and then taking one pill after each loose stool.
• There were several instances where I was quite literally jet-powered.
• One thing that hurts more than anything with diarrhea like this is that it can feel really painful because you're essentially raw down there and adding additional stuff to keep things raw. It can become pretty unbearable.
• Eventually I needed to take a shower because things were getting a bit disgusting. I even threw out a pair of underwear as a result.
• I tried on several occasions to crawl back into bed but each time I didn't last long before I needed to go find the rest room again.
• I was absolutely tired and exhausted and just wanted this all to be over. Unfortunately it wasn't done with me until much, much later.
• The coup de grace was when I couldn't even do anything other than just sit there. Reading took too much focus, and tapping on my phone just felt pointless. I just had to sit there and endure.
• There was a moment when I almost puked. I gritted my teeth to avoid that one.
• JoDee also didn't get much sleep because she was worried about me. Doubly so when I just broke down about all of this shit that has been going on with feeling like the drugs to make me better are just as nasty as the cancer itself.
• Eventually I took some Lomotil and an Lorazepam (nee: Ativan). Online says "don't mix Imodium and Lomotil" but the nurse practitioner assured me that in my case it was OK. I think medical professionals have higher tolerances for higher doses of medications than companies who print maximum doses on pills. Then again, they also don't get too worked up when you have a visible air bubble going into your vein. The human body is quite a resilient machine.

Fortunately (knock on IKEA) today was OK, other than me being tired. I didn't get a whole lot accomplished today other than some decluttering here and there. But then again I didn't get up until 11:00 so most of the day was shot by the time I got up. I decided to take it easy and try to recuperate as much as I could. Hoping that tonight isn't a repeat performance of last night, but at least I have some more information in my arsenal.

I did have an interesting experience though when trying to get a refill of the Lomotil. Apparently our pharmacy's distributor can't seem to get any more and doesn't have an ETA of when that will be available. So the pharmacy canceled the script. That's the first time I've ever heard of that happening. Fortunately I think I have enough for the duration but I feel for anyone in a similar situation who now has to go pharmacy shopping to get their pills filled.

More as I know it.