Friday, September 25, 2009

Disappointment

Today we were suppose to go to the Boston VA for a consult on Rick's knees. We have been looking forward to this appointment for weeks,with hope that some plan of action might be revealed. At the very least,we were not going to leave without an official diagnosis.
Then Monday the Boston VA called and said the doctor that Rick was suppose to see was going on vacation,and we would have to reschedule.
We were so disappointed. The person who called did give a bit of information,however. The doctor that Rick was suppose to see does consults on Fridays regarding major procedures. This leaves us with some guarded hope that they may do surgery. We have been praying and hoping that this is the case. He now takes 120 mg of morphine a day,60 in the AM and 60 in the PM. His previous dose was 30 in the AM,30 at lunchtime,and 30 at night,or he could change it depending on his pain level,as long as it didn't exceed 90 mg a day. This was time extended release. His new dose is immediate release. This has dropped his pain level from a 20 down to a 5 or 6,but his knees are still incredibly swollen and there are days when his pain level exceeds 10 ( they use a pain scale 1-10 at the VA to describe how much pain your in. They don't want it more than a 5).
Now our next appt is Oct 13.
If they can do surgery and get some of that pain taken care of so he doesn't have to take as much morphine,or not have to take any at all it would be such a blessing. His quality of life is nothing compared to what it was,and as I have mentioned in a previous post,it hurts and saddens me greatly to see him going through this. We keep praying.

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