Upswing
As planned, I alone went to Penang GH to attend on his behalf my dad's appointment with PCU. To my embarassment, what the specialist said to the hospice nurse was true: that on the last appointment, they had increased Gabapentin from 300mg 3x daily to 600mg 3x daily. Either I misheard and didn't read the lable properly or the pharmacist mislabeled it. Likely the former. 😔
Fortunately, my dad did try the double dosage for about 2 days before the appointment (the hospice nurse's instruction) and it did improve the pain score from 4-5 to 2-3 during the day. Phew!
Although pain spiked up every now and then randomly, it would certainly do so each time my dad moved from one place to another, starting from the time he stood up (with help, of course). Hence, the PCU doctor recommended taking Oxynorm before moving. Since once a while he moved to dining table to have meals, she suggested coinciding the intake of the fixed 3x daily of Oxynorm (to manage his breathlessness) to just before meals. For convenience, my sister suggested that to be taken at the same time as metoclopramide i.e. half an hour before meals. Fortunately, he seldom vomit now.
Oxynorm breakthrough was 4 times a day on top of the fixed 3 times daily. It usually lasted 2 hours, with the shortest period being 1hr 20mins. Norgesic was taken at most twice a day, 3 times a week.
I forgot to inform PCU that dad also undergoing physiotherapy, notably the TENS treatment, which probably helped as well.
Dad seems to poo a few times each day and sometimes it was watery. So we cut down Senokot from 3x daily to 2x daily. He wanted to cut down to only once but I advised him to do it gradually because we want to avoid constipation, which will reduce the effectiveness of painkiller.
The assigned maid was canceled because she failed the mandatory medical test (hypertension). Instead, we were assigned a freshie @@. So far, she has been good. Hopefully that's the case for the future as well.
Few weeks ago, my dad asked me to cancel the Astro subscription (we co-shared the cost) because he no longer goes into the bedroom to watch television. Recently, I recalled it's possible to watch Astro channels on other devices using the app Astro Go. My immediate thought was to install the app on my dad'a tablet but to my dismay, after spending about an hour trying to do so, it wasn't compatible with the app. Fortunately, my sister then suggested trying his smartphone. Now he's able to watch sports and news on it :)
Fortunately, my dad did try the double dosage for about 2 days before the appointment (the hospice nurse's instruction) and it did improve the pain score from 4-5 to 2-3 during the day. Phew!
Although pain spiked up every now and then randomly, it would certainly do so each time my dad moved from one place to another, starting from the time he stood up (with help, of course). Hence, the PCU doctor recommended taking Oxynorm before moving. Since once a while he moved to dining table to have meals, she suggested coinciding the intake of the fixed 3x daily of Oxynorm (to manage his breathlessness) to just before meals. For convenience, my sister suggested that to be taken at the same time as metoclopramide i.e. half an hour before meals. Fortunately, he seldom vomit now.
Oxynorm breakthrough was 4 times a day on top of the fixed 3 times daily. It usually lasted 2 hours, with the shortest period being 1hr 20mins. Norgesic was taken at most twice a day, 3 times a week.
I forgot to inform PCU that dad also undergoing physiotherapy, notably the TENS treatment, which probably helped as well.
Dad seems to poo a few times each day and sometimes it was watery. So we cut down Senokot from 3x daily to 2x daily. He wanted to cut down to only once but I advised him to do it gradually because we want to avoid constipation, which will reduce the effectiveness of painkiller.
The assigned maid was canceled because she failed the mandatory medical test (hypertension). Instead, we were assigned a freshie @@. So far, she has been good. Hopefully that's the case for the future as well.
Few weeks ago, my dad asked me to cancel the Astro subscription (we co-shared the cost) because he no longer goes into the bedroom to watch television. Recently, I recalled it's possible to watch Astro channels on other devices using the app Astro Go. My immediate thought was to install the app on my dad'a tablet but to my dismay, after spending about an hour trying to do so, it wasn't compatible with the app. Fortunately, my sister then suggested trying his smartphone. Now he's able to watch sports and news on it :)
Comments
You had a lot to absorb, especially under present circumstances. Hence, it is OK that you misunderstood the doctor's instructions for the pain control medicines. Don't be too hard on yourself. No one will fault you. SR