Sorry to give you the absolutely wrong name for the book I use. It's really called Prescription for Nutritional Healing.
As for writing things down, we've been keeping track of meds and other stuff on an Excel spreadsheet. Since there are drugs he's been on for only a few days, so it seems like the best way to manage an ever-changing routine.
What I was talking about though when I said that writing things down didn't help was different. I often find that writing down the myriad of details in life is a stress-reliever for me. I'm happier if I don't have to mentally remember the grocery list, the itinerary for the next field trip, who is bringing what to the next family get-together, and so forth. With James' meds, I didn't get that normal relief when I wrote things down. At first it was like all of our lives rotated around James' illness. Things aren't like that now.
He's successfully off most of his drugs now. There are only two drugs he's on, both labeled "as needed." His injectables arrived today; he'll probably be trained how to use them on Monday. We still haven't decided if I'm giving him the injections or if he is. Honestly, I love him so much that the idea of causing him pain is odius. However, I know that love needs to be strong enough to give him what he needs as well as what he wants. We'll probably decide in the spur of the moment on Monday. Sometimes that's how we operate.
For the most part, we're doing okay. The majority of the pain is gone. What's left is managable. I think the arthritis hurts more than the other stuff. The only symptoms that are left are in the eye itself and in the S6 vertabral area.
On Wednesday James was cleared to drive, although it is in his best interests to limit driving to daylight hours in fair weather. An hour and a half later his laptop crashed, leaving him unable to work from home. Effectively, God booted him from the nest. In hindsight it was clearly time.
Because of the medical privacy laws, no one at James' work outside of his boss knew what was going on. Yesterday wasn't a fun day, since James had to tell the same story repeatedly. Each time he was greeted as if he'd been given the death penalty.
Honestly, life isn't that rough for us. Our medical expenses will only be about $2200 more than they we spent last year. At the risk of sounding rude, that's chump change compared to what other chronically ill people sometimes pay. He has a solid job with an understanding supervisor. He has a solid support network of people who pray for and with him, as well as meeting our physical needs. Bottom line? We're doing fine in spite of this interuption to life.
Elisabeth
