cant take it anymore

[wadejason]

3 years ago my mother had a braint tumor removed the size of a baseball. it was maliginat, not cancerous and supposivly the surgery went ok. she had fast recovery at first then it slowed down. she had 4 blood transfusions. she now is still on disability from being fired from her job, making 6 figures a year. she sits at home all day now and just watches tv. she hates not working too. anyways...she has gone through so many drugs of all sorts for everything. she is a working pharm machine. everything from xanax/valium/muscle relaxers...shes allergic to vicatin so she takes dilaudid/morphine/pain killers. im talkin top of the line pain killers. we think shes allergic to dilaudid now becuase she gets hives and itchy every time. she also takes anti seizure drugs and everything in between. shes got allergies and shes got asthma so she takes albuterol and other inhalers. okay so shes on the works here. she also had breast cancer stage 0 and was on a 5 year plan for tamoxifin.

now.....
i cant take it anymore. shes got a tolerance to some of the most powerful painkillers out there and they dont even help! we just came back from ER and they gave her 15mg of morphine with some pheregran for the nausia. thats a shit load of pain killers! matter of fact right now shes walking around and talking like its not even effecting her. im lost. im confused. and i dont know what to do. i got her into cannabis after admiting that i, myself smoke it regulary for recreation and headaches. she suffers from migraines and asthma and all types of shit. so evenually i got her to take a smoke and it worked. it was awesome, and for a brief period in time i thought marijuana could save my moms life. now lately(last 6 months) she has been taking pills if her head hurts even though i tell her to smoke everytime and she never does. i sell bud so i try to throw stuff her way when i can thinking maybe different strains could help more pain and anxiety issues and it does. im tired of her getting shots and doping herself up with pills. she needs to smoke but i cant get her to get over the mentality of it all.

she says it doesnt feel right her smoking pot for her headache. she see's it as getting stoned by herself and thats lame she thinks. i told her to think of it as medicine but she cant. its just a drug to her, now she has a lenient view on it but still just an illegal drug. she says she doesnt want to smoke because she wouldnt feel comfortable doing something like that without a doctor recommendation. she also believes for some reason if she gets a doctor recommendation then that means its legal for her.

someone please help me straighten her out. this is a pothead sos calling out to any brain tumor patient or breast cancer survivor or anything. the last month she has been swelling up with water retension. its rediculous and im getting very scared and no doctor can figure out what it is. i want her off the pills and on the pot.

please help.

wadejason Reviewed by wadejason on 07-18-2006. cant take it anymore 3 years ago my mother had a braint tumor removed the size of a baseball. it was maliginat, not cancerous and supposivly the surgery went ok. she had fast recovery at first then it slowed down. she had 4 blood transfusions. she now is still on disability from being fired from her job, making 6 figures a year. she sits at home all day now and just watches tv. she hates not working too. anyways...she has gone through so many drugs of all sorts for everything. she is a working pharm machine. Rating: 5

[birdgirl73]

Wade, hon, I'm not sure you can straighten her out. Her doctors need to be clued into all the meds she's on/mixing/taking, which are almost certainly combining to make her sicker than she already is. It sounds like she very likely needs to be in the hospital for a few days while they get her meds straightened out and help her shed some of the water she's retaining. Sedatives and pain meds depress the cardiovascular system, which begins not to be able to pump off fluid effectively, and that's why the water retention happens. It's basically a form of drug-induced heart trouble.

Don't try and persuade her to do grass if she doesn't feel comfortable doing so. She's not really in her right mind to make any decisions right now.

Do you have a dad or a grandmother or a close trusted friend of your mom's who can gather up all her meds and get her to her doctor and tell him/her the straight story on how much you suspect she's taking? I gather this is some kind of non-cancerous (non-malignant, as you said) but very aggressive tumor nonetheless? On top of the tumor, which has affected her brain, there are the medicines, too. Bless your heart--and hers, too. I'm sorry you are having to endure this.

[wadejason]

um we've been going to the doctor on and on for the last few years. trust me all her doctors know whats shes on and i believe thats her problem. her oncologist saw her the other day (she only sees him every 6 months) and he said he didnt reconize her because she had gained so much weight. my mom is fat. thats scary to say. shes been 120 pounds like me all her life. high metobilism runs in our family. we are all twigs and shes 200 pounds. i wish i could post pics of her ankles...its scary.

about the grass i dont know. every time she smokes she is fine. it has never not worked. yet she always ends up saying "well ill try it again this time" like its not going to work...and it always does. i cant have her taking all these pills. itll kill her liver and i feel we are just going backwards. pot has been the only thing close to knowing that works. the last 3 years its been why this? why that? and for the first time i know hey pot works. not some times. always. and its not like she doesnt want to do it. i roll her joints and thats fine. i just tried getting her into the glass scene and she loves it...just doesnt smoke from it. its odd..

were in process of getting her a new pcp becuase her pcp now just gives her whatever drugs she wants. not to mention he has no answers to give us. last time i asked him a few questions and he told my mom he was pissed because i put him on the spot. bullshit, im making him do his job. im making him address the issues i felt were important and he doesnt care. blaming weight gain on prozac? are you kidding me?

im just tired of this all and i thought i could find some input here. thanks.

[willystylle]

Smoke a joint dude.

[birdgirl73]

I know you've been going to docs a lot. But I mean get a single doc and make him really evaluate all those meds. Her docs she has now aren't doing their job, clearly. Keep pushing for a new PCP and then stay on top of him till he deals with the disabling mix of too many meds. Sometimes docs are lazy and don't want to do their jobs, especially if they see someone as a lost cause. Just stay on top of them and don't worry about if they feel like they're being put on the spot. Often they need to be put on the spot.

[wadejason]

and thats what were doing trust me. ive been tring to change pcp for some time. we missed our appt for a new one a few days ago because of mis communication (it was the 7th and we thought 17th) but still they should have called us to remind us just like every other damn doc does. last night my mom got 15mg of morphine. i just woke up and asked her how she feels and she said terrible. her head hurts worse and her body is sore. guess what she said next? will you take me to verhaagg(our evil pcp) if i get us in? i asked for what? she said another shot. i said wow man...he isnt going to give you 15. probably just 10. so why even go when 15 isnt helping?

for the first time im losing hope in this situation. the problem with our pcp is this though, my mom used to work in medicine thats where she met verhaagg. he's been our pcp for many many years and he just acts like he fix everything with a pill. my mom says i have a headache. so someone drives her there and gets a shot in the butt and send us on our way. he doesnt listen to us. but he does listen to her pleas. her wanting of other drugs. it makes me sick.

the problem with these pills is that once there in your system they make their coarse. unlike smoking where i think you can regulate more. smoking is immediate or very soon compared to waiting 30 minutes for 2 pills...then taking another 2 or 3 cuz its not working. thats what my mom does. she is constantly asking what day is it? morning or night time? she'll take her night pills twice sometimes cuz she wakes up at 4am and thinks its 9pm.

[birdgirl73]

Jeez, what a loser that doc is. Thank goodness they're the exception rather than the rule. What an absolute blockhead.

If you really want to stir up trouble--and I know what you really want to do is simply help your mom--but if you don't mind stirring up trouble in the process, contact the California Board of Medical Examiners and file a complaint. They'll look into your claim. It won't be a fun process, but it might take care of someone who's doing his patients a disservice. Chances are if he prescribes that irresponsibly for your mom, he likely does it for others, too.

My thoughts are with you, Wade. Good luck with getting her to a new, decent doctor.

[beachguy in thongs]

There was a story about a 62 year-old lady, who was born w/ congenital cataracts. She needed 11 surgeries on her right eye and three on her left, and had resulting problems with glaucoma. Her last surgery resulted in hemorrhaging and loss of vision.

By 1976, her intraocular pressure was out of control with all available drugs, many of which caused significant side-effects. Then she started eating and smoking cannabis (but initially had personal issues with the concept of smoking).

Her intraocular pressure went from the 50's to teens & 20's.

[Mr.N]

Damn dude... Good luck brother, hang in there huh..

[Medical Weed]

I suffer from daily migraines and use. It saves my life. Have also had Delauded and the second dose helps with the pain but man it f***s you up!!! Can't do that everyday and function. Delauded makes me itch too, it's a side effect said the ER Dr. Vicodin/Percocet make you buzzed but do nothing for the pain. This full-time mom (because I can't work) uses so I can somewhat function and take care of my daughter. If I didn't use I couldn't get out of bed and would be at the ER far more frequently. I smoke a oney every so often during the day. Frequency depends on the level of pain. If I were doing bongs every half hour I would be too messed up to take care of my 19 month old daughter. Feel free to share this post with your mom so she knows there are others.

Best of Luck,
Medical Weed