Ondansetron

I have exciting news. The past few nights I had been waking up and vomiting due to my anti-seizure medicine. It took me a bit to figure out the cause, but once Danny reminded me of the side effects, it was a very easy problem to eradicate. The doctors had already prescribed Ondansetron, an anti-nausea medicine usually given to patients undergoing chemotherapy, radiation therapy and surgeries, but I hadn't started taking it yet. In fact, I had completely forgotten about the Ondansetron prescription. I don't love to take medicine, but I am telling you, Ondansetron completely saved my quality of life.

I had been vomiting all of my food, and dry heaving each night. It would happen about 30 minutes after I would lay down in bed, and then I would have to run to the loo. It was interfering with my sleep, I wouldn't finish vomiting until midnight. Anyway, last night I took a Ondansetron (they're good for eight hours), at about 3:00pm. I was in bed by 9:00pm, never vomited and slept for thirteen hours. I feel fantastic! It's amazing how much sleep can affect attitude.

I'm concerned that of the 4 mg pills, 3 mg of that is phenylalanine, something that I have avoided to the point where I don't even chew gum because it is a main ingredient in sugar free gum. I'm scared of phenylalanine and its' effects on the human brain and body, but right now I physically need it to function. Maybe I can get a different prescription for a different high dosage anti-nausea drug that won't contain the bad stuff. I guess I'll have to research that.

In the meantime, no more vomiting!!! Yay!!!!!!

Also, my brother, my niece, and Danny will all be here for the weekend! I can't ask for anything more. Cheers to a wonderful weekend to all!

No Fear

Ok. I'm off my pity pot. I feel loads better, I just needed to put this stuff in perspective! Every time I have a massive change, I need to digest it, and put it in its' rightful place.

So what if I can't drive. I don't need to drive everywhere anyway. The lack of driving gives me an excuse to stay home and take care of little things. I usually wear a life jacket in the river anyway. So what if I need a bath companion, at least it'll be fun to visit with my mom or whomever.

I'm alive, I'm not in the hospital, I'm not broken from a horrible car accident. I don't need to live in fear, I'm just going to take things one step at a time both proverbially and literally. Just like after the brain surgeries, I'll start with walking slow, then walk longer, and when I feel ready I'll start slowly running again, and before I know it I'll be finishing up my runs with sprints. I have no reason to fear exercise. There is no time to live in fear, although there's always room to be cautious.

I wrote a little note on the whiteboard magnetized to my fridge. It's a place where Danny and I always used to leave little love notes. It says, "I will not live in fear." So simple, but not so simple that it doesn't need to be repeated.

Sometimes I find that all I need is a little pep talk and some encouragement from friends, so thanks everyone. I'm still having flashbacks, but I take a deep breath, push the scary thoughts out of my mind, and change my focus. I will not give up.