Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog

It's now been about a month that I've been trying to wean off of OxyContin, (Oxy) and although I'm able to take a much lower dose than I used to be on, I still experience withdrawal symptoms if I'm late taking a dose.  I am now down to a little more than half a pill per day, divided into two doses. I spoke to a friend who successfully helped a relative wean off of Oxy not long ago.  With advice from a pharmacologist, they reduced the dosage in small increments and stayed on that dose for three weeks before reducing again.  The overall weaning process took five months! A few days ago I spoke to the physician's assistant (PA) in my oncologist's office about the need to have an "exit plan" before prescribing Oxy.  It was an interesting, and sobering, discussion.  Although she agreed that such exit plans are sometimes necessary, most patients with metastatic cancer have pain that will never go away and there is no plan to get them off of Oxy...ever. I will...

Early on in my cancer journey was a very scary and confusing time for me.   I was being forced to learn information I didn�t want to know. I had many questions and was so fearful of the answers.   Some questions I asked or looked up right away, while others I decided not to search because I knew I was unprepared for the answers.   A close relative and an old family friend talked or asked about �when (I) die� and �how long� I had, which was extremely difficult and painful to deal with within the first few weeks.   It has now been about 4 months since I was found to have cancer.   I still sometimes feel like I�m in the middle of a nightmare and will soon wake up.   Four months from diagnosis is a poignant time marker for me.   One of the questions I searched, with great trepidation several weeks after my diagnosis was established, was �How long do people with stage 4 adenocarcinoma of the lung live?�   I found two answers online.   One online ...

Ten days have passed since I blogged about trying to get off of Oxycontin.   Unfortunately, I�m still working on getting off of it.   My doctor continues to make suggestions and encourages me to wean slowly...very slowly.   It takes patience, which I don�t have much of.   This past weekend my dear friend, Brigid, and I went to Austin, TX.   I was really feeling the need to get away and have never been to TX.   Since my diagnosis in December, I�ve hardly been out of my suburb.   Austin has a great music scene and inexpensive, good food.   The most appealing part of Austin was the warm sun.   The Chicagoland area has had a cold, wet spring.   I usually don�t complain about the weather much, but having cancer and going through bouts of withdrawal are leaving me chilled to the bone.   It was in the high 80�s and a little humid in Austin, which felt amazingly good.   We sunned, pool-side, walked along the Colorado River, and relaxed...

My cancer story started with a trip to an emergency room because I had abdominal pain.   Since then, I�ve been dealing with pain of some kind (from mets to my liver and bones) on a daily basis.   Most  of the time, my pain has been fairly easy to control.   For the first couple of months, I took ibuprofen (Motrin).   Despite having to take ~1200-1400 mg per day, everyday, it did the trick and I was glad that I was able to manage my pain with an over-the-counter medication.   At the end of January I needed to prepare for a second liver biopsy and since ibuprofen causes increased bleeding, I needed to switch to another painkiller before my doctors were willing to consider doing a surgical procedure.   My oncologist suggested Oxycontin as an alternative painkiller because it�s so good at controlling pain, plus it doesn�t add any bleeding risks.   I was very hesitant to take it because I�d heard that it is so addictive.   After a long discu...