Twice in ONE WEEK!

We learned something new tonight. Dad took a pain pill this morning, home health care nurse and the physical therapist came to visit early afternoon. After the therapy he was a little tired/sore so he laid down for a nap. When he got up from the nap (supper time - I was home) he was in a cold sweat and said he legs felt like they were on fire. He was freezing one minute and roasting the next. Mom called the doctor, left a message and waited for them to call back. In the meantime, I called 9-1-1 (we decided we couldn't wait any longer for the doc to get back with us). As I called for an ambulance, dad start throwing up and got REAL short on breath. We figured he was having an allergic reaction, the EMT's were more than a little worried when they got here - it was that obvious.

1. We know he's allergic to codeine and morphine.
His medical charts state his allergy to these to drugs, this isn't something new - we already know this fact.

2. Immediately after the surgery he was having trouble breathing and asked to nurse what the pain killer drip was......it was morphine. He told them he was allergic and they switched it, problem solved.

3. When he was discharged from the hospital, the doc wrote a scrip for Oxy-Cotton (not sure how to spell it). We get it filled and this is the pain killer that he took this morning.

At the ER tonight we found out that Oxy-Cotton is the man-made version of MORPHINE! The second pain killer they gave him is a derivative of CODEINE, they wrote his pain killer script for not ONE but TWO medicines he's ALLERGIC to. When the ambulance arrived tonight he was going into anaphylactic shock. So twice in one week, the Sesser first responders and ambulance have been at our house - enough already!

The Benton ER was able to reverse the effects of the morphine and after a few tests, several IV bags of different fluids, and 4 hours in the ER things are thankfully back to normal. We learned that any pain killers they offer dad we need to ask if they're related in any way, shape or form to the two he can't take. We can't assume that they'll put two and two together and not give him what he's allergic to.

Unfortunately I didn't make it to SV trivia tonight, which I'm sure is the reason my team didn't win! I mean I answer soooo many of those questions. I really wonder why people know the answers to some of those questions - really why in the world do people know that useless, trivial stuff? Since I also didn't go to the social after trivia, I now have a lot of hot wings to eat myself!! Which reminds me.....I haven't eaten since lunch today and it's almost midnight now. I'm off to find a snack and get to bed, needless to say it's been one long day.