The Infantry God smiles on me at last...

[Back2Good]

My back twisted itself into utter agony yesterday, to the point where I had to go to my spinal specialist to schedule epidurals in a couple of weeks (yeah, it takes Tricare that long to approve them), but the NPR handed me a script for 120 50mg Tr@m@dol on the way out the door, and I got home just in time to meet the postman delivering my latest giant order of L@r@zep@m 2.5mg tablets.  We're going hunting for a spot of land in the mountains to build our next (and last) home on, should be a pleasant day - Tramadol + L@r@z, supplemented with Red Bull or a triple Latte if I get sleepy.

Here's hoping your weekends turn out just as well.

Best,

- b2g

 

[Guest]

@Back2Good

I'm honestly saying, I'll take any of those "evil" opioids anytime over Trams. That shit is the evil little brother of the benzo family next door. Gimme Vics, and I'm good.

Feel better, Grumpster!

 

[Back2Good]

@Back2Good

I'm honestly saying, I'll take any of those "evil" opioids anytime over Trams. That shit is the evil little brother of the benzo family next door. Gimme Vics, and I'm good.

Feel better, Grumpster!

I'm sure I would as well @Jackie Chiles, given the choice - But I'm so allergic to morphine and its derivatives that I once threatened a medic I'd slit his throat if he popped me with a morphine syrette - And that was after half of my left ear was taken off by shrapnel from friendly artillery fire.   They didn't have Tramadol then, and Ibuprofen was pretty new, so I popped a couple of pills of "Light Fighter's Candy" (Tylenol), had it bandaged up, and moved on.  It hurt like hell, yeah, but sometimes being the CO sucks - Anything but stoicism may panic your own men, and get people killed.  I don't like losing men, especially not to my own weakness or stupid decisions.

Tramadol gives me a much milder version of my allergic reaction to morphine based PK's  -Itchy skin, nausea, hives, etc., but if the pain is bad enough, I'll use it just long enough to get to a point where I can use Ibuprofen.  If I had my druthers, Ibuprofen would be the only PK I'd use.

Best,

Grumpy

 

[Guest]

I'm sure I would as well @Jackie Chiles, given the choice - But I'm so allergic to morphine and its derivatives that I once threatened a medic I'd slit his throat if he popped me with a morphine syrette - And that was after half of my left ear was taken off by shrapnel from friendly artillery fire.   They didn't have Tramadol then, and Ibuprofen was pretty new, so I popped a couple of pills of "Light Fighter's Candy" (Tylenol), had it bandaged up, and moved on.  It hurt like hell, yeah, but sometimes being the CO sucks - Anything but stoicism may panic your own men, and get people killed.  I don't like losing men, especially not to my own weakness or stupid decisions.

Tramadol gives me a much milder version of my allergic reaction to morphine based PK's  -Itchy skin, nausea, hives, etc., but if the pain is bad enough, I'll use it just long enough to get to a point where I can use Ibuprofen.  If I had my druthers, Ibuprofen would be the only PK I'd use.

Best,

Grumpy

That sucks going into war with a bottle of Tylenol. You should write a blog, I'd love to read about some more stories. 

Being a CO, or any kind of leader will make mistakes nobody can call shit 100%. Do you know how many misdiagnosed people never leave the hospital, but goes straight downstairs into the fridge? Because an attending was looking for meningitis, colorectal cancer...etc, and all the guy had is severe dehydration  by chugging down 24oz Monster energy drinks 10 times a day, or lived on 25 bags of chips a a day? Shit happens, a good leader should learn and move on. I myself also almost killed a patient, came in with severe anaphylaxis in daddy's arms, I started an IV line and had the EPI needle in the central line,  when the NOD (Nurse on Duty) grabbed my wrist, because somehow I skipped the part on the patient's medical chart, that she was allergic to the anti-allergic meds... Well fuck me, said it out loud. 

Without a medical license you can get into huge trouble, if you trach the patient - even though I know how to - so started Benadryl and grabbed the closest whatever dude, who was an MD (he might have been a dermatologist...) and had him trach the patient. Now that was a close fucking call, patient was turning blue and I was turning red. Put her on ventilator, swelling went down, patient discharged next day. She probably wouldn't have died of EPI, but it would've caused a huge setback for certain. So live and learn. 

But whom am I telling this to? 

Cheers,

JC

 

[Back2Good]

Believe it or not @Jackie Chiles my friend, I'm actually writing not one, but two books right now...One will be self-published and kept in the family library (that's sort of a tradition with us for those who have served an entire career, we have memoirs from family soldiers going all the way back to WWI), and another which is just the same book with names changed to protect the guilty, which I will try to get a publisher interested in.  Progress is great, I have almost 200 pages covering my enlistment in 1975 through most of 1986 finished already.  Only 18 years of soldiering left to cover (I retired in '04).

This is actually an assignment from my VA shrink - He thinks that part of my PTSD is fear that I won't be remembered when I'm gone, I'm just now coming around to admitting I have PTSD.  @PTFC has read a bit of it, and I've written another 8,000 words or so that I'll be merging this week.  I'll PM you a chapter to look over if you like.

 

[Guest]

@Back2Good

Are you kidding? Of course I'd like it.