Pills Galore

See all these pills? I've been on all these during this whole hip debacle. Some of them are not required (multivitamin, Glucosamine/Chondriotin), but the rest more or less have been required. The big bluish/grey ones (they're bloody huge) are Lodine. My doctor just yanked me off those since they will thin out my blood before I go under the knife, and they can't have that. The small round white pill is iron, which the doc says I need to get as many red blood cells produced as possible before the op. The yellowish long pill is Ultram (sp?), which from what I understand is a mild narcotic (used in place of the Lodine). I took my first dose tonight and I can say I was in another world. I've always wondered what it was like to be high, I think I caught a glimpse of it, so I'll only be taking those when I'm in a lot of pain. The small pink pills are Ranidine (Zantac 75) which I use in conjunction with the Prevacid (pink/black capsule). They're for my acid reflux, and are only taken as needed (about once every two or three weeks on average).

What kinda irks me is that before my mission, I was as healthy as an ox and didn't need pills. I'm just glad that I don't have to take all these pills every day. If I understand right, I might only need the yellow pills before my next operation in 09 (or not at all thank heavens, I like having my wits about me). As far as the Lodine is concerned, it will be as needed (and only after the op) to deal with the cartilage tear in the right hip that developed a few weeks ago, so I can't see myself taking that very often. The heartburn stuff is only occasional, and the rest are all unnecessary. When I'm an old man, I can see the nurses in the retirement home having a hard time getting me to take my pills. :)

I also found out an estimate on how much this is all going to cost, thank heavens for insurance. I won't say how much it is on here, but it's more than 3 or 4 times what I paid for to get my car.

I will post again soon, and try not to have it revolve around the hip thing. I have more to say, but I'm kinda tired of typing right now. (drugs + late night = ZZZZzzzzz)