Drugs That Mum Takes

Been hectic in the past fortnight. People around me got ill, and I wasn't feeling too well either. A spate of diarrhoea hit the city. Bro was getting all the gastric pains and stomach upset. When such happen, we always wonder why. Is it the water? An erratic diet?

Fortunately, Mum escaped all that. Doctor gave Mum a new dosage for the drugs he prescribed. She just completed her first course of radiotherapy and her Cyberknife treatment is scheduled from the week of October 6. There was a little confusion at Wijaya International Medical Centre last week as patients were informed of a later appointment date and then at short notice, they were told the next day to see the doctor within the same day after their radiotherapy/chemotherapy session which resulted in the inconvenience of waiting. One of them got mad and started grumbling all the way to the lift.

What impressed me most while at the hospital was the diligence demonstrated by Audrey, the resident pharmacist. Since Mum has to take different dosages for her steroid on different days and week, Audrey separated them into five courses in different packets to avoid confusion later.

For more than five weeks, she has been on dexamethasone; a potent steroid hormone which acts as an anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressant because radiotherapy could result in swelling on the affected area. According to Wikipedia, dexamethasone is used in the treatment of brain tumours to counteract the development of edema, which could eventually compress other brain structures. Dexamethasone is also given in cord compression where a tumor is compressing the spinal cord. And since this steroid will increase sensitivity to stomach acid which could lead to gastric and ulcer, Doctor prescribed Zantac, the commercial name of ranitidine which inhibits stomach acid production. To ensure that nausea is managed effectively, he also gave Mum some metoclopramide in the form of Primperan.

With so many drugs she has to take at a certain time, the insulin jabs which Bro helps with twice a day, almost always we have to take matters into hand personally to ensure that she doesn't forget.