Dad came home yesterday morning.
The cardiologist said the same thing the ER doc said. It was a combination of withdrawal symptoms and then getting a “fix.” Dad has chronic pain because he has bulging discs in his neck and his knees are bone on bone. Hopefully within the next 6 months he’ll have all the surgeries he needs and get off all the meds but for now he’s on Percocet. Coming off Percocet cold-turkey can sometimes be deadly because it’s such a strong pain killer. He’s not a druggie. Every doctor who has seen dad’s x-rays admits that he must be in very severe pain and definitely needs the Percocet. But, it’s so strong that he has been told that people become addicted with the very first dose. He’s definitely addicted to Percocet, there’s no doubt about that, but he’s not addicted because he’s a recreational drug-user. He’s addicted because it’s strong stuff that he NEEDS. Unfortunately.
Anyway… he’s home for Christmas and I’m happy about that. He’s feeling a lot better too. And when it’s time to come off the Percocet, he’ll do it under a doctor’s supervision. We’ve already seen what quitting cold-turkey can do and it’s frightening.
On a different note, my mom is baking. Mom loves to bake and she’s great at it. She’s known at work for her pies. People who would normally turn down desserts can’t turn down mom’s pies. However, every time she bakes she gets grumpy. I always stay the night at my parents’ on Christmas Eve. When she started baking, she immediately got high-strung and cranky and I packed up my stuff and said I was going home to change and get ready for the day and that I’d be back later. I’m going to make sure I’m gone long enough for her to get the pies made because I don’t want to be around her right now.
I love to cook and find it very relaxing. It boggles my mind that she claims to love baking even though she turns into a totally different woman when she’s baking - and I don’t mean that as a good thing. She’s not a total witch or anything, she just starts snapping at people and the only thing you want to do is get far away from her so she can stew in peace.
I hate that it’s 10:00 Christmas morning and I’m already this frustrated with her. I said to her this morning, “You’re treating me like I’m stupid,” and she didn’t even reply. Not even to say, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that.” She said absolutely nothing. Not one word. Ugh! Ok, I’m going to get ready for the day and try to stop thinking about how much she hurt my feelings for a few minutes.
