Drug Kauai Sis

Happy Labor Day Weekend! What's on your agenda for this weekend? For me, I hope it'll be "nothing much," because I was looking at the possibility of having to go to Honolulu to be a nurse to my mom, who for the past week, was experiencing a very bad mystery illness with extreme weakness, lethargy, low blood pressure, diarrhea, loss of appetite, memory issues, and even hallucinations! My mom, who's very strong and active, is barely able to get out of bed and is having trouble standing for more than a few seconds. She's been sleeping 20 hours a day for the past week. This is extremely uncharacteristic for her, a person who typically doesn't let even influenza keep her down for more than a day. The doctor had nothing much to offer her except the usual blood tests. It was scary that he let her go home in that condition.

As I've said before... TGFI!!! (Thank Gore For Internet!!)...because after a couple of days of worry on my part (I was only notified about all of this on Tuesday), it finally dawned on me to go to AskaPatient.com to check on an antibiotic she'd been taking--sulfameth/tmpds (aka Bactrim). Oh...my...god!!! There are over 600 entries concerning this drug, the vast majority reporting bad side effects, many mirroring what my mom's been experiencing. Damn!! Do you see why I've been trusting my naturopathic Dr. Leia Melead more lately than my medical doctors (although I do respect them immensely and still go to them)?

Although Mom is still not feeling well, at least we now feel confident we know what caused her malaise. She said she's never felt so sick in her life. Because of her age--80--any illness is a big concern to me, but knowing the probable cause is a big relief.

Always looking for a silver lining, I can now smile about two good side effects of that evil drug: 1) She lost 10 pounds in less than a week (Gimme dat ting!), and 2) My sister and my nephew proved themselves and really stepped up to the plate in helping her. You never know how people will respond until they're tested this way, and I was happy to hear how both of them did their best to help Mom. As the older sister--and always tagged "the responsible one"--I've always felt guilty for living on Kauai, rather than in Honolulu. Of course it's not like I'm in New York, but still I'm not in Kaimuki either.

So ok, today's helpful hint is to go to AskaPatient.com to look up any pharmaceutical drug, good or evil. Or maybe I should say instead, "to find out if it's good or evil."

My Labor Day Weekend, therefore, will go on as planned from the looks of it, and that includes a sleepover visit from Jordan's friend, a visit to the Cops of Top at Safeway, shopping at Costco, and possibly a movie. Oh yeh, and I guess some work: sewing and my wonderful internet job.

Please visit your local Safeway and contribute to Cops of Top for Special Olympics. Remember, we "abled" people take so much for granted, while the mentally disabled are offered so little opportunity to participate in group athletic and social activities. Special Olympics, like all of us, is having to cut back drastically this year. Any help they receive will at least keep them above the point of cancelling all events. Thank you in advance!