Kevin update ...

Kevin had been put on percocet at the hospital because he has a very inconvenient allergy to codeine and extra-strength Tylenol just wasn't enough. We didn't realize the significance of this until he started to stretch out the time between his meds to start weaning himself. Nasty. He made it down to two pills per day, then the next morning he decided it would be his last. That was this past Friday.

It's a very good thing I spent time crusing the internet searching "percocet withdrawal". We were thus prepared for the tearing eyes, the gastro difficulties and most weirdly, the tremors. I learned the the expression "kicking the habit" originated with the spontaneous kicking associated with narcotic withdrawal. Kev had twitching and tremors of his face, arms and hands from 11 hours after the last pill (around 9:00 p.m.) through until 2:00 a.m. Saturday morning. It was very unpleasant for him, and as I went to bed I was a little apprehensive about flailing limbs and nocturnal injury. It would serve me right; I'm generally the one that elbows him during the night ;-). He refrained from beating on me by having the other side effect ... insomnia :-(.

I have a new respect for those who end up with pain killer addictions. Kevin was only on percocet for a little over four weeks; at no point did he feel any sort of "rush" from them, BUT the effect on your body when trying to wean from them ... well, as I said, I get it now. It's done now though, and he has very little pain in the incisions.

I can't recall whether I mentioned earlier that he has officially switched from crutches to a cane. We had borrowed one using "Freecyle" from a Picton couple for a few months, but will have to purchase one. After Operation No. 1 he was told he would likely require a cane for the rest of his life; the most recent visit to Kingston they modified the plan to "two years". Kev still has no feeling from the knee down to the ankle in his left leg due to nerve damage from the operation and it will be a minimum of two years before the nerves start to regenerate. And when he plays "Moon-Faced Moody" in Anything Goes with County Theatre Group in April and May, it will likely be the first time the character is played using a cane! We do have to find a more interesting cane as a prop, however. Shiny metal just won't cut it!

Kev hopes to try and drive the Honda this week .. he is very concerned about having to take the van into work after the 25th. The Honda is a gas sipper whilst the van is a pig :-). However, we are concerned about his ability to handle the clutch. I'm thankful we live in the country; good quiet roads for him to practice on.

We are still appreciating your prayers as Kev recuperates. Oh, and a funny ... remember the game of "telephone" when we were kids? The first child would whisper a sentence to the next, and the sentence would morph into something completely different by the end of the line? I spoke with an acquaintance yesterday who had received an e-mail to pray for Kevin about two weeks ago. It stated confidently that Kev had a sore on his arm that had become infected, and that he had to go to the hospital to have it stitched up. :-). (She felt terrible that she hadn't called to check on the validity of the e-mail!)

All for now ...