Posted by Elizabeth on May 2, 2002, at 23:33:47
In reply to Re: death » Elizabeth, posted by cmcdougall on April 29, 2002, at 13:20:22
> As far as I know, the concentration stayed the same at the end as it was in the beginning.
But we don't know what that concentration was! Also, the frequency with which you were administering it when she became more tolerant would affect the pharmacokinetics -- I don't know why she would need to have it so often, or how the levels (serum and elsewhere) resulting from a q15min dosing schedule would compare to the levels after an equal total daily dose divided into just six doses (that is, q4h). I might be able to figure this out on paper...if I had any paper!
> The frequency and dose was entirely left up to us (the family). As long as Sis was suffering, we just kept upping the dose.
That's nice, that the doctors were flexible about that. If my sister or one of my parents was in the same situation, I'd want them to be able to stay at home, not in a hospital or a hospice. And of course, I'd want a lot of leeway regarding changing the dose. And I'd want to be able to get in touch with their doctor quickly in case I needed to ask a question (for instance, if I wanted to ask them to switch to a stronger analgesic).
[I'm feeling particularly "up in arms" about the importance of giving patients some freedom to make small changes, at least, in their medication regimens, before seeing the doctor again, because my own pdoc is very rigid on that point -- compared to the other pdocs I've seen, at least. I ranted some about that and other stuff in a recent thread: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020416/msgs/103496.html]
> Thanks again for your kind words. As awful as the whole ordeal was, time is a great healer. All of my family have vowed that we will do ANYTHING necessary to make sure none of us suffers like that.
It's terrible that you all had to go through that. But it is good that you now have a better idea of what to do if something similar comes up again. Maybe someone else will be spared an even worse experience as a result of having thought about what to do in that kind of situation.
love,
-elizabeth
poster:Elizabeth
thread:103502
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020425/msgs/104880.html