27, January 2013
THE MOM:
I came down yesterday to find the dishwasher had been emptied. Shortly thereafter, en route to an early morning train to London, I asked DK if he had done it. DK, thinking I was having a go at him, snapped back somewhat waspishly I thought, that he hadn’t had time. This meant only one thing. Alex had done it. Probably before going to bed. This also meant he’d somehow not only registered that it was full and clean without having big flashing red arrows pointing at it or “ATTENTION! ATTENTION!” announcements being boomed over the tannoy, he’d actually gone over to it, opened it, inspected it, emptied it and, as was also confirmed upon my return from London, put stuff away in the right place.
This may sound like a small thing. It’s not.
He furthermore had dinner waiting for us when we got home and had timed it to perfection. Red-Cooked Shoulder of Pork, with jasmine rice and stir fried bok choy, followed by a lemon curd and passion-fruit pavlova.
He had also managed to find time to walk the dog, practice the piano, and go pick up his Subutex prescription at the neighbouring town’s pharmacy. And I think read a little on the Kindle.
These are all accomplishments. These are all “ticks” on The Schedule. I don’t give gold stars, but yesterday Alex was deserving of one.
His doctor at CRI in Lowestoft must also be impressed because he has now re-written Alex’s Subutex prescription, enabling him to simply go collect it every day from the pharmacy and not have to sit there like a naughty two-year-old while they watch him take it. Subutex, as you may or may not recall, being the “heroin replacement” meds he has been put on (similar to methadone but better, but can’t remember why now) and which he will eventually be weaned off of, in time.
We will soon be awaiting, with some trepidation, the results of a drugs test to be given him in a week or two, after which he will hopefully have the Subutex reduced from 10mg to 8mg. All part of the plan (he started at 14mg). But this will only happen if there are no traces of opiates remaining in his system.
This has been a tough one. Because every drugs test Alex has so far had has shown traces of opiates, even though he has been free of heroin for these past four months. It’s been making him crazy, getting these positive results, because he figures we won’t believe him that he’s not been taking heroin. He’s been careful, he knows that even taking something as innocent sounding as Nurofen Plus to relieve a pulled muscle can give a “wrong” reading in a drugs test. Painkillers, especially the ones labeled “Extra” or “Plus” often (usually) have codeine in them, and codeine is an opiate derivative.
Sadly, what these drug tests don’t show is whether these opiate traces are from Nurofen or, er, something else. I do believe him though. All he (we, they) can figure out is that Alex had taken so many, so very many (illegally procured) slow-release high-dose super-strength morphine pills as part of his Self-Designed De-Tox Program, and so many of them even prior to coming home last September (they help when you can’t score heroin, apparently) that the drug has yet to dissipate. That’s how strong and insidious opium is. I actually can’t believe he’s even still alive after hearing how he’d been chucking them down like Tic-Tacs.
So. Fingers crossed.
Bit of a blow up the other day. I do the dishes and like to go upstairs at night to an empty sink. The other morning my parents left dishes in the sink. I had to call them out on it.
Eating supper at 8 pm. I physically can’t do that. I wake up at 2 am with heartburn.
A couple of days later mom was proud to announce they had done their late night dishes. Great.
90+ y.o. parents aren’t going to get better.