medicine adventures (part one)

My journey with cancer requires that I consume potent medicine for pain management. Methadone is one of these medicines that is a necessary part of my routine and it controls the bone pain in my hip and sacrum. I have constant uncomfort that cannot be alleviated without it I have noticed that this medicine is different than other medicines, in that it has more rigid rules. First, it can only be presented to a pharmacist with the original hand written script; therefore it cannot be faxed or phoned. Also, unlike many medicines which allow you to refill it a number of times, I have to have a new hand written script for every refill. Finally, my insurance will only permit a new refill a few days before my current one is about to expire. This can be a pain in the you-know-what, especially if you are about to run out around the same time you are leaving town for a vacation and you are not allowed to refill the medicine. It’s a hassle but I live with it.

Last month, following an uneventful and routine visit with my oncologist, I received a new prescription for Methadone. Although I had 3 more weeks remaining on my current Methadone prescription, my doctor gave me a new script so I would not have to travel back to the cancer center just to pick up a prescription. Last Monday, I had three days of Methadone remaining so I looked for my prescription and I could not find it. The following day, I thought, well maybe I already dropped it off at my pharmacy? They did not have it. I looked through a pile of papers where I would have placed it. I could not find it. The following day I had one full day of pills remaining so I searched through every piece of paper, every recent paid bill, unpaid bill, I even looked in every drawer, and coupon pile. I searched every possible location. I did not find it.

It was now Friday, I had one pill remaining (I use 3 pills per day). I called my nursed and asked for another prescription-something I have done many times before. I did not hear back from the nurse and wanted to get the script before she left for the day so we drove to the cancer center in Shawnee Mission. After we arrived at the cancer center, I was shocked to discover that my nurse would not provide me with a new script until I filed a police report for my lost prescription. I was a little shocked by this. It was 2:45 and my nurse was leaving for the weekend at 4:00. I was a little worried.

We asked for the location of the nearest police dept. Only a half mile away from the cancer center…wonderful! We arrived at the police dept and spoke with the officer at the window. Our very brief conversation informed us that we would have to file a report at the police dept in our city of Olathe…Oh No. It was now 3:15 and there was absolutely no way for us to drive back to Olathe, file a report, and drive back to the cancer center by 4pm. No pain medicine all weekend...I totally freaked out!

To be continued…