Editor: My wife, a pensioner, quit OxyCodin today. She had a very bad reaction.
In December 2015 the doctor prescribed drugs for hip joint pain. But in July 2016, when the drugs prescribed were no longer effective, the GP prescribed OxyCodin.
At that same December appointment the GP referred my wife to a surgeon/specialist. She waited three months to March 2016 for an appointment, where the surgeon decided that the hip joint would be replaced.
The exact date of the operation was vague, but would perhaps be in 35 weeks 鈥� there was a heavy schedule, he said.
We checked in Canada for fee-paid medical service. None are available, as the law prohibits overnight stays in private hospitals.
Thus, from December 2015 until November 2016 (11 months) my wife was to live with her ever worsening hip problem and take ever more pain-dulling drugs.
The drugs dulled the pain but it still hurt each time she walked. Reluctant to walk, she confined herself to the home, and you cannot socialize if you do not walk.
You hesitate to venture outside your home, you do not shop, you cannot clean your home.
Your life is dramatically changed. Her lifestyle was cut short. Plus there were unwanted side effects from the drugs.
The drugs cause indigestion, constipation, loss of balance and make you sleepy.
Eight months later, my wife has become a virtual couch potato.
In pain when she walks and taking drugs, she sits in a chair most of the day falling asleep at times. She has sat for so long, it aches to sit and needs special padding.
She has lost confidence in her ability to walk, needs a stick or a friendly arm. Her balance is compromised, she shuffles and she no longer steps out with confidence.
Her physical movement and motor skills are vanishing. Her muscles are atrophying.
It鈥檚 doubtful if any of these problems will be reversed in the next three or more months when the long-awaited operation is performed.
In the enforced and unacceptable waiting time of 11 months, my wife has lost more well being than the much delayed hip replacement can ever restore.
鈥淎n ounce of prompt attention is worth a pound of prolonged cure.鈥�
J. Hewitt,
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