I knew something was wrong when it was painful to stand or lay on my back. I learned after a CT Scan that the tumor had fractured lumbar 1 and 2 in my back. The pain was getting to be unbearable. I started taking ibuprofen and Tylenol in tandem to control the pain. Every 4 hours around the clock, I would often suffer waiting until it was okay to take the next pill. I didn't have much luck with other pain killers.
I noticed that the Oncologist really didn't care too much about the pain that I was experiencing in my back. His role was to treat the cancer and that is it. I remember sitting in the room taking chemo and waving to him as he passed me. With a blank stare he didn't even acknowledge that I was there. I realized that he wasn't terribly interested in me as a person. I suppose he probably escorts too many people to their grave to worry about being too personal.
As I sat up nights unable to sleep, I decided that I needed a recliner chair that I could sit, relax and sleep.We visited RC Willey and I sat in each chair in their show room. As I sat in each chair, the most important criteria was if my back hurt when I sat down. I found a La-z-boy chair that was perfect.
Kathy Waterman was visiting us at the time. Kathy is a friend from college days at Brigham Young University. We don't see her very often and her visit was well timed. She traveled to Salt Lake City to pick up the recliner so I could have it that night. We assembled it and as soon as I sat down and reclined, I was soon asleep. I ended up staying in that chair for 3 months before I could sleep in a bed again. I had to wait another agonizing 7 days until chemo started which started shrinking the tumor and gave some relief.
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