Yesterday I brought my oxycodone prescription to the Big Y in South Hadley so I could take it with me to Boston for pre-medicating before my ECP. I do not want to haggle with anyone about the degree of my pain when they don't believe I know what I need.
At the pharmacy they said to go shopping while it was getting filled. I wanted to get a head start on shopping for my seder because I will be out of commission with two days in Boston for alphabet soup. ECP (blood sucking) today and PDT (face frying to get rid of precancerous spots on face and neck) tomorrow.
I looked in two places and discovered this Big Y has only have a fraction of the Passover food that you need. Since there are not that many Jews in South Hadley, we should have not that much food. I should have known better and gone to Stop and Shop.
When I went back to get the prescription, they said it would take a few more minutes for the pharmacist to check it. I balanced on my toes. The pharmacist came out and said that because of the state's new stricter rules on opiod prescribing, I needed to have a cancer diagnosis. It is part of federal and state efforts to limit the use of opiods for chronic pain. Because of the effect that Tylenol and NSAIDS on my system, my doctors prefer oxycodone for me in the case of severe pain. If I have a headache, I'm not going to pop an oxycodone. But if you saw how long my last prescription lasted, you would see that I use it sparingly. When she looked in the computer she couldn't even see the last time I had filled it. In any case...
If the scene at the pharmacy counter were a play by Harold Pinter, there would be a big pause. Well, there was a big pause. The pharmacist was apologetic. I said (duh) I've DO have a cancer diagnosis. I've been coming here for 13 years to get my cancer meds. My prescription came in on Dana-Farber CANCER Institute letterhead.
Under the new rules, it has to say what kind of cancer you had, or have. They went to call Melissa. Apparently I could get a smaller supply at that point or get the prescribed amount after she verified. I wanted the full amount so I went home. Then she called and said Melissa had verified I had AML. She said I could come back. By that point I was too tired. And also I wanted to watch the New York primary results come in. I'll have to go back today.
But first I'm going to play tennis and hopefully forget about it for an hour and a half on the courts.
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