You can safely goose the oxycodone with a Tylenol or two if you want. FYI- the drug Percocet is simply 5 mg of oxycodone plus 325 mg of Tylenol. If you have the 500 mg (Tylenol Extra Strength) tablets, just take one with an oxycodone. Your max on Tylenol is about 4000 mg/day.

At any rate, I do need to ween myself away from it. I figure I really will cut down to only one every four hours tomorrow because the following day I have to be at work. At least I'm now getting about 3 1/2 hours of sleep at a time, and I've begun another regimen of Prilosac OTC which should cure the heartburn since it always has in the past. It's also not as bad now as it had been.

BTW, I finally got a look at the scar having taken my first shower this morning and it's far more gruesome than I imagined. It's sticking up more than a half-inch over the skin along the entire 7" length with stitches poking out all over, and it looks like it was sewn together by a butcher. The scar under my arm is mild by comparison, although I still haven't taken off the underlying bandages from that one as they seem to be holding my skin together there.

Also, the "tingling" has been replaced by a "cold sweat" all over, and part of my underarm has remained numb.

'02 Check out my CAP_INFO, and join my new WEBSITE. Coach Del Rio: "Respect every opponnent, and fear nobody."

Since last night I've been taking only 1 oxycodone and 3 Tylenol, and so far it's doing the trick. This morning I noticed what you're talking about regarding its "constipating" effect, and with that in mind I definitely need to ween myself from the drug as much as possible.

Anyways, I thought you might want to check out some PICTURES...

• http://www.freewebs.com/jags02/scar3b.jpg
• http://www.freewebs.com/jags02/scar5b.jpg
• http://www.freewebs.com/jags02/scar7b.jpg

We took a ruler to it today, and it's actually 8" long. The last picture lets you see how much it protrudes out from the skin.

'02 Check out my CAP_INFO, and join my new WEBSITE. Coach Del Rio: "Respect every opponnent, and fear nobody."

Gross. Makes me think of "Nightmare Before Christmas."

Glad you've pulled through alright, though. Keep your head up (and your shirt on).

“As men, you can be what you set your mind on. As a football team, the same rule applies. Aside from God and family, there should be nothing more important than what we’re doing here.” - JDR (7/26/08)

I just tell people that my wife abuses me.

Don't Take Life Too Seriously

In the meantime, the scars from the surgery have left me in some rather intense pain at times. The pain from the back scar isn't so bad, but the little scar under my arm almost has me worried. It's often very sore and painful, and it's like there's a knot underneath my skin there that gets rather hot. Near the upper opening, it's also quite red and has sort of bubbled over. The pain was better today, however, so I'm hoping it's nothing and just needs more time.

Meanwhile, I've had to stop wearing gauze on my back because the tape was literally peeling my skin off. There's a nasty would still there from the last time the tape was ripped off. It's doing ok open, but my wife says there's one spot that hasn't closed leaving an open hole there. I've been using some generic neosporin on both wounds, and am using hydrogen peroxide to help clean them, and that seems to be working ok. I just feel like I'm fairly exposed at work, and the smaller underarm wound (which I do keep a bandaid on while at work) is bothersome. I'm also hoping to come through this ok financially speaking because I've only been able to work 4 hours per day at work instead of 8 (hence my increased board presence). But that's a concern for my near future. Today is a day for celebrating.

'02 Check out my CAP_INFO, and join my new WEBSITE. Coach Del Rio: "Respect every opponnent, and fear nobody."

Are you on any antibiotics? The symptoms under your arm sound like an infection. Check with Doc about that. He'll probably call you in some antibiotics to be safe. The skin thing may be an allergy to the adhesive on the tape. It's really quite common, and a good alternative is "paper tape" It doesn't bother the skin as much, and I have to use that. It helped me.

Glad to hear that you're doing better though, and that the tests were promising.

BTW, I'm still going to do a "salary cap thread" on your medical bills.

Don't Take Life Too Seriously