Dr. C comes through again!

I just got off the phone with Dr. C. She actually apologized for waiting this long to return my call. I told her that I totally understood since it was her first day back after being out of town. I told her that I was so appreciative that she even called me back. She said that it wasn't a problem. She said that she would have liked to see me down to 2.5 mg, but said that coming off the patch was quite a drop, so she has no issue with staying at 5mg. She assured me that I am doing things right and was *very* pleased to hear that I medicate based on pain, not b/c "it's time" to dose. I told her that depending on my level of activity I can sometimes hold out to 6 hours, but the average is 4 hours. I told her that I was pretty distraught that she'd *never* forced me to lower to a dosage that didn't allow for me to function and have a life. She felt really bad about the miscommunication and assured me that she wasn't forcing me now either. We talked about the fact that I'm now doing weekly visits with the physchologist and that we've stalled the adoption process (by dragging our feet on the h/s). She acknowledged that I've been through a lot and I told her that I can no longer psychologically handle it on my own anymore. She was pleased to hear that I was actively seeking help. I think if she could have given me a hug through the phone she would have. I told her about the three day virus and she was very empathetic (also told her about diluting the gatorade, she said that's why she likes to Rx Powerade as it's less salty). We talked about the set back from the lack of progesterone was and the insommnia issues. We've decided to switch me over to Lunesta as it's not as long lasting (I have to take the Ambien at 8pm to wake up at 6:30a) and also not habit forming so that we don't have that added worry. We are starting with the lowest dose and I am to report back in a week if it works or not. If it does, she'll Rx more. If not, she'll Rx the higher dose and I can give that a try. Hopefully the lower dose will be fine. Natural sleep is better, so I hope that I can kick the insommnia out the door soon! I told her that I do have a list of questions for the 14th, but I certainly didn't need them answered today. I just mainly needed the pain meds issue clarified and the insommnia issues fixed. She also wanted to know how much Zofran was holding out and I told her that I was surprised to see one of my Rx's had a refill on it. I told her that stuff is wonderful. I also explained that I had not idea that Dr. S was leaving town for almost a month. She was pretty surprised he was gone so long. I told her that had I known, I would have made sure that things were taken care of with his office. I also told her that I didn't know that no one in his office could Rx anything b/c he had not. She didn't say anything, but I think that was as disappointed about this as I was. I also explained that my drive to get off the duragesic patch was b/c I could no longer eat. I told her that I had reached a wall and that I could no longer force feed myself. I hadn't eaten in a few days before begging to come off it. I explained it was unfortuante that I got sick as soon as I was finally able to eat again and that going off the patch was a breeze. I told her that the one nerve was taken care of or else I would not have been able to come off the duragesic patch at all. I said that he hadn't been able to pin point the other nerve well enough. We talked about the fact that my body picked two "wonderful" nerves to mess up. We also talked about the fact that we are making progress to pain-free. I told her that I'm at the end of my rope and just hanging on as best I can. Another point that I think I would have gotten a hug. It feels good to have *finally* been able to talk to Dr. C, get things cleared up, and to hopefully get some better sleep. I still adore my dr. and her staff--they pulled through for me again!