January 2007 Archives

I was on the train home yesterday when I saw something that sparked a memory. Usually on the ride home I see a lot of things -- from homeless people sleeping to young kids selling candy, trying to do nothing more than make a dollar. This I am used to. But yesterday, I looked up and saw a lady with a bottle full of pills. The bottle’s label had been torn off. The woman was very reserved, and she kept the bottle of pills, along with her water bottle, close. Due to high traffic on the train, I was standing while she was sitting, but I could see the whole seen. (I watch Spy Movies!) Across the aisle from her sat a guy who stared at her with the most disgusted look on his face. I looked back at the woman and saw that she was trying to take numerous pills without being noticed.

This interaction is what sparked a memory of my first ever drug regimen. I had to take two pills, two times a day, at the same time… each and every day. I hated the medicine, and I hated the fact that I usually had to take both of my doses when I was out and about in the public eye. People around you tend to get nervous. I remember having to put my meds in a Tylenol bottle and trying to make sure that everybody knew that I had a “headache.” I also remember the times that I had to be excused from class at the same time each day and swallow them in a bathroom stall because it was the only place that I could find privacy. This was actually a pretty convenient place considering the fun part of it all, SIDE EFFECTS. I would take my meds, and I would get sick only a few minutes later. I used to flush the toilet several times in a row so people would not hear me.

Three years and three regimens later, I now take my medicine once a night before I go to bed. It was hard to get to this point -- it took years of communicating with, and listening to, my doctor, Lisa Laya. I have gotten so used to the side effects now that I do not even notice that there are there. I however do notice when I do not experience them. The medicine that I take do not spell out Life for me, but they spell out Healthy Life and I think that is the message that the lady was trying to convey on the train. I love my meds and they are my best friends. Just like a best friend they make you happy and they make you sad. Sorry Cortney, do not be jealous I can have more than one best friend.