Hi everybody! ☺️
Sorry it’s been awhile since we’ve posted on here. It’s been absolutely hectic!
As most of you know, as well as preparing for the wedding, I have been doing quite an intense detox from the dangerously high dose of Fentanyl that I am on at the moment.
If you have been following us for awhile or know us personally, you will know that a few years ago, I went through an even harder detox from which I reduced the dose of the (different) drug I was prescribed - from 33 per day IV, to 3 doses per day IV. I was told by the specialist that my body would be reliant on that amount for the rest of my life.
However, the central lines that were required to administer this medication still gave me life-threatening sepsis (8 times in fact!) and so one day I decided to take the line out completely and not to have it replaced for the sake of my life if nothing else. I asked the medical team if I could stop the IV medication and they said that although it was high risk they could not stop me from attempting to do so. A week later I was discharged from hospital having completely weaned off of a drug that my body was, I physically and psychologically dependent on.
My life at that point was completely ruled by the medication I was on, but much better than it was on the IV meds. At that point, I decided that I did not want to waste my life in bed, with zero memory of each day, and being a person that I was not. It motivated me to stop my Tramadol too, and also to half my dose of Diazepam.
I know a lot of you will probably want an update on how the Fentanyl reduction is going. After an extremely hard couple of months, I can officially say that tomorrow, 5 days before I get married, that I have achieved what was asked of me, and I am on a safe dose of opiates - ironically, the same day, but just a few years on from the hospital reduction, I have spoken about above. Tomorrow, I will have detoxed to a safe dose of Fentanyl; cutting out 1400mcg of a drug that would have eventually killed me.
TOMORROW I WILL HAVE SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETED THE FENTANYL REDUCTION I WAS AIMING TO DO, BUT NEVER EVER BELIEVED I COULD OR WOULD!
It wasn’t easy, but with the support of Sam, my carers, my family, friends, and my GP, I can look forward to and enjoy a wedding day that I will remember, surrounded by those that mean so much to both me and Sam.
So, thank you to every single one of you who have been there to support me, who have given me support and encouragement, sent cards and gifts, texts and messages, and believed in me on the days that I didn’t even believe in myself. (Sam, I’m sorry that you’ve had to take the emotional, frustrated, angry side of me during this process, but you’ve got me through it and now we can look forward to our special day❤️).
We will be doing a five day countdown every day from now to Sunday (our wedding day), so now all medical stuff aside, look out for our posts over the next five days (starting tonight) whilst we prepare!
I can’t wait to marry my best friend👰♀️
Katie xxx