The Dance

Doctors and discoveries 37.5

First thing Monday morning, they went to Prince's regular General Practitioner, who ordered some tests and scans, and told them he'd bring the results by on Thursday. He assured both of them that this situation could be overcome, but that Prince needed to give his body some time to recuperate, that working so very hard was just making things worse.

'There's one other thing to add to the mix, Prince said. 'I've never put this in my medical history, but I had seizures as a child until about the age of nine. They stopped, and never returned, but I've recently had some bouts of vertigo'-Emma startled, and grabbed his hand more tightly-'and I don't want to leave any stone unturned.'

The doctor added a neurological scan to the list of tests, and remarked, 'With all these tests, this isn't going to be your favorite day.'

Prince responded, 'Any day with my wife is a great day, doc, no matter the circumstances.' He leaned over and gave Emma a reassuring kiss on the cheek.

'While we are turning stones over, doc, you should know I've needed more pain medication than usual of late.'

The doctor asked hard questions about pain medicine dosages, and finally said,

'Prince, I'm not sure what you're doing right now to get pain medication, but I'm not finding record of controlled prescriptions in the state database. If you've been getting medication on your own, that could be a big part of our problem, as dosages aren't consistent in meds you get off the street.

'Just to be safe, I'm going to write a prescription for 'save shots', and I'm going to ask that they give you 3 of them. Hopefully you'll never need to use them. We've just recently gotten permission to prescribe these. There has been such an increase in overdoses since the DEA cut back on what could be prescribed, it's a heartbreaking situation.

'I'm guessing you were told opiods weren't addictive when you were first prescribed them. It infuriates me, because we doctors were lied to, and passed false information to the public.'

Emma had been extremely quiet and still during this conversation. Finally she turned to Prince and asked, 'Who is your supplier?'

This is going to kill her, but it's time to be honest. Maybe if I do it here it'll be easier on her, having some support.

He turned to her, looked in her eyes, and sadly said, 'I think you know, love.'

Prince watched her expression change from guarded to broken. Looking at the doctor, she said,

'I told him how to do it. I told him the story of a family member who became addicted to pain meds and ordered them online.'

Turning to Prince, she took a deep breath through her nose to stop the tears brimming in her eyes. Clutching his hand more tightly, she said, 'Honey, you had no idea what was in those pills; you just trusted people you never met or saw to be honest. I'll bet you were picking up orders when you went out on errands on your own. This whole thing is my fault.'

'No, Emma, it isn't your fault. You know how I like my privacy and control, the ability to do things my own way. When the prescription dosages were cut down, this seemed like a good solution, one that wouldn't hurt anyone. I deluded myself into believing these were legitimate pharmacies. I made my own choices and decisions, like always. This one terrible time, I was wrong. Do not put this guilt on yourself. I can't stand for you to do that.'

Emma nodded in understanding of the words Prince was saying, but the broken expression on her face didn't change.

With that news, Prince's doctor made a couple of phone calls, and asked Prince to go to a different office and meet with an orthopedist to see about legitimate prescription medicine. During that visit, Prince was asked for an estimate of how much pain medicine he was taking each day. He sat thoughtfully for a moment, and said, 'If the dosage in the pills I'm taking is correct, here's what I'm taking,' and added a milligram amount, rather than a number of pills.