I found the needles!

I grabbed the needles in the haystack and they didn't even hurt.

I've been looking for vitamins and supplements for a while now since the chewable ones they offer at Henry Ford's hospital pharmacy (Celebrate brand) are really gross and I was even starting to avoid taking them because I hated the taste so much. The calcium and multivitamin are really nasty, in my opinion - the iron and b-12 are fine, though.

There's a Yahoo message board for Canadian Henry Ford patients and a poster there mentioned that she started taking pills again about 6 weeks post op. Hmmm...that convinced me to give it a try and do away with the pill-crushing and nasty chewable thingys. But first I had to find some to take.

Well, it took three stores and a couple weeks but I did it! *happy dance* So here's what I found and where I found it. FYI for my Cdn. readers:

Multivitamin - Centrum Forte, found at drugstores anywhere. I got mine at Rexall Pharmacy.

Calcium - I chose to get a liquid calcium just because calcium pills are usually so huge. It's Life Brand (the house brand at Shopper's Drug Mart), 1000 mg. with 400 iu of vitamin D. We are required to take 500 mg. twice a day. This has 500 mg. per tablespoon (they say a dose is 2 tablespoons, but I half that), so that's what I take, at breakfast and dinner. It's blueberry flavored and much, much better than the Celebrate berries & cream chewable.

Iron - I was really freaking out over the iron choices I was seeing till I walked into Shopper's Drug Mart on Fairway Road Sunday morning. DING!!! Nature's Bounty Gentle Iron. 28 mg (almost the 30 we're supposed to take...I ain't quibbling) plus 60 mg. of vitamin c just like the Celebrate brand has. We need the vitamin c for absorption. It also has 8 mcg of b-12 and 400 mcg of folic acid. I was so happy when I found this I almost shrieked with delight in the vitamin aisle. Best part is there are 90 capsules per bottle and it's about 8 bucks. Schweeet!!!

B-12 - I still have some of my Celebrate b-12 sublinguals but I found these and got them anyway. I'll use up my Celebrate then move on to these. Swiss Natural Sources brand B-12 with Folic Acid has 1000 mcg of b-12 (which is ok, according to Annette, the nutritionist at Henry Ford) and 400 mcg of folic acid. Cherry flavored sublinguals - I got them at Rexall.

I also got some Swiss Natural Sources biotin at Bulk Barn. That stuff is nearly impossible to come by in a drugstore. One pharmacy asst. had no idea what I was talking about when I asked for it at a Rexall location. Biotin is a B vitamin that does lots of things, some of which include regulating blood sugar and strengthening hair and nails. I do not want to lose my hair, dude. I'm into prevention.

So I'm now taking all my pills, no crushing anymore. I split the multivitamin into fourths. It's pretty big and scary to me. All the rest, including my Zantac, Ursodiol and blood pressure medication I just swallow down. It's not always pleasant, but it's coming along. I eat, wait 30 mins. then start taking them about 5 mins. apart.

I'm still having problems with nausea. I didn't eat much for lunch today at all and was nauseated all afternoon. I got some organic caffeine-free teabags at Bulk Barn that are formulated for digestive issues and nausea. It's called Traditional Medicinals Eater's Digest herbal tea. I got off early today, came home and made some. It did help! I feel better now, actually a tad hungry. I'm going to keep some at work.

Thanks to all my readers out there! This blog helps me like you all have no idea.