Today is my last day of my Schick Shadel treatment program. The day starts at 6:10am with nurses call. I think the nurses are starting on the other side of the building for morning vitals and meds.
My final Duffy is scheduled for 8:15am, so I need to get right on downing the water so I'm properly hydrated before going into the Duffy room. I freshen up really quickly, then grab my pitcher of water and head down to the 6:30am class. I need to down a liter of water by 7:30 to be on track to get 2 liters down by the time my Duffy starts.
Today's class is kind of neat because 4 of us are graduating from the program today, so they call us up front one at a time so everyone can tell us goodbye and/or anything else they want to say. I'm the first to go up front and I'm really surprised at all of the positive things everyone tells me. It gives me a warm feeling in my heart to hear all of the affirmations and expressions of friendship. It will be difficult to leave these people, as we've all developed a bond going through this program together.
The 6:30am class gets out at nearly 7:30am. I head up to my room to start in on my second pitcher of water. T-minus 45min and counting to the final Duffy. This Duffy is doing to be physically draining, I know it. The final Duffy is 20 glasses (drinking glasses) of alcohol.
At around 8:10am, I head down to the nurses station. I see Turea come out of the Duffy room and she asks me if I need to use the restroom before we begin. After drinking all of that water, I decide it's a good idea, so I make one final pit stop.
We head into the Duffy room and I take my seat in front of the stainless steel basin. In front of me are bottles of all of my drinks of choice. Turea hands me the ipecac and I drink it down. Even after the 5th one of these doses of ipecac, I'm still not over the horrible taste...
Turea tells me to take a walk for a few minutes to let the ipecac stir around and take effect (i.e., for me to start to feel some nausea). I head out of the Duffy room and walk around a bit. I start to feel like deadman walking as I pace around waiting to start the final Duffy.
After about 10min, Turea comes out of the Duffy room and tells me we need to get started. I follow her back in and take my seat back in front of the Duffy bowl. Turea hands me two glasses of warm salt water. After I down these, Turea hands me the first drink: vodka and water.
I put the glass to my nose and smell, then drink. Halfway through the glass, the flood gates open. 1 drink down, 19 to go..... This is not going to be fun.
From this point out, I puke after every drink. About 3/4 of the way through the Duffy, I look in the mirror and I'm pouring sweat.
Just before the final drink, Turea has me drink two glasses of water. She then hands me a straight shot of vodka. I pull the drink up to my nose and smell and immediately puke. My aversion level is off the chart at the point. Turea tells me to just swish and spit the rest. She then hands me and empty vodka bottle and leads me back to my stinky rag soaked in alcohol.
My nausea level is extremely high. The nurse comes in to check on me every 15 minutes. 30 minutes into my three hours, Joe's treatment nurse brings him back to the room after his Duffy. Following them is the nurse who had been checking on me, with the Booster.
She comes over to check my vitals then says "I feel bad giving this to you." I respond: Lay it on me. I grab the booster and down it, and immediately start puking. Joe is facing the other direction. I'm completely shot. This last Duffy has taken alot out of me physically. I just lay there in agony and nausea after this, waiting for my 3 hours to get over.
After my Duffy, I eat some crackers and 7-up, to make sure my stomach is settled then head down to the caffitera for lunch. Today is philly cheese steaks and soup -- very good. I sit and eat with some of the other patients and we talk about out time together. I enjoy talking with these people, but I'm really looking forward to getting home to see my family.
After eating lunch, I head back up to my room, shower, and get into clean scrubs. I then head down to the nurses station to go through the checkout procedure. It goes quickly and I'm given my backpack and the meds I'd checked into the nurses station. I then head back to my room and start packing my things. Seems strange to be packing up -- this place has grown on me.
After packing I run around the hospital and say my goodbyes to everyone and head out the door.
What an incredible 10 days. Schick Shadel has truly given me my life back.
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