Medicinal Mayhem

Time passed with Raylan able to keep the violence from work at work and the disasters that followed Arlo far away from his son. His relationship with Ava had been short and sweet and was now over taking with it complexity and confusion that he could ill afford right now. He had had a few run-ins with Gary as he and Winona continued to cross paths, but other than that his calendar had been clear for his son. He had taken him to his new specialist who had decided more tests would only be uncomfortable and wouldn't give them any more information than they already had. They discussed speaking with a pain doctor but in the end decided not proceed down that avenue yet. Treating children for pain was tricky and difficult so with a brave face Nate decided to try a new medication that may or may not work for him but would take months to find out.

"You can try the other drug too," Raylan said as the doctor sat there listening.

"But it's a steroid and I don't want that."

"He has maintained his weight and that's great." The doctor said looking at Nate's chart. Whether it was the limited diet, the disease itself or just genetics, Nate had always been small for his age taking after Nadine who had been a very petite woman. The doctor continued, "He's right these are powerful drugs and the side effects are something to think about it. Nate you have tolerated your current meds well and you can try to add another to help with your discomfort."

"It's not discomfort it's pain." Nate clarified.

"I'll give you a prescription and you can try it, if you have negative side effects then you can discontinue. I'm going to start you at a lower dose and up it slowly, that may help. The two new meds are very different and have different side effects so you need to read up on each one so you know which one might be causing problems. This one he'll take once a day and this one will be when the pain is intense. It will turn your urine blue so don't panic when you see blue in the toilet."

"Kind of like the one tried that turned my pee orange but did nothing for the pain?" Nate asked.

"Something like that except hopefully this one will work for you. But only use it as needed when the pain is the worst. I'm only prescribing you a few to see if they actually work."

"What does the first one do?" Raylan asked.

"It should help calm his never endings. I'm hoping it can take enough of the edge off that he can have a much easier time."

"I think it's worth a shot," Raylan said taking the two slips of paper. "This is the one we decided for sure right?" Raylan asked.

"Yes," the doctor nodded.

"Okay, let's make your next appointment and go do something fun."

"I need some new clothes," Nate said as they stood at the receptionist's desk.

"But shopping's not fun," Raylan countered.

"I know but neither are pants that are too short for me."

"You grew?" Raylan asked surprised.

"A little bit," Nate admitted.

"Yeah, I suppose you have," Raylan said looking at the jeans that were beginning to creep up Nate's ankles.

"A few new long sleeve t-shirts and another hoodie would be good too. It's still cold around here."

"Well, sure we can. I know the weather is a bit colder than you're used to. Wait until your first winter; you'll get to see snow."

"Gee, I can't wait."

"It will be warming up very soon, don't worry," Raylan assured.

With a bag full of long sleeve shirts a couple of hoodies they headed to the pharmacy and then home; Raylan grateful for his federal based health insurance. Even so he had to allocate a certain sum of his check to cover the cost of Nate's healthcare. He had no problem with it at all he just wish his boy could feel better and he hoped maybe these new magic pills might give him some relief.

"Okay this one says take on an empty stomach and this one says take with food." Raylan said looking at the labels.

Nate was scanning the long print outs that come with each new prescription. "This one says the side effects are weight gain, dry mouth and fatigue and this one says dizziness, confusion and hair loss."

"Well you may do just fine and not suffer from any of the side effects or maybe just one temporarily."

Nate looked up at his father horrified. "So they may make me feel a bit better but I'll be fat, stupid and bald."

Raylan couldn't help but laugh but soon realized that his son's concern wasn't a joke. "I know this is a pain in the ass, but one day we will find the right combination and you'll get some relief."

"Are you a betting man?" Nate asked.

"I'll bet on you any day," he said pulling his son close.

Nate embraced his dad thankful for the solid foundation. He generally dealt well with everything but it always caught up with him at some point where he just needed to vent, cry and feel sorry for himself before he got back to the reality that is life. Since it had been Nadine who had held Nate's hand in the most difficult times Raylan had never been put on the spot as the emotional caregiver but he surprisingly enough he had been up to the task; fatherhood does change a man in every aspect.