Brought to you by the letter K and the color purple #2

  On a daily basis I have to try balancing living with Addison's Disease,Lung & Heart problems (a non smoker on Oxygen therapy 24/7) and Diabetes all which seem inter dependent on each other. I also deal with chronic pain issues.

    I have been checked for Lupus, Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue syndrome and MS. I say why look for yet another diagnosis? Addison's disease can cause muscle pain & weakness, which I refer to as MPW. Depending on which Dr. you ask, some agree it can be from the Addisons while others say once you are on steroids the muscle pain issue should be resolved.
    Well whether it should be resolved or not, I have it.  I don't really care what name you call, it I just want it to go away.
 
      After going to one pain clinic for just over 2 years, they stopped looking for any other meds that may bring relief.  I was left with pain that the pain killers & muscle relaxers just took the edge off of. When I said now what do we do? I was told," well we just increase your dosage".  I said well I don't expect to be pain free, although that sure would be nice, but I don't want to be in a stupor either. I'd like to be present for my life.
 
       So I was off to try and seek out another pain clinic that had maybe a different approach. An acquaintance said she had been going to the Shepherd Center in Atlanta. So I looked them up and made an appointment.
    The Shepherd Center is a world renown spinal cord injury rehab center and the center is huge. There is a MS wing opposite the pain management wing.We were hopeful that this was the place we would find some answers & relief

      The first Dr we met with kinda rub my husband the wrong way.  He said," it doesn't matter what disease she has, we are going to try Ketamine infusion treatments, it has worked for people like her, with wide spread pain issues."  In the end we decide to give it a try. I came home & did some research on Ketamine treatments and found that yes there were a lot of people getting relief from their pain. I switched to another Dr. in the practice who was a better fit for us. One willing to look for zebras.

     I both looked forward to and dreaded that first appointment. I have never had good luck with medications or treatments going "as planned". We had previously discussed my past reactions to medications.  It was agreed we would start off on a very low dose and we would slowly work our way up. For the first several treatments I didn't notice any significant relief from the pain for any longer than a day or two.
     Then a few months into treatment, as we steadily increased the dose each time,I started to notice that I wasn't taking my muscle relaxers every day. I didn't need to wear my fingertip-less arthritis gloves daily anymore and I didn't need to wear my ankle support braces either.  I could write, type and even wash my own hair!  Washing your own hair may not seem like a big deal but it had been 2 years since I'd been able to hold my arms up long enough to wash my own hair. This was definitely a BIG deal to me. Something was defiantly working with these treatments. Together with my pain killers, I was having pain free hours for days in a row.

    Ketamine is a “disassociate” drug, it is an hallucinogen and a stimulant. Ketamine is a horse tranquilizer and it has been used for years as anesthesia & for post operative pain. In recent years they have found that it is working for people with wide spread chronic pain issues like MS, Fibro & me with Ad.
      I have a love/ hate relationship with  this wonder drug. As I do with Prednisone, but that is a story for another day. I love the benefits I get from the treatments.I hate having to receive the treatments. I have to go to the clinic, get hooked up to an IV and take a "trip" to never never land. My husband Billy is the one who usually comes with me & we often laugh over the things I say while under the influence of K'. Things like are you real? am I real?
     I've learned a few things over these past months of getting these treatments. Like if they take a slower drip time the relief seems to last longer and  I don't get nauseously sick immediately following the treatment. It matters what is playing on the TV and what is going on around you. While you go on your own personal vacation destination,you feel as though you are in the TV with those people on the screen. It matters what mood you are in when you go into the treatment, if you are sad or upset about something chances are you will spend the next 3 hours crying uncontrollably while nothing makes any sense around you.

      My 24 year old son was the one coming with me this week for my treatment. I spent the morning trying to prepare him for any & all things that "could" happen. I went in in a good mood. Attitude is everything.
       I had been talking to a woman who had just recently been dxed with MS. Although she had symptoms of it for years she was misdxed as Fibro. She was only on her 4th treatment and on 90 mg. She was wondering if it is worth it. She said her relief only lasted for about 5 days. I told her that I didn't really start to feel the major effects of it till I hit 175 mg. To hang in there don't give up on finding relief just yet.

                                                  

The nurse stepped into the waiting area and said lets form a, I interjected with, a K' treatment conga line, the nurse laughed & said that 's right a K conga line. We filed through the doors & picked out our beds. The student nurse passed out our warm blankets and I commented on the fact that the warm blankets almost make the trip worth it. They pulled the curtain that separated me from the patient in the next bed. She had an amazing attitude and didn't mind sharing with us all. The student nurse ask the friend that was accompanying the woman in the treatment bed if she would like a warm blanket also. To which she replied," no thank you I am having enough trouble with hot flashes" without skipping a beat my bed mate said, "they're not hot flashes, they are your own personal tropical vacation, it is all in the attitude." We started talking back & forth, even with the curtain separating us. Exchanging war stories of how we got to needing to be here for treatments. As the Ketamine started to take hold I was filled with the color purple and I said so and my son said what the color purple? and I replied yes & it is happiness. I said bye Jeff see you in a few hours he said bye mom....
       I am reminded of how Sesame street used to say today was brought to you by a letter and a color........ and to that I say this K'day was brought to me by the letter K and the color purple.