Spinal Tap
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 at 1:20PM
Fried Nerves and Jam

I spoke with my doctor this morning. He had a lengthy and productive conversation with the neurologist regarding my EMG study. They both feel it beneficial for me to undergo a spinal tap. We will hear in the next few days when it will be scheduled. Most likely it will be in the next couple of weeks.

We are moving forward with the Ketamine Infusions. The process is infusions four hours a day, five days a week, for two weeks. The goal is to reset my nervous system. He is optimistic that this treatment will help my CRPS. He cannot confirm that I will regain mobility that has been already lost - but is hopeful we can at least stop the spread of the disease as my right leg has "crashed" in four weeks - to the degree my left leg took six months. Ketamine infusions will begin in the last part of September.

My paralysis could very well be caused by the CRPS. I will simply be one of a very few worst-case scenarios, and who knows, maybe I'll end up in some online text book somewhere and pop up when people misspell CRaPS.

He also would like to order a special head scan that chronicles the way the brain is functioning, in real-time, in order to rule out a possible stroke that may have occurred at some point in my recovery. Lovely thought isn't it? I would have at least hoped for a good drooling episode or something. But here I get reruns of sitting still. In a chair. With titanium for legs. But before we can do this scan, the engineers (Choo Choo) at Boston Scientific need to state whether the spinal cord stimulator in me arse, will get in the way of the brain waves in my head. There's a joke in here somewhere. I just can't think of what it is. Must have my head up my...

Yesterday I had blood drawn to rule out Lyme Disease as a hitch hiker on my CRaPS. Which some people call Lime Disease. Which reminds me of sucking on a lemon, and much more appropriate for this condition.

So. Ketamine yes. Brain scan maybe. Spinal tap is not just a movie anymore.

Spirits are good. Doctors are on it. And Don is home each night to hold me close. And every morning to kiss me good-bye. Which is really all I ever really hoped for in the end.

Article originally appeared on Fried Nerves Blog (http://www.moanavida.com/).
See website for complete article licensing information.