Hi G&P,

I don't know if you were leaving for Philly today or just had to let them know by today - they can be rather dim about letting out-of-staters have adequate notice. One time after we got to Philly I called my house in IL to speak with my Mom who was watching my daughters, she told me Dr S's office had phoned that afternoon to remind me of my 7 a.m. appt the next morning. How they thought I wd make it on time if I hadn't yet left IL by 4 p.m. the previous day I'll never understand!

I had a really positive in-patient ketamine experience - wrote all about it on the Old BT site, of course it's lost forever. But I went with an attitude a lot like yours, very positive and hopeful. As the IV ketamine flowed I kept reminding myself to remain calm and remember I was there to get better, and I kept my mind on my family. Doing this, I was able to keep from ever getting scared. Also, whenever I started to have any "hallucinogenic" trips,
I would just stay calm and detached, and do something like follow a butterfly out of that "scene" back to reality, or something closer to it. In other words, I tried to stay calm, and to keep some control, but passively, I didn't fight the drug, nor did I surrender to it and fly to Neverland.

The nurses said I had the best ketamine treatment of any they had seen at Hahnemann. By day 3 I was pretty lucid all the time, and had zero pain. When I left the pain was abt a 3, but because I have permanent nerve damage and TOS I knew I would not be pain free. The pain levels hovered between 3-4 for a good 5 months, which was over Oct-Feb, and the best winter I'd had to that point since injury, by far! That was with several flights back to Philly for 2 or 3 day out-patient ketamine treatments, at lower doses, done at Dr S's office. These are 4 hrs ea.

The last treatment was spaced out the farthest, with 3 months between, in May. I lost a LOT of ground in the space of 3 months. SOme of this is due to a great deal of stress owing to an ins. appeal I lost, over their denying payment for the ketamine treatment!! I think that the traveling back and forth also takes away some of the benefit - you are suppposed to relax after each treatment and not do much for 48 hours, while I was rushing through terminals catching flights home!

But I would do it again, because it gave me more relief than anything else has done, and some sx stayed away 12 months or longer. The acid-eating pain in the bone still has no returned. The burning pain has never returned to my upper back. Don't get the sporadic electric jolts or "sun spots" either, and the myoclonic jerks scaled way back. In fact when the sx returned, they returned to the original limb only for a long time, and much reduced.

So I would definitely say try it. But I think how you approach it matters a great deal on outcome.

I am told the coma treatment wd work for me since I had such a good initial response to the IV. But I am not ready for this yet, because I have 2 girls at home, and I need to be there for them and with them, at least with a sound mind, whatever shape this body is in, and the coma procedure just carries too high of a risk factor for me at this time.

I'm hoping something else comes along before I have to seriously consider it!!

Best wishes,
beth