I am getting ready for another trip to my parents - for my 2nd set of 2 day boosters. The traveling has been hard for me, I miss my family a lot every time I need to pack and get on a plane to head "home" to my mom and dad in NJ for the treatments at Getson's offices in Marlton. I have also found that I don't feel well after the ketamine, how much of that is likely due to all the messing around with meds that has been going on I can't be sure of yet. Before and after the transfusions I eat very little. I am also tired almost all the time. And because I have become so much more pain free, I have been removing my Fentanyl patches. My pain may be ready for that, but my body is not. I have become extremely sick with flu-like symptoms twice in the last 2 weeks, and both times a reapplication of a Fentanyl patch has cleared up a lot of my problems. It is a good thing that my sister is a nurse and figured out for me what was wrong both times, I had NO CLUE!! I am only on a 12 mcg patch now, but I still became violently ill 3 days after removing it last week. Yuk!!!

My pain has been reduced quite a bit. But it is not all the way gone. It is different now, more muscle pain and stiffness, perhaps from just not moving the right way and from my body not being in alignment. Weather changes still impact me profoundly. And I have the withdrawal issue to deal with - obviously I am going to need to consult a professional, I can't just yank my patch off and go to zero as I was advised by Dr. Getson (I only weigh about 110-120 right now). There is also the issue of rehab with my shoulder, neck and head which is still off-balance and a bit atropied. I must return to my job in a month and a half, but I will still be a little crooked when that happens because I doubt my PT will get me fixed in time.

So far, this has been rough. I've lost a lot of weight. I'm always tired and nauseated. But my ears are fixed (HOORAY!!). And I've made it through 12 infusions and an occipital block (OUCH!!) and have learned not to jank off my morphine patches without a plan, so hopefully things will go more smoothly in the future....

More time is needed before I can conclude whether the ketamine infusions are a successful treatment for me for the long term. I wish I could have started all this months ago!!

Please feel free to ask me any questions you might have....

Much love and peace, Sandy