On Monday I started my five day outpatient ketamine infusion, so today was my third day. It is a little different than what I was anticipating. I have to be at the doctors office at 6:30 to sign in, go over paperwork, ask questions, and gather vitals.

On day one, I was rather surprised when the nursing staff was asking to get a better understanding of what they are to be doing through the infusion. I was told that most of the infusions are done at a different office, so they just wanted to make sure they do everything correctly. We started my dose at 20mg/hour, but since the infusion itself is only an hour long, only 20mg total were given. I obviously misunderstood when I was told that the infusion was four hours long. It is one hour for questions, paperwork, getting the IV started, and taking my initial vitals, one hour for the infusion, then two hours of checking my vitals and recovering before being allowed to leave. I really did not have any problems with the initial low dose, but I did have some mild nausea, a mild headache, and some fairly bad agitation, but I do have anxiety issues even without the CRPS and the ketamine. I did mention all of this to the nursing staff on day two.

Yesterday, we went through the exact same routine with the dose adjusted to 30mg. They are also giving me Versed to help me relax a little during the infusion. Once again, I ended up with a little nausea and a headache later on. So far on both of these days, I had a drop in my pain level by one point, but only during the infusion. I had a chance to speak with the doctor that owns the practice, and his intern yesterday. The doctor assured me that I may not see any lasting pain reduction until later on in the week, possibly into next week. I made the intern's day yesterday. I am the first patient that he has had that is a "real CRPS" case. I am not sure what he meant by the first real CRPS case he has seen, whether he has only read about it, or if most of the cases he has seen have presented with more mild symptoms, but I was happy to answer some questions for him and make his day.

Today was the first time that any sort of problems came up. The nurse hooked up my IV, flushed it, administered a little Versed, then without thinking started administering the Ketamine by hand instead of through the pump. I don't know why I didn't catch it either, but the nurse realized what she was doing almost immediately. She didn't give me much, but it was enough to make me feel a little on the euphoric side. I guess the good thing is that it took my pain level down to a four, which is somewhere that I have not been in a long time.

So far I am not seeing any lasting results, but I am patient. I also started working on mirror therapy 4-5 times a day for 5-10 minutes each session. I was a little bit skeptical of that actually working, but after doing it for a few days now, I am starting to see how it can help. I will see what happens in the coming weeks, see what my PM has to say over the next couple of days and figure out if I will be going for follow up boosters. I am starting to relax a little while there. I am getting to know the nursing staff, and we are having a good time throughout the course of the morning. They are one of the more lively and fun nursing staffs that I have been around, and I have been around a fair number of different staffs throughout my life.

I will post again later on in the week to let you all know how I am doing.

Healing hugs to you all