Yes, my blood is Kvlt. No, it really is.... (pics included)

It’s been about a week since my treatment. We only did my right knee because Dr. B didn’t think it would be a good idea to do both of them the first time. I’m moving around fine, but my knee still hurts if I stay on my feet long. It’s bruising a lot, but the swelling is pretty much gone.


The whole thing went well. We started without the deep anesthetic, but once he hit some nerves about halfway though we went ahead and did it. It hurt more than I was expecting, but still wasn’t terrible. Turns out my right knee is more lose but my left one has more grinding when it moves…so we’re going to focus more on them now (and my wrists too).

Dr. B had the results for the spit test back when we got there. Turns out I have ‘heavy metal toxicity’. It looks like Cadmium, but I think we’re going to do a hair test to make sure. It’s keeping my cortisol levels VERY low…like 80-year-old woman low. Dr. B said that if I was 80 it wouldn’t be a big deal, but he would still do something to boost it; but since I’m 18, it’s not good, and we need to get it fixed. He’s taking my case to another doctor to get his opinion on what the best thing to do would be, and then he’s going to let us know. He said I’d have to do a detox to get it out of my system…but I have no idea what that will involve. After that I’ll just have to take something to keep it from affecting everything so much, but it shouldn’t be a big deal. I’ll update when I find out the plan.





Pictures from prolo:
                                                                 Needles

                                                                   Going in

Half way in

Side shot

                                                                   Holes and swelling

Info about Cadmium:

http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/tfacts5.html

Tempting Time

Hello everyone! Just wanted to give an update on the last treatment (on Tuesday). We ended up only doing prolo on my wrists, but Dr. B did some sort of realignment type thing with my back. I asked him to look at my back because a couple of weeks ago I had a major flare that lasted about three days. It scared me a little when it happened. It felt like it did before I started prolo. After about a day, I worried a little more. I wasn’t just hurting…my energy was gone too. I was back to choosing between things that shouldn’t matter at all. Like walking with my friends to the Student Center (not far at all, only takes a minute to get to) and taking a shower that night. Forget about doing both. I only had the energy for one, or preferably neither.




My mind went back.



I told myself flares happen and I would just give it a day or two.



But I was still scared.



I won’t lie. After day two my mind was already at the “what if it stays and I can’t do college anymore or can’t do a job or…” the list went on. It’s hard to explain how someone’s mind works when faced with those possibilities, especially when you’ve lived with them before. This wasn’t supposed to happen again. It showed me how much of a whimp I’ve become since the prolo started working.

Three days and that’s where I was at? How the heck did I make it over five years? I can’t do that again. I just can’t.



It eased up as time went by though. The pain faded faster than my energy level recovered, so I was very tired for a while. I was still annoyed, but I knew it just needed more time.



When I told Dr. B about this, he said we needed to check a few things. My back was pretty messed up, but that really wasn’t the main problem. He tested a bunch of things, and said he thought I had an allergy of some sort. He determined that it is probably an environmental allergy that may be affecting my adrenal glands and in turn my cortisol levels. So he sent me home with this spit test thing. I’m going to do it once all the meds are out of my system so they can’t mess with the results. Apparently we ship off my spit to some lab and they test it for a bunch of things. If it comes back like Dr. B thinks, then I’ll just have to take something that will support whatever is not working right. If it’s that simple I will be a happy camper. But he said that it’s not normal for my energy to drop like that, and (warning: this is probably wrong but it’s something along these lines) if my adrenal glands are over worked and then take a nose-dive, my cortisol levels will shoot up. When that crashes…I crash. That may not be how it works, but basically once they both hit the floor you can forget about doing anything. I’ll be very happy if we can keep that from happening again.



But other than that…all went well. Before the flare I was as good as ever, and I’m working my way back there now. My wrists are sore and bruised, but that’s a small price to pay. My back and shoulders are actually the most sore (most of the time).

I think the next treatment is in about five weeks or so.





Oh, I’ll probably be starting my job in about a week. That should be interesting. I’ll be able to get off my feet when I need to though, and I won’t be working a whole lot. It will be nice to have some extra money!

And there are quite a few things coming up with friends. I hope I’ll be able to do it all. The next month or so should be pretty fun.

We went on Tuesday for my latest round of prolo; it had been two months because of school. My wrists had started acting up before that, and had been for a few weeks. I had a few days where I was having trouble in class trying to take notes, and then having to practice piano on top of that. It didn’t stay that bad for too long though, so I could angrily grouch around put up with it. I was looking forward to this treatment because of that, I knew I needed it.

My back has been okay, my general pain level has been much lower. It just depends on what I do, how long I sit or stay on my feet, or if I’ve had to carry anything too heavy. Most of the time though, it is much lower than it used to be, letting me do way more things. In fact, I went snowboarding a few weeks ago.

Yep, snowboarding.

I went with a group from school, and we did the night skiing, so I was out there for a good 3 ½ hours. I took a break at one point, maybe for 15 or 20 minutes to rest, but other than that I was on the board. I did stay on the bunny slope. I knew I shouldn’t over do it, and by the time I was comfortable enough to go down the regular slope without dying, I was so tired I knew it would have been a very bad idea. Towards the end, my knees were killing me along with my whole freakin body, so I knew I would pay for it…a lot.


I was right.


Boy, was I right. That night, I couldn’t sleep at all. If I moved anything (even a finger) my whole body would BURN. Sound extreme? Can’t even begin to complain enough tell you about it. The next day, I didn’t think I would survive, but I did, and it wasn’t terrible. Yes, that’s a lie, but I have had worse. By the next day though, I was okay. Really. I was sore for a while, but so was everyone else that went.



Was it worth it?




Defiantly. It was amazing! I never thought I would be able to do anything like that, and I’ve always wanted too. I actually got it down pretty good, and I can’t wait to go again.


Crazy? Maybe. But I’m okay with some soreness.


I told Dr. B about it and he looked at me in disbelief and said “you did what?” I smiled and nodded my head, and he thought it was great. He even talked about wanting to try it, but said his wife would probably protest.

He did the usually check-up and laughed when he finished testing my back. He said I still need some treatment but we are far from where we started.



*insert slight excitement here*



We did my back and both wrists, and all went well. My wrists still need a good bit, but they will get there. With the constant use, they are bound to take a little longer. Then we will go on with my neck and knees at some point, until the rest of me is strong enough to get me though without major problems.



But it’s working. I mean really working.




And I have no doubt that it will continue to.





The few days since then have been spent recovering in bed. Today was my first day out and about, so I am pretty tired. There is a concert tomorrow though, so I will need to rest up. But knowing my friends, they will shove ask people to move off the couch for me. : )





But I’m just wondering… what’s your thing you want to be able to do at some point? Even if it’s way out there and you think you’re better off not even thinking about it?



Because you never know, you might just have a chance to do it one day.

Untitled No.3

Could it be? Yes! I have remembered to update everyone! : )


We ended up not doing my shoulder after Dr. B did a very thorough exam. He said that even though I was complaining about my shoulder, my neck is where the problem is. I can totally see that, so of course I told him to treat whatever he thought would fix the problem. We did my neck first, and he warned that it would “be like Woody Woodpecker in my head” since the bones are so close to my skull. He was right, but it wasn’t as bad as I was expecting. The higher up areas didn’t hurt too much, but the further down he went the more painful it was (since the bones are not as close to the surface the needle had to go deeper). After that we did my wrists, but Dr. B used the deep anesthetic so it wasn’t bad in most places. Spirit came in just as we were waiting for it to kick in, and didn’t seem to be happy with the fact my hands were covered in iodine and I couldn’t pet him. He stared at me for a minute and then went to mom, who could pet him. There were a few places Dr. B hit “a bundle of nerves” as he calls them, and those hurt like crazy. It’s not possible to avoid them though, and it happens every time, in every area…but it still sucks.


It started snowing while we were there, coming down pretty good, but the sun stayed out. It was odd to see the thick snow falling from a bright blue sky; I have no idea where it was coming from. Once we left, we drove out of it quickly, I’m pretty sure it was only at their house.


I was able to do a lot more during the recovery, just because it didn’t affect my back or legs or core muscles. I just had to be careful with my hands and neck - no sudden movements, and remembering to turn my whole body instead of leading with my head. It was a little complicated at times, but funny, so it wasn’t that bad. My wrists are still not completely back to normal, but should be soon. A few random things are still a little out of whack but nothing too major. Should be good to go in no time.


Dr. B is also working on a letter to send to the insurance company. He’s mad at them too, so it should be good. He’s also sending his one-inch-thick credentials along with it. His way of saying “screw you” while still being professional.


Oh, and no prolo in Feburary. Gotta wait till March when I get a break from school.


Side note: When I was done, the next patient was there waiting. It was really funny to see him and his wife standing in the hall. The man was probably close to 7 feet tall (no…really) and his wife was 4’10’’. I think they need to be in a movie.

Always Tomorrow

Prolo is tomorrow (the 5th) at 3pm. Meant to let ya'll know sooner...but lateness seems to be a trait I've become fond of recently.

I'll try to get an update on how it goes on here before Febuary. : )

Stay to watch that moon disappear under these lights

Well, I am very late on this, but someone *coughBriancough* wouldn’t let me forget that I failed to update everyone after this last treatment. But I guess this way you get an update without the pain meds in me.

It was November 24th, almost a month ago but we are waiting till January to do the next one because of Christmas. Mom didn’t want me stuck in bed over the holidays. I think Dr. B is taking a Christmas break too, so it probably wouldn’t have been possible to stay on schedule anyway.

We did get some great news last time though. Dr. B was doing the regular checkup before hand to see where we needed to treat, and he said that my back is so much better we won’t even do it next time. He just puts pressure with his hands to see where the tender spots are, and usually I jump all over the place when he does it, because most places are tender. But this time, he hit way fewer spots that hurt, the rest really didn’t. I think we were both very surprised at that. And not only that, but once he started the treatment there were a few places that really didn’t hurt as he was doing it! I mean, it was uncomfortable (it was a freakin’ needle against my bone), but no more than just the discomfort of that. Usually every spot is REALLY painful, but I didn’t even have to squeeze the things they give me to hold onto, it just wasn’t bad at all. Now, this was only three or four places out of the 20 or 30 something, but still. Dr. B said it was the feeling that someone who doesn’t need prolo would feel if he treated a joint in them that was fine. Major improvements happening.

We did my right wrist for the first time as well. It wasn’t too bad; he did the deep anesthetic in it so only certain places were really painful. I found out that my left wrist must be much worse off, because my right one didn’t respond nearly as bad. If you saw pictures from my left one (scroll down), then you know it was pretty bad. This one only had a little inflammation and it didn’t last very long, I could use my hand after just a couple of days (sort of). It bruised pretty badly and that stayed for a while, but it didn’t hurt for too long.

Not sure what the plan will be for next time. I think we will start on my knees, and I still need to decide which wrist to do. I really want him to start on my shoulders soon too; I can’t wait to be able to play guitar standing up for more than a few minutes.

I’ll post a quick update when I get the date of my next treatment. Sometime next month, but I will get a little more specific than that.

Also, it was a year ago on my birthday (the 18th) that I started prolo. Not bad for just a year of work. : )

Reveries of Flight

Well, prolo number 10 (I think) is now behind me. It went well; we did my SI joints, my left wrist, and my pubic bone. It was an interesting day because I had three classes and a midterm in the last one. I was walking back to my room when mom pulled up and we threw everything together quickly and then threw all that in the car and we headed to Dr. B’s. My class ended at 2pm and my appointment was at 3pm, so we had to hurry. We made it only a minute late though, but Dr. B was running behind so we had to wait anyway. Well, maybe not running behind, that’s just how he works. If someone is there, he’s going to take his time talking to them, and that’s part of what makes him such a great doctor I think.

I told him about how much my wrist has been bothering me. I went to the school nurse about three weeks ago and she said it was an injury from overuse from playing guitar and she said to wear a brace all the time till I could go see my doctor. I did, but it still didn’t get better, and playing was really taking a hit from it. I told Dr. B all that and said that I have three guitar classes and he nearly flipped out. He said I should have called him, and that he would have had heart problems and not been able to breathe if I would have told him that I was taking that many at once. He also said to just try to make it through this semester and to “expect the worst, and be thankful if it doesn’t happen”. I believe he finished with something along the lines of under no circumstances am I to attempt this again. He said that maybe two years from now I might could, but right now my wrist is just not strong enough.

So it’s not the best news on that front, but mom and I wrote a letter this weekend to my teachers to fill them in. Hopefully we can work something out. I hate not being able to practice like I need to. I feel so badly when I’ve had a week to learn something and I still can’t play it when lessons roll around for the next week. It really sucks. But maybe if we can let them know how bad it is they will understand and I won’t fill so badly about it. Don’t know, we’ll see how it goes.

I’ve just been trying not to move too much. It really isn’t that bad if I hold still. Sleeping is a little difficult though. I have to lay on my side, sleep a little, wake up, carefully turn on my back, sleep a little, wake up, carefully turn on my other side, sleep a little, wake up, turn again, etc. It’s always like that, but it just seems more annoying this time. *end of rant*

I’m really glad that Montreat has finally put in the new sidewalk! The construction has been going on for a while and they took up all the pavement between my dorm and classes so I’ve been having to carry my books instead of roll them in my backpack with wheels. That’s been causing more back pain and shoulder pain, so I am really happy that starting Monday I won’t have to carry them anymore! That’s going to help a ton.

Other than those things, I am loving college though. It’s great, the people are awesome, the classes are great (except math), and I’m having fun. It’s really cool to think about, I was telling Dr. B how, until prolo, I didn’t know how all this was going to work. I didn’t know how much I’d be able to do, or if I even could really. I tried not to think about it too much, but the worry was there. But now it’s all going so well that I’m constantly amazed. It hits me sometimes when I’m just walking around campus or sitting in class. I’m really thankful.

This is my wrist about 30 minutes after we were done. Yeah...