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...

Sorry if this is all over the place...

This is long overdue, but I just haven’t been able to get around to it. Last treatment went well like always but it was more than usual. We did three areas: back, left wrist, and pubic bone. Not a fun combination but it was my last one till October so I really don’t mind. My wrist is the only thing still bothering me now; it bruised really badly so that’s where most of the pain is coming from. Dr. B did more on it than last time. He snuck some deep anesthetic in so most it really didn’t hurt that much. There were times I could feel it scraping the bone but it didn’t hurt at all (weird feeling by the way).

I’ve had a busy few weeks. Moved into my dorm yesterday and that was crazy. Today has been my first day to catch my breath. Really can’t go over everything (way too much), but Wednesday was really cool. It was my last time going to youth group (till I can drop by on a break anyway), and Larah (who’s the youth pastor’s wife) had the idea to go to Starbucks afterwards, sort of a going away party. A big group went, it was fun and I was glad to get that extra time in with everyone. That was one of the main things I really didn’t want to leave, but I’ll still see everyone most Sundays.

With all this craziness my pain level has been up, but I guess that’s to be expected. It’s not terrible and since I’m so tired I’m sleeping better than I thought I would. Classes start Tuesday, so that will slow things down activity wise. Should be able to get a better feel for pain level then.

Like I said before, I don’t get prolo again till October (during the first break I’ll get from school). I won’t miss any more the rest of the year though; it works out so that I have at least a long weekend every month till Christmas break so we can fit a treatment in during each.

Don’t really feel like going into much more detail, I think I’m just going to go crash while I have the chance. : )



Gotta plug the video Elan just shot for his band Old Forgotten Lands. Really relaxing song a video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQ0szhRlIQk

Life

Okay, I’m a couple of weeks late with this one. Everything has been pretty crazy so finding time to write and update is almost impossible. Anyway, my last treatment went well, we did my back and my left wrist. My wrist was a lot more painful than I was expecting, but that’s a sign that it needs it.

The day after that, I was able to go to church. But friends had to help me out since I really couldn’t stand or use my hand. I was so glad I could go though, I love hanging out with everyone. I did make a stupid decision but I would do it again if I needed to. I needed to take my pain meds at 7pm which is when the service started. I knew if I did that I would have no idea what Pastor Lee said the next day, those meds make it hard to focus and really mess with my memory. So I ended up not taking them till almost 9pm…bad idea. I was not expecting it to be that bad when I tried to stand up. But still, I got to be with my friends and enjoy it so it was worth it.

About three days after prolo we headed for the beach, and I got to recover there, sort of. It was a fun trip, but filled with school. It was hard to type for a long time because of my wrist, and I found that I could not do much at all with it. But we did get to swim in the ocean everyday (hence the “sort of”) and that was fun but tiring. It was a good trip though, and we’re thinking about going every year.

It’s been over two weeks and I’m still being careful with my wrist. There are still some things I don’t think would be a good idea. But I am playing guitar again! That took over a week, and I overdid it the first time, but it’s getting better. I’m hoping it will be completely back to normal soon.

Oh, we now have everything ready for when I go to Montreat in a little less than a month. We went up and looked at my room, got all the paperwork in, and everything else like that. I think there are still a few loose ends to tie up, but the main stuff is done. I’m going to have one more treatment before starting school, and then just go on breaks. But the good news is that there is a break long enough almost every month till after Christmas. I think there will only be one treatment that will be off my regular schedule of one a month.

Everything has been pretty good. I’ve felt better for the most part, and I was released from the counselor I was seeing a little over a month ago. I feel good, and I feel like I’m ready for whatever.

I’ll try not to wait as long to update after my next treatment. It may still be a little bit though because I’m hoping we will do my wrist again. But we’ll see what happens. This is my last week of classes so maybe that will free up a lot of my time.

I hate being sick

Well, it's been a little over a week since my last visit. We ended up not doing my wrist this time, I have to go tomorrow (Friday) and get some x-rays first. I wondered why, but the more I thought about it the more it made sense. It would be good to make sure all those bones and stuff are where they should be before trying to stab them with a needle. I was kind of glad when I thought about it that way.

But anyway, the visit went well. I was sick with a stopped up nose and a very sore throat, but Dr. B did some muscle tests and said he thought it would be okay to go ahead and do the prolo. I was kind of worried he wouldn't do it...I didn't mention the sore throat for that reason. But we did my back (about 20 something times) and my pubic bone (about 5 or 6 times). It was really painful, but I made it through okay.

I knew that after the treatment I would get even more sick, since it completely destroys my immune system (small price to pay), but I underestimated it. My ears started bothering me and I ended up with a really bad ear infection. I had my uncle call in a antibiotic and I've been on that for a while. My ears are getting better slowly, but the day before yesterday I forgot to take it a few times (I have to take it every 3 hours), now I've got a bad cough. But I'm hoping that it will all clear up soon and not get into my lungs any worse.

One thing Dr. B is wanting me to get checked out is my fast pulse. It was 116 when I went in for the visit, which is a little lower than it is when I work out a lot. I wasn't nervous, so I don't know why it was that high, I was actually very tired. My resting pulse is around 100 most of the time though, so he wants me to go to a cardiologist and just see why. It won't cause any problems now, but in the long run he's afraid it might not be good. The funny thing is that we've been taking it at home now and it's been in the 80's and 90's, when it used to be in the 100's. Not sure what happened there, but I guess it's good!


One cool thing is that Pro-therapy called and they wanted Dr. B's information (it's the place I did physical therapy last time and where I go to the gym). We also gave some information to my aunt for her mom. I'm really glad Pro-therapy in interested in it though. I hope they can spread the word, someone's life can change.

I've got about two more visits before I leave for college, then I can only go during breaks. I'm not sure how that's going to go, and I don't know how I feel about it. I have this weird thing about even moving an appointment back a few days... my guess is that I don't like it because the idea is that the more treatments I get the better everything will get. So when we wait it means less time for treatments and less progress. That's just my best guess, I'm honestly not sure why I feel that way, but that sounds pretty good. But I waited 5 years, I can do a little more if I need to. I'm just hoping maybe we can do both wrists these next two times, that would help a lot before I have to leave, and it would make me feel better.

But we'll see. No pictures this time, I think we covered that with the last visit.

Pictures and update (don't scroll down if you are squeamish).

So, it’s been a little while since I’ve updated. We’ve moved back to once every four weeks (we had been doing it every three) so maybe that’s why it feel s like it’s been so long. I’ve got pictures but I will warn that if you have a problem with blood and/or needles do not look. They are pretty gross, all taken during and right after the procedure.

I went on Thursday (the 7th), it went well this time too. We didn’t do as many, only around 20 and skipped the pubic bone (doing it every other time) so it wasn’t bad. I talked to Dr. B and we agreed that we’ll start doing my wrists next time but only my left one just to make sure my body can handle it. Next time will be interesting; we’ll do the normal stuff on my back, then pubic bone, then that one wrist. I’m actually looking forward to seeing what it does with my wrists. If it strengthens them as much as it has my back I think my guitar playing will improve a ton. And not to mention my right wrist, I’ll hopefully be able to write with a lot less pain which will be a huge weight off me when I leave for Montreat in August. Taking notes in class has always been a problem.

Been kind of sick since the prolo though. Just a combination of things, but I haven’t felt well all weekend. Started feeling better today (other than nerves) but yesterday and the day before sucked. It seems to keep getting better, so maybe it will be completely gone soon.
Not much else has happened. Finished classes today! I had a play that I had to do; I was Hamlet in the last scene so I got to die and have the most lines (but not in that order). We were all completely freaked out but it went okay, most people forgot lines and stuff but nothing too major. Well, okay there was some major stuff but it wasn’t a very serious thing at all, very relaxed, so it didn’t really matter. But I’m pretty sure you won’t be seeing any of us on Broadway anytime soon.


Okay, now for the pictures!

This is Dr. B and his wife/nurse Suzanne in the middle of it. She's not holding me down, she just does keeps pressure on me as a comfort thing. You can sort of see that she is holding the next needle in her hand, when Dr. B uses up one she hands him the next.

This is the needle just going into my skin. That gives you an idea of how long it is.

This is the needle against bone.

This is my lower back about 5 seconds after we got done.

Same thing from another angle.

This is the three of us about 10 minutes afterwards. See, it is possible to smile after that.

It’s 10am and I’m really sore and wish I wasn’t awake yet. Isn’t spring break supposed to mean sleeping all day? But since I’m up I will give an update that I haven’t found time to do in the busyness and laziness of the past week.



Prolo was a week ago (the 8th). It went well, but I was way more nervous this time. I was trying to brace myself for the pain I knew was coming from starting treatment on the third joint of my pelvis (the pubic bone), but I also knew that probably wouldn’t be possible. Dr. B started like normal on my back and went up much higher than before, well over half way up my back. The good thing is that the higher up it goes the less painful it is (sort of) because the bone is much closer so the needle doesn’t have to go in nearly as far.



After that it was time for the pubic bone. I got lucky this time because Spirit decided to grace us with his presence once Dr. B got done with my back. Spirit is a dog by the way, a Golden Retriever who has got to be the most laid back dog I’ve ever met. He grew up in the doctor’s office, and knows how all that goes, but usually he stays in the living room and doesn’t move an inch when I’m there. This time he wandered in and just laid down beside the thing I was lying on. Dr. B said he must like me because he doesn’t do that for most people, I was honored. I think he could tell I was more nervous, but once I got in there it went away for the most part.



Dr. B asked if I was ready, I said ‘maybe’, he laughed and said “I hear you…here we go”, and then started. It did hurt a lot, and I’m not even going to try and explain what it felt like other than saying it was very weird. Anyone who has had any injections like these knows that feeling that you get the first time, the one where you can’t believe how freakin far that needle is going inside you and just wondering how much further those bones could possibly be. I’ve gotten used to that in my back because I’ve had it done so many times, but it happened all over again. He only did maybe five or six so it didn’t take long at all before I heard the wonderful words “Okay, we’re done!”



They always give me a few minutes afterwards to just sit up and drink some water so I don’t stand up and pass out or anything like that, but I must have sat there for thirty minutes this time just petting Spirit before I even tried to get up. I didn’t really want to get up because somehow I wasn’t in any pain in the position I was lying in, but I finally did. I was sore, and limped to the couch while mom did the paperwork part and then we headed home.



I was way more sore the next few days, and couldn’t do as much as I usually can afterwards (and that’s not much). It hurt to cough and laugh and move, but the worst only lasted about two days. I overdid it two days in a row last week though so it didn’t go away completely until a couple of days ago; I guess because I didn’t give it enough time to heal.



Yesterday I joined the gym at Pro-Therapy, the place I did physical therapy the last time. I had one of my old PTs test my strength and I got a 5/5 on everything! That’s only a little bit better than when I left there, but that was after I went and worked out four days a week for a few months, and this was after I hadn’t worked out at all since December. That’s pretty huge. But after that I met with a personal trainer to show me how to work all the machines and help me get a plan together. It was cool; the guy has been a trainer for 24 years so he knows what he’s doing. We didn’t get done, so I go back to day to finish up, but I am so sore I don’t think I’ll be doing much. We would have gotten done had we not got on the subject of music. He plays bass and so we talked about gear, and he loves metal so we talked for at least thirty minutes on favorite bands and all that stuff. I recommended a few so he’s going to let me know what he thinks of them when I go back today. I get the feeling we won’t get much done, but he will probably have some new favorites.

This is my back a about an hour or two afterwards. You can see it brused on the lower right side, that still hurts.