One of the very first non-breast cancer questions I posed to the surgeon upon meeting her had rather immediate relevance. I got as far as saying to her "I take Botox for migraine," when she said, "Keep doing it. You don't want to go through cancer treatment with a migraine." It seemed to make perfect sense when she put it that way. It was a good thing we covered that early. My appointment with the neurologist who injects me with the Botox was this morning.
Over the last six months, I'd been having a rather difficult relationship with this neurologist, trying to find out what exactly was going on with my body. I had been having myoclonic jerks thrashing me around day and night, and it really hurt and it made daily life nearly impossible. I got very little from the specialist he escalated my case to. I only accidentally found something that ameliorated the problem, when I started taking supplements that are sold for adrenal support. The painful nerve misfires became fewer (not gone) and less distressing (still feel them though). So when I saw the doc today, I got him caught up with my frustration with the lack of help from the specialist and how I had to find my own way to lessen the problem. I then had the opportunity to run my theory past him. I asked, did he suppose that all last year, the physiological stress that my body was desperately trying to alert me to was the cancer? Was that the last straw on my adrenals that made them cause a short in the system? He said he couldn't rule it out. The consensus we came to was the body knows when something is wrong, and we just have to figure out how to interpret the signals it sends.
I've had a hard time getting my neck to relax for weeks. I'm just not comfortable, no matter how much stretching or soaking I do. It finally occurred to me last night that this was probably a result of the last set of Botox wearing out. It has been a miracle for the neck and shoulder pain I've otherwise had to learn to live with. It makes such a huge difference for me to be able to sleep, and to sit up at a table where I can't recline. Even sitting at Rotary lunches had gotten difficult until I started getting the injections down the back of my neck. We played D&D tonight, and I didn't even need to drag one of the comfy chairs out for myself now that the shots have started getting to work. I'm so glad the surgeon approved of this treatment. It does make things hurt so much less.
No comments:
Post a Comment