Friday, August 15, 2008

HBOT - Moving Forward

This will be my fifth blog post this week...

There are three types of people in the world.

Those who can count ... 

and those who can't.

My father always told me the two most important things that have guided me throughout my entire life.

1) Never tell everyone everything that you know.

and that brings me to another subject.  In my last post I talked about how great I was doing, how low my pain level was and how great my HBOT was going. I neglected to mention where I have been getting my Hyperbaric Therapy from, for those who are new to the blog and didn't read the first couple of weeks entries.

I have been getting treated at NATIONAL HYPERBARIC OXYGEN THERAPY in Palm Harbor, Florida by Doctor Allan Spiegel and his technician Phil. His entire staff has been so wonderful every time I go in there, they are always so cheerful and friendly. That makes a big difference on those days when your pain is bad let me tell you. 

So today is Friday and my seventh week has ended. Next week is one of those weeks where we had a choice.  We could either take a week or two off, which many patients do, or we could push through five more days to complete eight weeks then take a few weeks off and see where we stand. The hope is that at the end of that time my CRPS will be in remission and no further treatment will be needed. 

That would be extremely nice to have happen. I have a lot of catching up to do! 

Oh yeah, it would be nice to be out of pain too ;-D

But seriously, it takes a lot out of you when you under-go this therapy. You are tired a lot, especially after the treatment and in the evening. And in the morning. And at night. Other than that ....

Definitely the vitamins help and I was on some before, but added more during.

This was a big week for me, especially the first part of the week. I saw great progress in my pain-relief over last week-end and the first couple of days this week. I am hopeful that trend continues next week.

I know quite a few people who have been following this blog have either started their HBOT and/or are getting ready to. I appreciate your sharing your comments and experiences with me. Please keep me informed as to your progress as you go along even after I this blog is finished. 

Because of well this blog has been received I am contemplating doing a once-per-week CRPS blog that discusses some of the latest items related to our disease, articles, questions patients and loved ones submit, things like that.  

What do you guys think?

One other really wonderful side effect of the HBOT is that I haven't had a migraine in weeks!


Migraine Cure
A man goes to the doctor with a long history of migraine headaches. When the doctor does his history and physical, he discovers that his poor patient has had practically every therapy known to man for his migraines and STILL no improvement.

"Listen," says the Doc, "I have migraines too, and the advice I'm going to give you isn't really anything I learned in medical school, but it's advice that I've gotten from my own experience. When I have a migraine, I go home, get in a nice hot bathtub, and soak for a while. Then I have my wife sponge me off with the hottest water I can stand, especially around the forehead. This helps a little. Then I get out of the tub, take her into the bedroom, and even if my head is killing me, I force myself to have sex with her. Almost always, the headache is immediately gone. Now, give it a try, and come back and see me in six weeks."

Six weeks later, the patient returns with a big grin.

"Doc! I took your advice and it works! It REALLY WORKS! I've had migraines for 17 years and this is the FIRST time anyone has ever helped me!"

"Well," says the physician, "I'm glad I could help."

"By the way, Doc," the patient adds, "you have a REALLY nice house.


I couldn't help that, sorry :)

But, no, that wasn't me talking to my Doctor. 

Also, my muscle spasms, that were a near constant companion in the evening and through the night helped only by taking baclofen, have been reduced to almost nothing. Before my treatments, you could actually sit there and watch the muscles in my legs bouncing around, doing the rolling spasms (I know many of you are familiar with these horrible things), and getting so painful they woke me up. No more. 

Some people have asked how in the world I have managed to deal with this disease for more than three decades. My short answer is always the same ... I didn't like the alternative! My longer answer lies in a talk I gave at the last national CRPS/Pain conference we held in Maine. 

Those of you who know me, have watched any of my DVD's, or seen me speak at a conference, have probably learned how important I feel that humor and positive thinking are in the healing process. 

I don't simply mean thinking "I am not in pain, I am positive I am not in pain", or ignoring your pain or anything like that. Bringing the power of positive thinking into every aspect of your life, changing how you view your life IN SPITE OF YOUR PAIN is not easy but is absolutely necessary if you are going to move forward in life; in my opinion. That was one of the major topics in my last DVD (copies are available on the RSDHope website for very little do-re-mi) . 

We set the DVD's up so they could each be shown separately at a local meeting and discussions could occur afterwards. It is especially good in areas where it is more difficult to get speakers.  Just a thought!

In closing today, I will leave you with this thought. You figure it out. 

Your brain is a masterpiece, divided into two parts, left and right. In the left nothing is right and in the right nothing is left.

and for those of you in Florida remember, as Yogi Berra once said, "It ain't the heat, it's the humility"

peace, Keith 

1 comment:

erplot said...

Keith,

My 16 yo daughter is undergoing HBOT with Susan Rodriguez. I know you have been in contact with her and wondered if you could also mention her and Rapid Recovery in your blog. She is extremely committed to her patients of all diagnosis, but especially RSD. I am hoping that this week will be the break through week for Paige. Since we are from Virginia, she is doing twice per day treatment, which has been difficult for her. We are in the last 10 days. Thanks for your blog. I have been following it and have asked Paige's supporters to follow it so they know what she is going through. Thanks for sharing