Last week I made an article explaining my first ketamine infusion, and as I promised, I'm here giving you another look at my recovery. Today marks a week after my second ketamine treatment. This week I've had a pain level of one, and some days even zero pain! Wednesday was my only really bad day; I had a terrible migraine that day, and I believe it was due to the weather change that brought rain into southern California once again. It's been a very good week regardless. To be able to wake up and not feel that intense pain behind my eyes has been a blessing. I'll take less severe migraines over frequency any day. I feel like I'm alive again!
On January 27, I woke up and got ready to go back to the surgery center in Hollywood, nervous once again about the "K-hole". I didn't have such a bad migraine-like I did the previous week going into it; I had a pain level of 2. My last infusion was very intense, and I was expecting this one to be just as intense and accompanied by nausea and puking. I spoke to my doctor before with my boyfriend sitting at my side. "It seemed to me that during your last treatment you weren't feeling it at all. You were talking to me normally like you are now. So, you're fine with me giving you a bigger dose, correct?", he asked me. "Of course. Do what you think is the right thing.", I replied. And off we went into the same operating room.
Before my last infusion, they gave me a countdown before they infused the ketamine, so I was expecting them to do the same thing. Boy, was I wrong. They injected valium into my IV first, and I felt warm and relaxed for a few seconds, but then I felt my heart drop and my eyes went numb. "Oh wow, are you doing it already?!" I exclaimed. A nurse came to my side and told me they did it, to which I laughed and asked why they didn't give me a countdown. I remember saying, "Oh boy, here we go again", and then my memory went blank. I couldn't talk; I had gone into the "K-hole". I'm guessing my doctor achieved what he was explaining to me, though; I don't remember anything from my second one. There are some flashes of the experience; the cabinet on the wall in front of me became as large as the wall at one point, and the room changed about seven times. I only fully remember being rolled out and going into the recovery room. This time, thankfully, I wasn't filled with nausea but I had the same intense migraine as I did from the first infusion.
My boyfriend came to the recovery room immediately. He said my eyes kept wiggling back and forth when he came to my side. I couldn't focus on him! He was 10 feet tall and the ceiling was melting over his head. I was happy I didn't feel so sick this time but my mind was mush and the pain was searing into my eyes. The nurse came and told me I was going to get Dilaudid. Apparently, I was complaining about a migraine but I don't remember saying anything. It still felt like my tongue and throat were numb, but I was slowing regaining full consciousness and the ability to feel my mouth. After she gave me the two shots of the pain medication, I started to loose my ability to speak properly and was again put into a dizzy state of mind. The pain subsided and they let me get dressed to be taken home. Driving made me a bit nauseous, as I was throwing up a little bit but thankfully not as much as last time. Once he got me into bed, I rested for a few hours and soup was brought to me when I could sit up. I slowly started to regain my strength. I woke up the next morning with a pain level of one and I resumed the happy mood I had from the previous week. Everything seemed to be getting better.
So far so good! It really seems like this treatment is working. It's reduced how much pain I feel incredible. I would like it to make it so that I'm not chronic, but my doctor told me that could take some time. Like any medication, it takes about a month to fully kick in. The next infusion I would get would be six months from now, so sometime in September. Maybe I won't even need one, who knows? For now, it's a temporary fix and I'm starting to feel more in control of my life. I can wake up and go to school in a good mood, not feeling depressed because I'm in so much pain that I'm mad I have to get out of bed. I can even sleep in a little later than usual and not have a level of 6 of pain! I haven't been able to sleep in past eight in the morning in years because if I do I just give myself a worse migraine than it usually would be. I feel alive.
I'm proud of myself for doing the research I did and got a hold of a doctor to help. I'm elated that this is actually working. I can't begin to tell you how nervous I was that it wouldn't do anything to me, that I was only getting yet another medication that wouldn't work. I'll finally be able to reduce the amount of medication I take because I don't feel as much pain as I used to. Even if I still get chronic migraines, at least it won't be as painful as it has been. I've been so exhausted from feeling this way but I'm finally getting a break. My health is finally taking a 360 and I'll be able to resume my old life. In a month, I'll really see the results of this treatment. But for now, I'm going to enjoy how fantastic I feel and live it up to the fullest.