After getting a little bit snippy with a few folks, I received a phone call this morning from the Rheumatologist. They asked me to come in tomorrow afternoon. They have received all of my records and are ready to discuss the treatment plan. Here is where I need my prayer warriors:
The Mayo Clinic Auto-Immune Neurologist wants us to use Imuran or CellCept to treat my illness. Both are actually anti-rejection medicines that are often used in transplant patients. Neither has been used extensively treat someone with my condition before. I'm loving the Guinea Pig aspect of all of this! Unfortunately, due to the complications with my stomach, intestines, and kidneys...it would be best to use injectable drugs, rather than oral medications. What's another shot? I can handle that! The biggest complication that I see is that it will reduce my bone marrow function and blood cell count. I also have a history of developing infections, so they will be monitoring my blood levels DAILY for a while. Yep...DAILY! Whoo-hoo! This is not a medical synopsis, but basically...my immune system is attacking my brain, so we are going to attack it back. After about six weeks, we can try to reduce the steroids that are treating the inflammation in the brain.
But lets get to the very serious stuff...the drugs can make whats left of my very thin hair fall out! Houston...we have a problem! I'm just kidding...it will not be the first time I have had a bad hair day. In fact, I wake up every morning wondering, "Who's hair do I have today?" I have had lots of hair identity crisis over the years. For your amusement, I have attached proof.
Hey Kim,
ReplyDeleteone thought, my mom always envied those ladies who could pull off wearing those cool hats! Well, when she got cancer the first time, she bought a few hats...got so many compliments, that when it went away (and when it came back) she continued to wear the hats! She still wears them (after a double mastectomy) and wants to keep her hair short for a long time. She said she would have never tried short hair before...the cancer helped her with that!
Praying for you, Karen