Sorry it took so long to post but I really needed good, quality post material to rear it's ugly head before I could put fingertip to key.
Went and saw the (right at this very moment, one symptom rears it's ugly head; drawing blanks when calling forth a word)............PRIMARY (that's it!) Shaman and he reads the MRI report which admits to some "minor" bulging of one of my lower discs and some "spurs" somewhere in there, but nothing to explain my symptoms. But WAIT! There's MORE!
It suddenly occurs to him after looking back over my lab values that there might actually be a valid explanation for these peculiar symptoms, and he tells me the story of the elderly gentleman who comes to him with a similar case years ago who shows up something like 5 years later in a wheelchair due to advanced paralysis DUE, get this, to really low levels of B-12 that were never properly treated. Now, I have what you call "low normal" values, but the lab did put in a disclaimer that my 355 qualifies me for a risk of having "psychoneurologic" disorders much like I have been seeking help for, including short term memory loss, which I have been attributing to simply being 50-something AND working as a PCT.
SO, he gave me a B-12 injection and I'll be getting three more once a week, and if we see no improvement after that, THEN it's on to the neurologist to see if he can make sense of it. So, knowing full well just how bad life can get when you allow a surgeon to go mucking around in your back with a knife, I am ROOTING for the B-12 deficiency! As needle-phobic as I am, I am much more afraid of scalples and the resulting effect on my financial as well as physical well being. 20% of THAT kind of medical bill could very well put us out on the street......well, put ME on the street; The Wife does have one daughter doing well enough to take her in. After all, those real fine patriotic American conservatives and members of the "Tea Party" are doing what they can to repeal Obamma care, so pathetic unreal Americans like me who only want to "drag this country to it's knees" by getting sick and needing help can just go suck on a tail pipe. I'd rather do that than become a pain-ridden burden on my wife or family anyway.
I know this post resembles some of my old pessimistic material, but it seems that depression is another symptom that this syndrome provides for, amongst other things I have been having to deal with lately. So please, forgive my tone for now and wait it out with me while we see if these shots have a positive effect or not. After all, this post is nowhere near as dark and gloomy as it's capable of being, if you know me at all......
Until I find the motivation to come back with another post (and I'm sure I will, I'm so damn ornery)....blessed be you all.
3 comments:
Michael, I hope the B-12 is the solution. Do you take a multivitamin? Can't you take a vitamin rather than shots? Or, are the shots a big jolt in preparation for vitamin pills after there's improvement?
Best wishes, amigo!
He is actually using the shots as a diagnostic tool right now, maybe hoping if I use sublinqual B-12 religiously afterwards that it will keep further degeneration at bay, but then again, if I have a genetic condition which keeps me from absorbing adequate levels of B-12 I might have to rely on the shots anyway. Time will tell.
Good luck with it! Keep us updated please.
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