The sound of laughter fills the house as the grandkids tumble into Rich’s lap. It was not too long ago that one small step by the littlest of toes on Rich’s feet would have had him scream in agony. Now, he’s full of smiles as they clamber over his feet and up his legs to get his attention. The impossible has become our new reality.
Our goal these past six months has been to try and resolve the neuropathy that has plagued Rich as he went through chemo. Instead of going away as it did the decade before, its intensity increased. Numbness spread. Spikes of pain would have him in tears. Spikes that were at times unremitting. And so we began with the Cymbalta which gave us a fifty percent reduction in the neuropathy but didn’t do much for the spiking pains. We then added medical marijuana; visiting those eerie men in suits to get the legal prescription filled every month. The relief was now at seventy five percent.
But those spikes continued. We were given methadone but were hesitant to use it as the directions seemed to indicate they were not an “as needed” medication. We held off. In September we visited our Ketamine group. At first we balked at the idea of this protocol. The drug is also known on the streets as Special K, the date rape drug, and is also used in veterinary medicine for anesthetizing horses. Horses! It makes you think twice.
Weighing our options, we decide to give it a try. Our hope then and now is that it would allow us to wean off the other meds and lower Rich’s dependence on prescriptions for relief. And so, we began. Unlike so many other infusions, Rich is alone in the treatment room; I’m not allowed to stay. The idea is to keep him quiet and still. With possible side effects, all variables are removed. No music, no reading. Low lights, warm blankets and a slew of leads checking his vitals sticky taped to him everywhere. He is under constant monitoring. Over a period of four hours, a small dose of ketamine drips ever so slowly through the IV and into his arm. He dozes.
The effects of the drug as well as the relaxant they give him to forestall any hallucinatory dreams gives him rest. He’s released with warnings as if he’s had surgery. In truth, the experience is exactly the same, just without a knife. As we wait for our ride home, Rich realizes that he has no spiking pain and we share a grin. When he gets home, he sleeps.
The next day, he feels refreshed and so we see that little bit of improvement, subtle but there, and we rejoice. Week two seems to follow the same. And again, the improvement builds. We feel a sense of relief. We’re advised to continue on the Cymbalta and MMJ and we do. They are our safety net. And so we go into week three with high expectations. How foolish! The night is filled with spiking pains, unrelieved by anything but methadone. Body aches are palpable like a revenant in the room. The misery is thick as a fog that sends a shade over any hope we may have had. The internet offers us some glimmers. We read that others have experienced this as well. We wait for morning to call the ketamine group who confirm our suspicions… par for the course. They just never know the timing of when or if. As with many discomforts on this journey, a good sign is among us. We’re told Rich’s nervous system is resetting. Where previously the bed sheet against his feet would have brought agony, the ketamine is pushing back the pain volume knob and bringing it to the norm. We’re looking for his feet to just acknowledge the existence of the sheet instead of bringing on tears. A methadone tab gets Rich through the night. It is effective in random administration. We’re grateful.
There was some trepidation as we approached the fourth infusion. Neuropathy was now so minimal as to be off our radar. Gone were the pins and needles and the burning pain. The frequency of the spiking pains and their intensity diminished more and more each day. As if in a final farewell, a cluster of weather affecting barometric pressure brought on a flurry of spikes that were concentrated in one spot. Agony! A single Methadone tab was once more brought into the mix. The tide has turned. To our delight, it was as if a switch had indeed been flicked and the improvements began to come faster and faster.
Now, after the last of the infusions, week five began the miracles. Feeling began to come back into Rich’s feet. Between his toes is still numb, but for the first time in a very long time, he can feel himself wiggle his toes. And oh! The texture of socks! Everything but those spiking pains…. They don’t register. The have become a mere blip. There is a confidence in Rich’s step. His pace has improved. His cane only comes into use when tired or vertigo hits. He delights in the sensation in his toes. We’ve been told we can expect three to six months of relief. Rather than count the days, we head off to celebrate. One of Rich’s goals expressed when he was first diagnosed has been to visit Colonial Williamsburg.
So for our anniversary in November, shortly after the last infusion, we take our Amtrak train and spend an extended weekend sleeping, eating and roaming in nothing but historic buildings. When the tiredness hits, we only have to look out through the old wavy glass pane of our room where once Martha Washington’s family lived to watch the fife and drum corps make its way down the street. To see groups wandering by lantern light. And when rested, to step out our door and cross the cobbled streets to the nearby tavern for a few small plates and to raise a glass to the musicians performing. As with all our travel, we are renewed.
At this point, now January, we are now ending our third month since the ketamine treatments ended. After my brother’s death, we experienced setbacks. Bronchitis due to the crowds of the wake and funeral. And again bronchitis following the traditional Greek forty day memorial. Germs seemed to find Rich wherever we went.
We were comforted by the knowledge that a year prior these infections would have manifested as pneumonia and required hospitalization. But more troubling still was the recurrence of spiking pains. Has our reprieve ended so soon? As is our wont, we looked at the data. Stress seemed to have brought these pains back into our lives. Each time that spiking pain manifested itself, it was during times of either stress, such as the wake and funeral, or, a change in routine as it would be with the kids home and the regular day to day tasks were thrown to the wind. Even in anticipation of an event that may prove to be too much.
We’ve discussed biofeedback with our pain management gurus and they are looking into where we should go. In the meantime, we find that just the discussion of the possibility of it being stress-induced, however subconsciously, has made a significant difference. The mind/body connection is at work. That Rich is open to these possibilities is a blessing.
As our pulmo doctor once admonished Rich, “When you are well is up to you.”
And so, we once more got aboard Amtrak’s Lake Shore Limited and headed up to Rochester to celebrate the turning of the year for our two littlest grandsons. As the weekend comes to an end, Rich sits contentedly tired on the couch and the laughter of both man and boys is heard. Our family rejoices that those little feet that climb to sit on Poobah’s lap to demand a kiss and a snuggle have not brought pain but pleasure.
Piglet: How do you spell love? Pooh: You don’t spell it, you feel it. ~A. A. Milne
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