The past week has been a series of gains and losses, trying to get as many things in order as possible, but having to wait for others to do their part, and aside from my pulmonary function tests, it’s going nowhere fast. I’m trying not to lose hope but it feels like just when some progress is about to be made it stalls because some key piece isn’t done (and it’s always something I can’t do myself, such as writing an order).

Updated paperwork for the Barium Swallow test My GP ordered in December is on hold, doctor’s notes faxed to Shepherd Center for my Wheelchair pressure mapping is on hold. Home healthcare is on hold until my GP can get a plan written, and somehow between the last two times we talked something changed and now he’s taken back his promise to write the order for the IV Saline to treat the Dysautonomia. Based on what? The documentation from Home Healthcare; nurse’s notes from taking about 1 blood pressure a week; only based on that, which of course isn’t enough to show anything. He has the records now from Piedmont with BP readings that were wildly dysregulated for 11 days, and I’m not miraculously cured, so I wonder, what gives?

Is he afraid that Dr. M. and his saboteurs will attack him for treating me when every symptom is not going on every minute of every day? Or does he think that Dysautonomia isn’t that big a problem and patients should just suffer through it? The constant fatigue, weakness, exercise intolerance, chronic constipation, constant thirst, pain, and getting cold 10 times a day and then hot when I add a layer of clothing, waking up feeling faint, intermittently purple feet, and unsettled GI tract beg to differ.

He says we’re at an impasse and I need to come in (which I’ll gladly do but his first long appointment isn’t until March and there’s lots to talk about so I don’t want to have it cut short and then have to come back). It’s alot to demand of my body to go to the doctor’s appointments I’m attending this week.

My GP thinks a neurologist could handle this better than he, but the truth is most of them don’t know anymore about Dysautonomia or Dystonia than he does. These are two orphan disorders that exist in a sort of no-man’s land. I seem to be cursed with these damned things. Why couldn’t I get something common and well-researched, but no, I always seem to get the health problems that nobody really gives a crap about.

At this point I would almost welcome a diagnosis of Parkinson’s Disease since everybody wants to work on that. Right now I’m laughing at the irony of it all, but give me a minute and I’ll probably be crying when it dawns on my just how screwed I am. I’m in the wrong part of the country for what’s wrong with me. The foremost experts are not at Emory.

I fear tomorrow like the plague. The very thought of seeing another neurologist, especially a general one I don’t know and has no reviews scares the hell out of me. She’s a woman and one would think women are more gentle and generally kinder than male neurologists but one can’t be too sure, as there are always exceptions, and as we have seen from Dr. H., sometimes women doctors can be very deceptive even when they seem to be on your side.

If any more harm comes to me at the hands of these doctors I don’t know if I can take it. I’ve been through enough already and it’s time that I get some support from a neurologist that values me and won’t treat me like I’m making this up or crazy, or some hypochondriac and doesn’t feel threatened because I can think for myself and be an active participant in my own healthcare. I do all this researching because nobody else will and if I don’t look out for me then who will? I have no spouse to have my back, no family that makes sure I’m safe, nobody else to go down to Emory’s Administration when I’m not treated with respect and dignity and demand that something be done. There is just me here, and a dog and a snake.

And now my GP is becoming paralyzed with inertia. My pulmonologist is being very supportive, but there are things he can’t do that my GP can and should do as the doctor who has known me for 12 years and has seen me at death’s door and knows that can happen again if too much in my body malfunctions. I am teetering on a very sharp edge between stability and instability and my body is still unpredictable. The only reason I’m somewhat stable right now is that I’m seriously hunkering down in my bed. We are just treating the symptoms with medications; none of which are disease-modifying, so there’s no telling what might happen. I don’t want to end up in the ER again and get abused or neglected like last time. They won’t understand, most likely, and I can’t take the risk.

The whole idea of Saline infusion is to be proactive and to stabilize the Autonomic Nervous System over time; not just to put out fires when someone is in dire straights like I was in November and December. This can prevent the need for emergency hospitalization if maintained. In an article written by Dr. Santa Maria, a Boca Raton, Florida doctor who regularly treats Dysautonomic patients in his clinic he says; “It is best to give saline preemptively on a regular schedule instead of on an emergency basis when a patient is already in the depths of their worst symptoms. Regular hydration can provide a sense of stabilization and normalcy for patients, allowing them to have more control over their bodies, health and ultimately—their lives.”

Dr. T., (the temporary neurologist I’d hoped would be permanent several months ago) has now agreed to see me for my Myoclonus and will refill my Keppra prescription but I had to make a follow-up appointment which isn’t until July; just a week before my consult with the out-of- state movement disorder specialist. I wrote and told her I wish it wasn’t so far away because I would like to discuss alot of these neuro issues with her.

Maybe there is something she can do to bridge the gap even if she doesn’t feel she has the skills to manage all the neuro conditions. Perhaps she can speak with the specialist on my behalf and help pave the way so that I won’t waste a trip up there and leave empty-handed.

I downloaded and took a closer look at the report of the cervical spine MRI she had ordered and interestingly it showed some foraminal narrowing at C5 – C6 and C6-C7 due to the bulging discs, and the one done at Piedmont hospital just a month later did not show that but had alot more degenerative facet findings on C2 through C6 on both sides. It just goes to show that alot of these test results are dependent on who is interpreting them, but it also makes me wonder whether degeneration can really progress that quickly in just one month (or maybe this is something other than degeneration they’re seeing and dismissing). To look at the two reports you’d think you were looking at two different patients.

The thoracic spine scan says “bulging discs  noted @ L1-L2 w/compression of disc sac”.

Seems to me that with all those spinal findings and the TMJ it shouldn’t be hard to deduce that I have Dystonia. We’ll see whether this neurologist tomorrow figures it out. If she knows anything about Dystonia it should be evident to her. If not, then most likely she is not the right doctor for me.

As for the Dysautonomia it will be a miracle if she’s versed in that, as most general neurologists’ knowledge is limited to classic POTS at the very most.

I’m still looking for a silver lining in all of this but it’s getting hard to find one. I can only hope that some benevolent force greater than myself is watching over me tomorrow.