On the first day I had a million
different thoughts and emotions running through my mind. I was nervous, scared,
excited and just really happy to start. When I got there I met Kathy (who works
at the front desk) and she was one of the nicest people I’ve ever met! She was so
happy that I was starting and that the first appointment went so well. They got
me right into the room and made sure I was comfortable. We got started right
away; Dr. Cooney was very kind and made sure that none of the electrodes were
bothering me. When he turned the machine on I was out of pain immediately. It was the best I’ve felt in a really long
time. The treatments are 45 minutes of pure bliss. The only side effect of the
treatment is excessive tiredness, but I had trouble sleeping so the tiredness
was welcome. On the second day I felt a little apprehensive that we came at a
bad time. My pain levels weren’t that high so I was scared that my levels will
get to zero and last a few days, but then I would get a flare up and it would
come back. Dr. Cooney was very good at reassuring me. The rest of the day went
as planned. While on the machine my pain level was at zero and when I was taken
off the machine it went up to about a one. The pain relief from treatments both
of those days lasted about 4-5 hours. When I got to day three I got nervous
about the sleeping, the night before it took me a while to fall asleep even
though I was exhausted. The Doctor said not to get worried about it because the
sleep will come. I’m supposed to sleep as much as I can and whenever I want to.
Day 4 went perfectly; there was not a single problem. I was happy that the
treatment was working so well! Day 5 also went really great. My dad and I we’re
both really excited to get a break from all of the driving. Through the weekend
the pain stayed away for a really long time. The pain didn’t come back to 1
until the next day and didn’t rise back to a 3 until Sunday. So far everything
has been wonderful! I have 5 more treatments to go! I hope you all have a great
week and I’ll write another update on my last treatment on Friday! –Kait :)
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Friday, February 3, 2012
Calmare Pain Therapy Treatment
Well, hi there guys! I hope your all having a
wonderful day! Thursday (February 9th) I have a doctor’s appointment
with Dr.Michael J. Cooney in Rutherford, NJ! I’m trying a new treatment called
the Calmare Pain Therapy
Treatment. Here is an overview of the treatment from the website:
“Calmare Pain Therapy Treatment is a non-invasive,
non-pharmaceutical solution for pain control and drug resistant pain. It uses
biophysical “scrambler” technology, a type of treatment for nerve pain
that uses electrodes placed on the skin. Very low doses of electricity are
transmitted from the electrodes through the skin to block the pain. Pain may be
a result of chronic conditions including injury, cancer and chemotherapy,
diabetic pain, lower back pain, chronic neck pain, post surgical pain, failed
back surgery syndrome, phantom limb syndrome, RSD, fibromyalgia, radiating pain
and neuropathy.”
I’m kind of nervous but I’m really excited to start!
I’ve been reading some reviews and it sounds like it has a pretty good success
rate. From what I understand you do 10 treatments, so I’m going to be doing a
blog series following my experience! I hope you guys enjoy it! Have a great
pain-free weekend everyone! Keep fighting!
-Kait
Treatments website: http://calmaretherapynj.com/
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Hello everyone! I don’t know about you guys, but when I’m in pain music helps distract me a lot. One of my favorite bands is U2! A song that I really love is called “Miracle Drug”. If you have never heard it before I strongly urge you to listen to it. It’s not just the song or the music that really makes me love it; it’s the story behind the song. No one tell its better then Bono himself so here is a passage from the book U2 by U2!
“The character of Christopher Noal was in the back of my head. He was a boy who came into Mount Temple just as we were leaving. He had been deprived of oxygen for two hours when he was born and developed cerebral palsy, so he was paraplegic. It’s written from his mother’s perspective. It’s about her faith in her son when for nine or ten year she had no idea if he was a conscious, sentient being or not. The hospital, the doctors and nurses, could not guarantee her that he was awake to the world. But she believed it. She saw something in his eyes that was the light of being. And she had enough faith in her instinct and in her love for him to teach him, to read to him, to talk to him, as if he was there. And then, aged eleven, this drug appears on the scene which frees up one muscle, which is the neck muscle, and allows him to move and inch. And through that movement he was able to type out all the stories and poems he had in his head for all those years.
He had a little unicorn device attached to his forehead and his first poem was called ‘I learn to Bow’, which is about this mechanism of the head movement but it’s also his poem of gratitude to go, who I think he felt had worked through science to free him up. Now, I don’t know about you, but if I had been locked in myself for ten years and I eventually got out, I’m not sure I’d be so full of praise for my Maker. Damburst of dreams, his first book, went on to win the Whitbread Literary award when he was fifteen years old. But the song is about his mother. I want a trip inside your head, spend a day there, see what you can see (Lyrics to the song). Generally rock stars don’t sing from an older woman’s perspective. It’s a song about faith, the faith that God can work through science, and in particular medicine. “
Isn’t that truly amazing?! It honestly gives me hope that miracles can happen. I think that if we just keep believing and keep fighting that one day we’re going to get our miracle drug. I hope you never give up faith, because if you keep fighting the most amazing things are going to happen. I know that right now it looks like there is not looking up from this, but one day there will be something that cures this horrible disease. Whenever you’re giving up think about the story of Christopher Noal and remember that miracles do happen. I would just like to remind you guys again that if you EVER need to talk to someone you can feel free to contact me through twitter, email, and Facebook! Love you guys! Keep fighting!
-Kait
Links:
http://www.facebook.com/RSDSupportandHope
https://twitter.com/#!/rsdsah
http://www.rsdsupportandhope.org/
Email:
kait@rsdsupportandhope.org
“The character of Christopher Noal was in the back of my head. He was a boy who came into Mount Temple just as we were leaving. He had been deprived of oxygen for two hours when he was born and developed cerebral palsy, so he was paraplegic. It’s written from his mother’s perspective. It’s about her faith in her son when for nine or ten year she had no idea if he was a conscious, sentient being or not. The hospital, the doctors and nurses, could not guarantee her that he was awake to the world. But she believed it. She saw something in his eyes that was the light of being. And she had enough faith in her instinct and in her love for him to teach him, to read to him, to talk to him, as if he was there. And then, aged eleven, this drug appears on the scene which frees up one muscle, which is the neck muscle, and allows him to move and inch. And through that movement he was able to type out all the stories and poems he had in his head for all those years.
He had a little unicorn device attached to his forehead and his first poem was called ‘I learn to Bow’, which is about this mechanism of the head movement but it’s also his poem of gratitude to go, who I think he felt had worked through science to free him up. Now, I don’t know about you, but if I had been locked in myself for ten years and I eventually got out, I’m not sure I’d be so full of praise for my Maker. Damburst of dreams, his first book, went on to win the Whitbread Literary award when he was fifteen years old. But the song is about his mother. I want a trip inside your head, spend a day there, see what you can see (Lyrics to the song). Generally rock stars don’t sing from an older woman’s perspective. It’s a song about faith, the faith that God can work through science, and in particular medicine. “
Isn’t that truly amazing?! It honestly gives me hope that miracles can happen. I think that if we just keep believing and keep fighting that one day we’re going to get our miracle drug. I hope you never give up faith, because if you keep fighting the most amazing things are going to happen. I know that right now it looks like there is not looking up from this, but one day there will be something that cures this horrible disease. Whenever you’re giving up think about the story of Christopher Noal and remember that miracles do happen. I would just like to remind you guys again that if you EVER need to talk to someone you can feel free to contact me through twitter, email, and Facebook! Love you guys! Keep fighting!
-Kait
Links:
http://www.facebook.com/RSDSupportandHope
https://twitter.com/#!/rsdsah
http://www.rsdsupportandhope.org/
Email:
kait@rsdsupportandhope.org
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