Ups and Downs

Saturday, May 3, 2008
Sweet Freedom
On Friday, I headed back to St. Joe's for my first Remicade infusion. Basically, this means that I sat in a recliner for about 4 hours while medication was dripped into my blood stream. Yes, it was weird. They do this in an Oncology center, so I was surrounded by cancer patients. It could always be worse, right? Anyhoo, once I got used to it, I felt right at home. The nurses were super friendly, and they even gave me a soft, warm blanket to snuggle up with. I asked her if there were many patients who come in for Remicade infusions with Crohn's and Colitis, and she told me that the number has been steadily increasing over the past few years. She leaned in a bit closer, and gave me a huge smile and said: "See that guy a few chairs down. He has what you have and he feels great. You are really going to love this." In my head, I was thinking-yeah, right, I have heard that before.
But you know what, I woke up today, feeling better than I have in 10 years. This disease really started up when I moved to Colorado in April of 1998-ten years ago this month. I looked in the mirror this morning, staring in amazement, in awe of the way I felt. My large intestine was so inflamed that I literally lost about 4-5 inches from my waste overnight. I think I felt bad for so long, that I forgot what it feels like to feel good. So, today I am singing the praises for pharmaceuticals. On the news, we always see the downside of prescription drugs, but when you have no alternatives, sometimes the risk is worth it, if it gives you quality of life. That being said, I know there are great risks, lymphoma being one of them, so I am taking this day by day. I hope that these medicines will continue to evolve, and I pray that someday there is a cure. I feel like my suffering will be worth something, if the medical community can learn something from me. My next treatment is in 2 weeks, and I can't wait.
Will post some pictures soon, having technical difficulties. On that note, my cell phone died and has deleted all of my phone numbers, and I lost our address book. So, I am without contact info for everyone. Please email me your info when you have a chance!