My week-long Ketamine Infusion

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After dealing with horrendous fibromyalgia pain for most of the last 6-8 weeks, I finally decided it was time to try another treatment. This one involves me going to hospital for 7 days for a ketamine infusion. The hope is that it will reset the way my brain interprets pain and either reduce or eliminate it (for the most part).

Since I was to check in at Wollongong Private Hospital at 12.30pm, we decided to get some lunch at the cafe. IMG_4664.jpg

So impressed to find such healthy food available at a hospital as it’s not always the case. It isn’t a vegetarian cafe, but I’d say that makes up 90% of the menu.

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Kevin and I both had the three cheese lentil triangles and the whole meal was amazing.

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We then “checked in” and were sent up to level 3 – the medical ward. My room was still being cleaned so we waited in the patient lounge.

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Of course I wasn’t that surprised when told I had one of the only two shared rooms in the ward !!! But I was also assured I’d be soon moved to a private room.

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Of course I also got the bed furthest from the window so didn’t get the enjoy the view from it.

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The hospital has only been open for a few months so everything is still brand new.

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The doc had quite a bit of trouble finding a working vein but got one on the 3rd try.

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Then it was time for the treatment to start.

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You start off on 2ml/hr, increasing by 2ml each hour. Obs are taken every hour until you reach your max dose, which you then stay on for 7 days.

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It was pretty hard to get settled into anything (reading, watching TV,etc) so I just chatted with my roommate, Beverly, who was also having her first infusion.

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The food here (at the least the vegetarian meals) were all delicious and I loved everything except for the scrambled eggs at breakfast).

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Funnily enough I hardly slept the first night and probably didn’t dose off until about 2am. Time felt really weird and I kept feeling like I’d just woken up, when you’re in that dazed state.

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The next morning things got very weird (luckily after Mum & Dad had visited) and I feel like I had a drugged trip (but not ever having done drugs I don’t know if I really did). Then my face started to feel numb, like I’d been to the dentist, and I was slurring my words. This meant the dose had to be lowered. I’d been on 10 and was taken back to 8 and all the symptoms went away. Around 5pm I was taken to my new (private room), where I had this awesome view from my bed !!

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The next morning I got to enjoy the sunrise without getting out of bed.

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Though Kevin felt he had the better view :-).

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My meds were increased again, but I suffered the same side effect, so it was back down to 9.

Mum & Dad bought me these gorgeous flowers.

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The doc decided to keep me on 9ml/hr since I was unable to tolerate a higher dose. The rest of my stay seemed to settled into a routine of enjoying the view, having the family visit, eating nice meals, sleeping (though sometimes not the best), and visiting with Beverly who was in a room nearby. I didn’t feel like watching the movies I had on ipad, or even reading, so I did lots of Disneyworld reading/planning.

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Unfortunately I had lots of problems with my canula and ended having 5 over the course of the week !!

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On my last night I was able to watch the Paris-Roubaix one day race from start to finish (except for a 1-2 nap during).

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It went until about 1am and I was so glad I stayed up to watch as it was won by Aussie Mat Hayman.

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My last sunrise before I was released just 6pm on Monday night.

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It’s still early days but it does seem like the treatment has worked. Tuesday was a bad day, but Wed and Thurs have been great. Only time will tell. Then of course is the question of long it will last. Most people tend to get 6-12 months before it’s back to hospital for another stay.

If you want to learn more about my stay please watch my vlogs –

Wellness Wednesday update

My focus on wellness is going well. I’m enjoying eating lots of healthy foods, getting out for almost daily walks and I achieved my goal of 2 strength workouts. In this weeks video I chatted about the importance of INSPIRATION while on a health & wellness journey. I didn’t always like healthy food and it occurred to me that it was really because of the constant inspiration from blogs (and now Youtube, pinterest and instagram) that I actually tried all the things I now love – like green smoothies and brussel sprouts. So I thought it might a good idea to share some of these sources of INSPIRATION with you all. You can also get inspiration from magazines and books (but I’ll leave them to another blog post).

BLOGS

Carrot n cake

Back to her roots

Clean Cuisine and more

Southern Girl Eats Clean

Julie Malony – Health Coach (Australian)

Beauty that Moves

Your Health. Your Life (Australian)

 

YOUTUBE

Healthy Happy Life

Meghan Telpner

Fab Lunch

 

*** So do you have any sources of inspiration that you turn to? I’m always on the hunt for more :-).

 

 

 

 

New focus on Wellness

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As promised I’m here to update/inform you of my new focus – WELLNESS. After such a horrible month health wise in July I felt I was stuck in a neverending cycle. Pain lead to not the healthiest meals being prepared & too many snacks being consumed as I felt sorry for myself, which lead to weight gain, which lead to more pain, and so began the cycle again. In desperation I started looking at various programs and ideas in an effort to find the “perfect” one that would have me pain free and losing weight.

As July drew to an end I knew it had to stop, and that I needed to make WELLNESS a priority. Not weight loss, but wellness.  Of course, I know a consequence of wellness will be weight loss but I took the focus away from it. I also started being KIND to myself. If I was in pain, I’d just take a slow walk and not expect too much from myself. When I felt better I’d take the time to make healthy, nutritious meals and snacks. I set a goal to walk the dogs 5 days a week and get in two strength training sessions. I didn’t have to do a BIG workout 6 days a week, which is what I had always thought I had to do.

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You know the amazing thing? After just one day eating well (low sugar, additives & preservatives) and nourishing my body with green smoothies & salads, my pain levels went back down. A few days later they were back to normal levels (which unfortunately is not pain free but it’s quite managable). And I felt HAPPY and in control of life and food. It’s now been over 2 weeks with my focus on WELLNESS and I’m feeling great. Slowly, but surely, I’m getting my life & home more in order. I am better able to cope with things. And I’m sure I must be a much better person to be around. Oh, and I’ve lost 3kgs (6.6lbs) as a bonus !!!

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So for those of you struggling with your weight or health or inner-self problems, I encourage to change your focus to WELLNESS & being KIND to youself. Afterall I think at the end of the day we all just want to be HAPPY, and it’s pretty hard to achieve without WELLNESS. I do hope you’ll join me on this journey.

I’ve been doing weekly Wellness Wednesday videos on YouTube which you might like to check out.