My last day of school was not until December 20, 2012. I picked my sailor up from the airport that same night. We had a wonderful six days together. The problem is that we tried to make sure we make it to every Christmas we possibly could for both of our families and also had a wedding in North Dakota to add to the mix. All of these things made it so we were both absolutely exhausted most of the time, but we were able to enjoy things anyway. Every time I am with Brett further cements the fact that he is the right man for me. He takes such good care of me, I often wonder what I possibly do for him. He tells me all the time that I give him a lot of love and support (I really, really hope I do!). The distance definitely takes a toll on me, dropping him off or leaving him is always really difficult for me, and it never gets easier. Unfortunately, my sailor will be going to Cuba on January 14. I will be making the trip back to him before he goes so that we can take care of a few things before then. One of them will be taking his car back home, because after this he will be coming home for good!!!
But, ahem, more on that later. Now for the more boring medical crap. Haha. I had an appointment with Dr. Green because the headaches were getting completely out of control. We had to make the difficult decision to start me on Topomax. This is something we had contemplated before, but hesitated on since it can cause weight loss as a side effect and can also cause kidney stones. I don't really need to lose any more weight, and I've already had kidney stones and I'd obviously rather avoid them if I can. But, my migraines have not been well controlled for years and have only become porgressively worse. They have also been significantly reducing my quality of life, so I decided to go for it. Topomax isn't something you just go on at a full dose, so we've slowly been tapering on to the standard dose. It is also used as an anticonvulstant, so that is an added bonus. However, it has been causing more nausea (I think) so I'm not exactly sure if I should continue on it or not. There are a few other things I am thinking about, so for right now I am not increasing the dose any more and am not yet tapering off of the Lyrica. I want to wait until I have a better handle on things and then make a decision about what I would prefer to do before I consult with Dr. Green. Obviously he is the doctor, but it is my body we are dealing with so I want to make sure I am adjusting to things well enough to continue tapering up to the normal dose and discontinuing the Lyrica. The other issue that discontinuing the Lyrica presents is pain. In light of the fact that Lyrica was also being used to help treat my pain in addition to seizures, we may have to address the pain issue in another manner. I'm not sure at this point if that means that I want to add another medication. I may lean more toward going to chiropractic or massage therapy first before I go back to medications. I am on so many different medications and I know that it is to be expected with such a complicated disease process but it is overwhelming at times to look at the box of the medications that I take, separate them and organize them by time. It seems like such a small thing, but I am 21 years old. While I have accepted Mitochondrial disease as a reality of my life, it becomes very discouraging at times to deal with everything that Mito throws at me. However, I choose most of the time to focus on all that life has to offer, regardless of my diagnosis and the challenges life constantly throws at me.
Lots of wonderful things coming in 2013! I for one can not wait. Happy New Year my friends!
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