RE: Post on Aug 12, 2008

It's really too bad that I've left the following post up here so long; it's far too negative. However, it turns out that August 12th was the most significant day for me in 2008.

The "old" compression fracture the ER doc found by pure luck on the x-rays was actually new. It took forever to find that out. Instead, I was treated for a muscle strain with muscle relaxants, which are really just tranquilizers, until I absolutely insisted on getting a full MRI of my spine and I took the film and report to my orthopedic surgeon. My PCP had, I was convinced, misinterpreted the report, telling me that since the fracture was so old it could not account for all the pain I was feeling. My orthopedist confirmed that the fracture was new. I finally received 3 transforaminal nerve block injections in January, 2009--5 months later.

The true significance of all this, however, was that the muscle relaxant wrecked my memory. For a long time I thought I was just being increasingly affected by the "brain fog" that is a side effect of steroids. Finally, I began to suspect that my mental impairment was far too severe to be attributed either to my steroids or to my disease. I searched the Physicians Desk Reference for possible adverse interactions among my medications and discovered that the muscle relaxant I was prescribed was explicitly contraindicated for patients taking one of the meds I already had. (Too many of my meds hit the central nervous system. Who knows how they're interacting?)

As a result, I have almost no memory of 2008. I can reconstruct some events with Terry's help; others are gone. The events of August 12th wrecked my memory for a year.

The good news is that I am getting my mind back. I'm still slower than I used to be, but that is to be expected for someone who takes as many meds as I do. I'm starting to be able to read again, but it's a slog.