Post Surgery Recovery, Lyme Symptoms After Clindamycin

The count up is in full swing. Today is 12 days post surgery, and this post will be a full blown analysis of my symptoms. Too many people have asked how the surgery has affected my Lyme symptoms and vice versa, and I'd like to quench everyone's thirst for more answers. Surgery is a traumatic experience for the body, nervous system and immune system. There's many characteristics of me being someone with auto immune dysfunction that affect my recovery. First of all, I'm on an IV medication that's trying to treat my symptoms of fatigue, depression, anxiety, joint pain, muscle spasms and weakness, headaches, hot and cold flashes/sweats, insomnia, light and sound sensitivity, and so much more. Charting my progression of those symptoms is more difficult over the course of my first month of this treatment when you are adding digestion irritation from pain killers, fatigue from the narcotics and trauma induced with surgery, and of course worsened headaches from stomach pain, fatigue, narcotics, etc. It's a snowball effect caused by the initial problem, the tick borne illnesses! My gall bladder probably worked fine before Lyme and Bartonella's treatment of Rocephin through IV clogged it up. I may have never needed surgery to remove it if I hadn't introduced Rocephin due to the Lyme. What a cycle.

Another thing to keep in mind is that I have experienced prolonged adhesive sensitivity since the IV treatment. I could have had it sooner and just not noticed until my skin was red and itchy from the IV dressing. I have since used an IV 3000 dressing to reduce the allergy and been fine in the Picc Line area. However, the band aids and dressings for the stomach incisions caused worse pain and irritation than the incision itself did. What a mess! Below is a picture of the four incisions, three of them surrounded by bright red almost welted skin where the adhesive touched. As of today I decided to not use any band aids to reduce those problems. In a week I'll get another picture of my stomach and how the scars are coming along.

On top of all that I have been found to scar hypertrophically, an uncommon way that the body can scar for some people where the skin over the scar is raised and red and firm unless manually softened with therapy and vitamin E based applications. Hyper trophic scars are not common for everyone, but are similar to scar tissue build up that can cause nerve pain and experienced by many Lyme patients whose immune system is affected. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypertrophic_scar)

Last but certainly not least is the risk after surgery of infection that can be fatal, thanks to the low immune system Lyme gives somebody. I was concerned about this but seeing as they glued my incision closed and I didn't get the dressing wet enough to change it every day, It lessened exposure to the air and I have been able to keep the stomach clean and dry. There is a little bruising near my belly button but it's looking good and smooth. As far as the Bartonella and Lyme symptoms go, I slept literally all day yesterday and caught up on much needed rest from the past two weeks of stress on my body. Today I am more energized and appreciating my sublingual b-12 in 5,000 mg tabs That significantly increase my general well feeling. I have rested, made sure to keep up with my medicines, and taken magnesium and b12 daily. Those are the only two natural supplements that I notice a difference with. I sleep better, wake up happier, have more energy, fight less depression, and feel lighter. On the Clindamycin, I have recognized a noticeably clearer ability to process, think, and concentrate. I am still working on the memory and motivation, but that will take time and rest. I have started reading more to wake my brain back up and we are looking into a tutor to generalize my needs and get my education back on track. We are also probably applying to disability since I can't work and do school and get better. I'm just not a super woman yet.

Link to Youtube

Here is an easier way to view all my youtube videos from last summer to now. Click the link, or copy and paste into your URL bar, and view all the videos instead of just the four previewed videos at the top of the blog.
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLF64C13DFAD339559

May is Here! Back on Medications

After three Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatments through April, I discovered no improvement and actually felt worse after each session. The oxygen must have pushed the Lyme out of my tissues enough that it caused weekly depression spells that were debilitating. I decided that was not what I needed right now being in such rough shape. On the fourth week of my medicine vacation I found myself brought back down hill and almost into the wheelchair again. Memories of last summer's struggles filled the late Saturday night air, as I suffered from head and neck spasms, neurological upset, and speech problems. I took what medicines were on hand to calm the sudden episode from a day filled with activity that my body was not yet prepared to handle, and stayed in bed for the next two days. After the rest and much practiced handling of my symptoms, I was up again in no time preparing for an Air Force ROTC Ball. Yet again, the following Saturday night after the days events and the ball, I found myself downhill from exhaustion and suffering autistic-like symptoms and the speech problems all over again. A day later with some rest and I'm now again getting ready for prom. This is my Junior prom, my second year going and I am far more nervous than last year. Exactly a year ago I was carried home in a trembling mess with the most unexpected Lyme Disease symptoms. That gives me enough grounds to remember that frightening experience and move forward on a prayer for a better one this time. The Picc line has been in 11 months, and I am now being put on Clindamycin Phosphate for the persistent symptoms that were not touched by the Rocephin like we had hoped (along with Omnicef which I have tried once before and Zithromax for Bartonella Symptoms). Within the first six hours of my first treatment on the new medicine, I suddenly experienced a raging Herx reaction (A Herx is a positive response to medication that seems negative, better explained in my earlier post called the Herxheimer Reaction. It basically means the medicine is killing off the bacteria). It lasted for at least 48 hours and left me feeling dizzy, weak, restless, irritable, in a general state of intense pain, and nauseas. After that cleared it took me all my energy just to manage a shower and keep breathing. Since then, I have started with what we believe could be Gall Bladder problems. I had such great pain in the event of an 'attack' on Tuesday evening, I literally could not breathe and was scared for my life due to the pain. Whats worse then such a turn of events is the shock of being scared to enter the Emergency Room knowing that you will not leave with answers because you are such a unique case. That's the shocking encounter I deal with every trip to the hospital, and I have said many times that 'I would rather die in my comfy bed with my family and pets than at a hospital that doesn't know what to do with me'.

Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment

As part of my drug holiday and to help me recover from lingering concussion symptoms, my Lyme doctor really urged us to try Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT). The office has a soft shelled chamber that basically pressurizes oxygen into your system while breathing 100% oxygen for different amounts of times. The thought is that the oxygen increase for the short amount of time increases circulation and oxygen levels to the point where people receiving the therapy notice improved energy levels and medicine effectiveness. Children receiving Chemotherapy spend time in the chamber directly after their treatments to increase the Chemo's effectiveness by pushing it into all the tissues. Concussion symptoms are noticeably improved by the oxygen increase to the brain and Lyme sufferers may notice more energy and less joint and muscle problems. This is an effective way of improving the benefits of treatment but it is out of pocket and fairly expensive. For one day, the next three weeks, I'm going to receive treatments to clear my concussion symptoms and help with whatever Lyme detoxing I'm doing on this drug holiday. Huge prayers that I can have the patience to lay in this loud machine for an hour and fifteen minutes every Tuesday morning and still be able to drive home afterward.

Concussion with Lyme Disease

On March 1, 2012 I decided to go skiing in a snow storm with my brother and boyfriend. The trails were not groomed and filled with moguls, bumps, patches of ice, and slow traveling people and my weak knees couldn't hold me up. I fell on my first and second run down the mountain, and the second fall did me in as I landed right on the back of my neck. I made it for one more run because I felt that I had to keep up with my brother and I don't even remember it but I did the pizza all the way down the mountain and collapsed in front of ski check where they carried me to first aid. I don't remember the time where they strapped me to the backboard and loaded me in the ambulance but I remember bits and pieces from the ride. It was a traumatic experience as the neurological blow brought back my symptoms from last summer. I started with whole body convulsions that appeared to be seizure activity and heart palpitations. My scar tissue from the tailbone surgery ached and my throat tightened and slurred into an abnormal sounding voice. The last thing I remembered before losing memory and being brought into the hospital was the AED machine reading 'Extreme Tachycardia, prepare for arrest' and the thought crossed my mind that I was probably about to die from skiing, just like my mom always warned. No matter how ironic, I'm doing okay now. I am attending concussion rehabilitation with Concord Physical Therapy and they are working on post concussion symptoms like reaction time, memory, balance, and neck pain. Over the course of the almost two weeks since the accident, I am doing much better. I get dizzy when focusing on an object to the side of my field of vision or turning my head too fast, and I don't have the concentration or clearness to drive yet. I can't stand for more then five or ten minutes because I get nauseas and light headed. Through all the symptoms I still managed to participate in volunteering at the Lakes Region Home Show in Lakeport, NH last weekend where we spent time talking to people and handing out information about Lyme and the upcoming tick season. It's always a great experience to see people walking away with a new understanding of their body and the environment they live and work in daily. I'm honored to be of help to others with awareness.