August 1st. The same scenario was happening with the leg spasms and crippling pain, only now it found a new target. My left shoulder and by the end of the day I told my mother it felt like it had been torn in two. When I tell you just how bad this became, remember this, my case was mild by comparison of what has happened to others. I actually sat there, barely able to handle the pain, limping to the bathroom on a cane (my decorative cane now was the only thing helping me move anywhere). I just lay in bed all day trying to contain the pain. By that night I thought I might very well die from taking a few pills. I told my mother of my thoughts and apologized for leaving her with this mess, going so far as to her dig out my book of emergency credit cards and explain to her that she would just have to charge each one and write it off when I was gone. I swore to her I would fight like hell, even though I may lose the war. I blamed myself and wished with every fiber I could turn back the clock and cough up every pill. But it was too late and I could feel the poison working its way through me.
During the night, at 3 a.m. I awoke from barely getting 2 hours sleep, with one thought. To tell the truth I can't remember what it was. I'm not religious. I don't have a church or some building or person I go to and worship. This leads people to believe I'm an atheist. Again, not my religion. I don't have a box to check on the paper, the closest I fit is spiritual. I believe in guides and the people who loved you that are gone never really leave. Some call them angels, but whatever you call them, they are one and the same. I had asked for help from anyone listening, whether it be my father, my grandmothers or grandfathers, even great-grandmother whom I share the same birthday with, anybody out there. Help me find help because I wasn't ready to go and couldn't leave my mother all alone. So at 3 a.m. with whatever thought that had me hobbling to the computer and my fingers searching the keywords, answered the call. My mother was exhausted (she had little sleep staying up worrying) and had fallen asleep and I sat printing out the clinic, hobbled through, woke her up and talking really fast, told her this was the only clinic that could help me. I just knew it. And don't ask me how because I don't know. All I know is that this was beyond the hands of mainstream medicine, where I was afraid they would start a large bill and run many tests, possibly giving me more of these drugs to make me worse (and yes, it's happened with others). I also wasn't putting my faith in a quack waving chicken feet over me. I knew I had to find someone from the best of all worlds. All things yin and yang. In my case, a complementary physician with the background and training of mainstream medicine, but the openness to incorporate holistic healing within their practice. This place I found to offer me hope was The Whole Health Center in southwest Houston. Unfortunately, it was Saturday. I would have to suffer through 2 days and 2 nights before mom could call and make an appointment.
August 2nd. had the extreme pain in my shoulder subside to a dull ache, I was extremely surprised by this as it almost felt normal. So it wasn't torn. However, extreme muscle spasms in legs again.
August 3rd. Had me in bed all day with even more terrible effects to come. Tremors. Sounds like such a small word. A small word with big impact. Vision aftershocks from an earthquake that you feel inside. You can't see them, just feel them. The shoulder pain came back with a vengeance and the leg pain never left, along with extreme headache that wouldn't leave. I lay in bed with my pooh bear, miserable, in hell, crying from the agony. And I'm afraid there was nothing my mother could do until Monday, which is the hardest job in the world for a mother.
August 4th. I'd knocked myself out with 2 Tylenol night pills, although by knocked out I mean I didn't get more than 4 hours sleep that night. My mother woke me up and told me she had spoken with the office, but they needed a questionnaire filled out and emailed before they could say if they would be able to treat me. So with what little energy I had left, I crept through and filled out the form and emailed it. They called back about 30 minutes later (which every minute seemed an eternity to me) and said they had an opening at 4 p.m. I took it like the golden ticket. My poor mother, with very little sleep over the last few days and a potential hurricane coming in, drove me 2 hours to the other side of Houston for the appointment. I was barely able to walk, my right leg now felt crippled up at the heel and ankle where the spasms had destroyed it and I was using the cane to it's full ability. The tremors had me feeling shaky all over.
Incidentally, when mom told me there was hurricane coming, it didn't even register. What hurricane? For that matter, I can't say I cared. If a category 5 was washing ashore, it wouldn't have made much difference to me. I was consumed with combating pain. She spent all day moving vehicles and objects, filling up water containers and tubs and preparing for electricity to potentially be out. All alone. I couldn't have helped if I wanted to. So cheer for mom!!
When we arrived at the clinic, it was rather surreal for me. Dr. Shafi examined me, took bloodwork and urinalysis, sat patiently while I described all my crazy symptoms and most importantly, listened to my concerns about the drug I'd taken. Hope returned to me in the form of Dr. Shafi. He told me he believed, as I did, that the Cipro had caused the problems I was now experiencing. I'd never spent this much time with a doctor, usually I saw a nurse who consulted (I think?) with a doctor and just dispensed pills. It was refreshing to actually have a physician spend the time to understand what the symptoms were. He came up with an action plan including hydrocortisone for the inflammation for a few days along with high volumes of vitamins and minerals. We left and went to pick up supplies at HEB, then home where I crashed back in bed with my first doses taken.
That night, I knew something was happening. Possibly not good. The hurricane was coming in and my mother thought it may make landfall that night, so had thrown a mattress in the kitchen to sleep on, with Beaux, our yorkie, beside her in his bed. I woke up around 1 p.m. with the tremors continuing, but with something new. My toes felt like they were moving involuntarily, all by themselves. The strangest, most unsettling feeling I can tell you. Scared, I hobbled through to the kitchen, poked my mom awake and told her, "my toes are moving." She groggily said, "what?" I repeated it and once she took it in, the words, "my god" were spoken in horror. I placed my toes on her leg but she couldn't feel anything. It wasn't visible, so must have been the nerves with tremors in my toes. I was extremely frightened, which made her extremely frightened and I kept her awake a few hours, with nothing to give but support. I have no idea what was going through her mind but I know I must have worried her senseless. I was worried too. I feel asleep about 5 a.m. and slept until 10 a.m.
On this day I was prescribed:
Hydrocortisone for 7 days (I was afraid of any medications at this point, but what do you do? I researched it before I took it and made my own decision to take it. I think it worked, although with all the vitamins and minerals it is truly hard to say, more on this later.)
MSM 500mg - 2x day - 1 month.
Magnesium 500mg - 2x day (morning & night) - 1 month. (There's a lot of folks out there say this works, including a study on rats. For me it did, it helps bind with the toxin and excrete it from your system.)
Acidophilus - 1 pill 2x day (morning & night) - 1 bottle. (To keep the good bacteria in the gut while trying to flush the poison out. Mine was Pure Encapsulations Probiotic-5 brand, comparable would probably be fine)
Emergen-C - 1 packet 4x day - 1 month (I've since learned taking Vitamin C all the time is good for you, but I'll adjust down to 2x day when I'm well after this month)
Spectramine Chelate - 1 pill 3x day - 1 bottle (Mine was Douglas Labs Krebs/Chelates, 90 caps. This is the full-spectrum of other minerals and trace elements, again helping to bind with the toxin and excrete it.)
One pain medication was prescribed, although I only got desperate enough to use just one pill once, preferring to handle as much of the pain as possible to help my body get the toxin out.
There were about 6 tests on blood and urine taken.
August 5th. I awoke, the toes had settled down quit a bit. Tremors down to the legs now, pain in shoulder and legs, but there did seem to be a small, almost unnoticeable improvement. I couldn't quite let myself believe it was working. Best of all, we'd missed the brunt of the hurricane, only a small rainfall came.
August 6th. There was a marked improvement. The tremors stopped. The spasms were gone. Extreme weakness in every muscle of my body, primarily in left shoulder, upper chest and back and legs. But now I believed. It was working. There was a light at the end of the tunnel.
August 7th. I had an appointment for the ultrasound of my breast (made the previous night). The last thing either one of us wanted to do was drive 2 hours again, but the ultrasound was being done by an old acquaintance with a reasonable rate, so there was no choice. It was just down the street from my new doctor. I was extremely weak, mom dropping me off at the door, my chauffeur. The ultrasound was done and the nurse stated she thought it was fibrocysts of the breast. We left with a good deal of hope that I would live, that I did not have cancer. A note here for those with breasts. Mammograms can cause cancer. They are an X-ray and if you have this done every year, your odds go up. Don't buy in to mainstream medical - they want to sell stuff. If you're worried, have an ultrasound done, it's safe. It's more expensive, most places will want to sell a mammogram first, but it's YOUR MONEY, YOUR BODY. You call the shots. There are plenty of places out there, find one to work with you. Don't call "The Rose", a non-profit in Houston. I did, they were into pressure tactics wanting to sell a full barrage before they would even consider ultrasound, even with my doctor's prescription for just an ultrasound. Non-profit does not mean they don't want to make a pile of money - executives still get paid salaries.