TB meds! Neurologist number five!

A quick update on the medical front:

I saw the (somewhat saner) infectious disease doctor, and I start my TB treatments after I get back from Brimstone. I’m grateful that I can finally start, but I’m also hesitant because these drugs have a reputation of tearing you apart. I have to get regular liver tests, and stay away from things that tax my liver; I’ve also heard they wreak havoc on your G.I. systems. On top of that, they will make my pain drugs work less, if at all. So though I’m happy that I will be TB free in a few months, those few months scare the crap out of me. The good news is but I will see my pain management doctor after I’ve been on the TB meds for a couple of weeks; hopefully, he’ll have some ideas as to better manage my pain once we know exactly how ineffective the narcotics will be. There is a little fear that I will suffer a similar reaction as I did in June (I was hospitalized due to an interaction between fentanyl transdermal patch and the TB meds that caused me to go into immediate withdrawal even though I was wearing a brand-new patch); the ID doc said that  if there is any wackiness I should go to the ER. Let’s hope that’s not what happens.

I also got a surprise phone call from the new neurologist today. I was supposed to see them in mid-December; and was angsting because I have pretty severe nerve pain and December was a long way away. it seems they had a cancellation for Friday (tomorrow as of this writing) which makes me a very happy Del. it also means that there’s a good chance I will get a script for an MRI — those of you who know, know that I have been looking for an MRI to accommodate me for almost a year now; Johns Hopkins just got two new machines that sound like they may fit the bill. If that works out, I may be able to get my pain management doctor to play nice with the neurologist and see if we can’t come up with a better solution for my neuralgia.

so wish me luck tomorrow with neurologist number five. I’ve worked with him before; he is also a sleep study specialist and was the one that prescribed my CPAP. I really enjoyed his candor; Ninja has been seeing him for neurological stuff and really likes him. His office is about 25 minutes away from my house; not quite as bad as going to Johns Hopkins but not as convenient as neurologist number three (who blamed everything on my opiates).