New Treatment - Day 28 / News on SPECT

It's been a while since my last post, so I thought it is time for an update..

Unfortunately, IGeneX blood test results are not back in yet. Today is exactly two weeks since I sent the blood and they are in California, USA, so I guess its not that bad....yet:)

Now, about SPECT... I believe I never explained what it is. Single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT, or less commonly, SPET) is a nuclear medicine tomographic imaging technique using gamma rays. It is able to provide true 3D information. The basic technique requires injection of a gamma-emitting radioisotope into the bloodstream of the patient. This radioisotope actually is the reason why I haven't done this test yet. As my doctor told me last Saturday, the 2 radioisotope-providers (in Canada) of the hospital doing SPECTs here in Greece, have a major problem in production, therefore no radioisotope-no SPECT! They estimate that the problem will be solved in September... The good news is that the Turkish doctor who conducts SPECT here in Greece, came anyway, and my doctor who works closely with him arranged me a consultation. The even better news is that this doctor, except from a nuclear medicine physician specialized in neuroinflammatory diseases, he is also Lyme literate!!! He was very interested in my (as he said) "complicated case" and we discussed for a long time. He excluded the possibility of ALS, and by looking my MRIs, history, tests and treatments so far, he thought that it is something we can win! He also suggested that I should go and have the SPECT in Istanbul, Turkey asap, because he wants to see what exactly is going on in my brain. We'll see... When I told him that my goal is to recover by at least 90%, he said: "But you can't salsa with 90%......We'll go for 100%, ok?"

In the meantime, I continue my antibiotic treatment with some small changes... Stopped Avelox, replaced it with Doxy (Vibramycin) and Malarone. Also added Carbatrol (Tegretol), which is btw, a very tasty syrup-yummy:)

I feel tired and sleepy most of the time and my knees hurt, but I have to note that my twitching is a little better, my left thumb (which was the worse-looking and moving) feels a little stronger, and my tongue (which was white-coated and "cracked") is pink and pretty again! Well, it is too soon for anything...I know I have a long and difficult road ahead, but I have a feeling I'm finally moving into the right direction.