Nicole: a case study?

It is amazing what a person can do when she has decent balance!  I walk without a cane, although only in the house for now.  I go out at night alone!  I can do some of my balance-related PT exercises.  The fun never ends!

I say this with great humility, but I think that I am a great case study for this treatment.  Having done it twice I can now see what impact it has on my body in great detail.  It seems that my balance is the most sensitive to jugular stenosis.  I say that because it was the first thing to go when I began restenosing only three weeks after my first treatment.  And 24 hours after my second treatment, it is back!  Hallelujah!

Losing my balance was hard to miss when it happened. Many other symptoms worsened so slowly it was difficult to notice that it was happening. Now that everything is good again, I can see just how significantly the fatigue returned. It was sneaky though. In hindsight it is so obvious! I haven't "needed" a caffeine fix since my veins got fixed.

My feet have stayed pink since moments after the first procedure, so that seems to be a less sensitive symptom in my body.  Purple feet are a key visual indicator of CCSVI in Dr. Tornatore's opinion.  True, but in this body it was just the tip of the iceberg!  Although my feet remained pink, they became harder and harder to keep warm. This happened so slowly it was very difficult to see the change over time.

Swallowing problems didn't begin showing up again until the month or so before the second treatment.  I had more trouble coordinating my swallow, and began aspirating liquids again.  These problems were not happening with anywhere near the frequency that they did before the first treatment, but were definitely noticeable.  I find these swallowing symptoms most interesting because I am a speech-language pathologist.  I am trained to teach people how to protect their airways, and I couldn't protect my own!  Oh, the irony of it all!  But go ahead and stretch my jugulars, and the dysphagia magically disappears!

Those are my Deep Thoughts for today.