I got the refill on the pump today. It is amazing what a small amount of medicine goes into the pump. It sure has helped. While I am not pain free, I sure am a little bit better. The doctor increased me from 3 mgs. a day to 4.5 mgs. a day. Hopefully that will make a big difference w/o making me too sleepy. Each mg. that goes through the pump into the intrathecal spinal space is about the same as taking 300 mgs. of morphine per miligram of medicine in the pump. So, I am now at a level of 1250 mgs. a day. That's a lot of morphine!!

Instead of doing an injection on my neck right away, he is doing a MRI next week and starting me with physical therapy. The therapy in the pool is going quite well. I go to a therapy pool and it is kept at about 95 degrees and feels so good when I get in. I am able to walk in the pool for about 25-30 minutes. That is sure better than the no excercise I got for about 5 years. The MRI can stop the pump from working so after the MRI I will have to go right to the doctor's office to see if it is still working. Kinda scary to think of it not working...I'd hate to see how bad the pain would be. Hopefully they can start it right away if it does stop. It is really amazing how they program the pump. They just put a device right on top of the pump and program it for what they want done and it speaks to the pump right through my skin.

Every day usually brings a funny grandchild story. Today it was from Rhebeca. She is taking an art class one day a week after school. She is usually starved after school and her Mom didn't send anything for her to eat today before the art class. So, her Mom took her some food after school. Rhebeca is only in first grade but was just mortified to see her mother at school...and with food too! She told her Mom to take the food to the car and she would eat later. I think all of us at one time have felt embarassed by our parents and can identify with her!