February 3: Treatment #21 - The last one

Today brought the end of a long series of ECT treatments. Today was the 21st treatment, the last scheduled one. I woke up early today and had trouble going back to sleep, as described in my previous entry about my dream. I felt great today. My Beck score, pre-treatment, was 6, the lowest its been. Remember, I started at 40. I was much more talkative with the nurses today. My blood pressure, which has been an issue in the past, was 113/79 before and 123/79 after treatment. My seizure was 1 minute and 18 seconds. Not the longest of the series, but plenty long. Because I hadn't had a treatment in a week, I woke up really disoriented and with a sore jaw and head. Still had all of my crowns today, however.

The A-Doc neglected to use lydicane before the Etomidate today. I whined about the pain as the Etomidate was going in. The fact that she didn't know she was supposed to use Lydicane made me worry a little about what else she didn't know. But she mentioned her amazement at the amount of Etomidate she had to use (2 vials), which she said was the most she had ever had to use on anyone.

Woke in Recovery 1 pretty out of it. It took me a minute to get my bearings. The nurse medicated my throbbing headache with a total of 150mg of Fentenyl. My headache went away, but the Fentenyl made me nauseous before it was all said and done. The ride home and the afternoon were rough. Headache was persistent, despite the Fentenyl and Percocet (x2).

Said goodbyes with hugs to the Recovery 2 nurses (the ECT nurses). We all agreed that we hope that if we see each other again, it would be at the grocery store. I am now finished with this round of ECT. In a week, I'll be allowed to drive again (unless I can talk Melissa out of my keys earlier...)