10 out of 12

So far I've received ten out of twelve methylprednisolone steroid treatments for, what the doctors at Mayo Clinic believe to be, autoimmune epilepsy.

On May 7th, the day after my last treatment, I'm scheduled to travel back to Mayo to see if there's been any improvement. There've been many set-backs, seizures and the like, but I'm feeling good about what we're going to hear. It could be because our trips to Mayo have been a nice break from our troubles at home in Illinois, and time spent with Sara and my Mom is precious. It may seem silly, but we've been calling our trips up there as our "Mayo vacation".

Both Sara and my Mom have been going through some tough times at work and I think they enjoy the opportunity to spend some quality time together. Now, because it's warmer maybe we'll actually be able to walk outside instead of always using the interconnected tunnels from the clinic to the hotel. Plus, we won't have to literally run from the car to our trips to Target! One thing that we all seem to unanimously despise about Rochester, Minn. is that they don't serve Diet Coke anywhere! I don't mind being poked and prodded, but no Diet Coke? No!

All joking aside, it will be nice to see what side-effects of the steroids will subside in the future. Insomnia has been a big one; it seems I'm always completely exhausted but unable to sleep and I've been pacing the apartment at 3 am. There have been some very scary moments, like last Saturday when I had three seizures in a row while visiting Milwaukee. We just wanted to take a couple days and relax but I guess that just wasn't in the cards. I'd like to say we learn a little more about what's going on with every new seizure but we've been left confused, disheartened and all around frustrated, even angry.

What I'm feeling right now, positive or negative, I'm not going to share because it's all the more frustrating when what I've been feeling turns out to be wrong.