I Have Lead Poisoning.

Not until I began looking at my EDTA treatment side effects did it hit me...EDTA treatment is for lead poisoning.  My brain has its' on thoughts on the subject: "You are a baka! How long since you started treatments? And you just are realizing this? Idiot!"

Enjoying Shanghai without a lead poisoning care in the world.

Part of me wants to blame my slowness to acceptance on having had 2 TBI. Or I might just not have wanted to accept the idea. I had to when the pulmonologist wrote it loud and clear on my chart record. This ain't no joke! You have levels in the red. Keep up those I.V. treatments or face serious consequences! Alright. He didn't put it precisely in those words but I got the message.

The idea is surreal. Something out of those medical journals I used to read with such passion. Patient X is a female in their mid twenties undergoing EDTA treatments for four times the amount of lead deemed safe. (For the complete article pay $2.95. Pay Pal accepted). Well I hope I might be worth at least 4.95 for their troubles but I will stick to being realistic.

I will not lie. IV treatments on a weekly basis suck. Their effects are not pretty. I cannot hold a conversation without losing track of where I am going. Nor can I follow instructions or sew a straight line for two to three days afterward. Yet I find myself happy to see my neurological symptoms ever a bit better. I am no longer chasing down my utensils for a simple meal. The tremors are manageable. I did lose some feeling in my right hand but everything in life seems to have a cost for me. If I have to trade feeling for a steadier hand...then who am I to complain?

Besides, I have lead poisoning. I feel I need to remind myself of this fact. This is a reality now. I have been told my treatments have no end date. They could potentially last for years. Especially since no one knows where this mysterious lead came from. There are always ideas. People love to say, 'you were just in China!' Thank you. The trip was lovely but my lead poisoning took years not ten days to become a problem. Lead window paint? Haven't lived in a house old enough to have any. I also like to think I might have been smart enough to not go around eating paint chips for snacks. 

Do I have any advice for people with lead poisoning? Yes. Who are you and how did you get it? I almost feel like we need a facebook group: I've Got Lead Poisoning. How 'bout you? Although this would require me going on facebook which I hardly ever do. The point is: once again I remain ever the medical mystery. Only now a medical mystery + lead poisoning. Ah. Life is never boring when you are chronically ill.