My (1st) Trip to the Mayo Clinic.
My (1st) Trip to the Mayo Clinic. To begin at the bottom line: it has been decided to stop giving me Methylprednisolone (steroids) and instead try treating me with Intravenous Immunoglobulin (IVIG). IVIG is a human blood product. Basically, the two treatments are similar— both try to override my immune system and stop it from attacking my brain. Prednisolone is (sort of) an artificial form of immunoglobulin. The difference is that Prednisolone is man-made (in a lab) while Immunoglobulin is man-made (in someone’s body). IVIG does not have the side effects of Prednisolone, but costs a lot more and takes more time to infuse. The plan is, as soon as my insurance company approves the treatment, to give me the treatment for three days in a row, then once a week for twelve weeks, and see how I am doing at that time. How was the trip? It was a trip. I feel like I have been to the Vatican—there in the middle of the cornfiel...