All Things Hurting

When we visited with Lisbeth yesterday, she told us that her brain is hurting, and her eyeballs are hurting, and her hands are hurting. All things hurting, Mom and Dad.

Even the boob is hurting.
(Lisbeth standing in front of my 2002 portrait of her and Milkweed...)

Little Milkweed ~ always a sympathetic listener...

Lisbeth showed me her latest cuts. She told me that she can't do the little cuts right now because the hands do hurt. You do know it, Mom...

I love all your cuts, I tell Lisbeth. This one really looks like lungs, and a real heart, inside the body...

...and this one looks like great big listening ears!

Lisbeth's seizure cycle impacts her artwork. Some days she is capable of tiny detail ~ other days it hurts to work. Lisbeth struggles with neurogenic pain, which can be triggered by some medications. We tried a drug called Keppra in 2003 which reduced her seizures dramatically, but then discovered that it was causing chronic neurogenic pain, so we had to take her off of it. This was unfortunate, because it was the first time since the onset of the seizures in 1988 that we saw a big decrease in her seizure activity. Lisbeth was having 12 - 20 generalized seizures a month, and the Keppra brought it down to 4-6 a month. Other meds we've tried since have caused weight gain and bloating. Lyrica was a big culprit in this regard. We started Lis on a promising new med called Vimpat a few months ago, and have had our fingers crossed that it will not have intolerable side effects. It's not supposed to cause neurogenic pain, but Lisbeth is complaining again. Garry wondered aloud to me after we left Lis's house yesterday if perhaps she has Fibromyalgia. Hard to know, as Lis would say. We see her Portland neurologist , Heidi Henninger, on February 1st, and will check in about all of this. It's always something...

...right, Milkweed?