Monday (day 4) was the day that things got interesting. I had managed to sleep for an hour the night before so for some reason, the doctors were happy and considered that "sleep". Yes, it was better than nothing but only marginally so. I had a nurse tell me that if I would get up and walk around my headache would be better. Seriously? What a news flash! If only someone had told me that decades ago I would have been cured. Oh, and since I love the outdoors and hiking I guess I would have never have gotten chiari. Ugh.
The pain management team came to talk to me and returned a few hours later with an earth shattering suggestion: imitrex. Seriously? I came unglued. First of all, any first year medical student would suggest that for migraines. Secondly, I have been followed by them for 5+ years and they knew I had tried it repeatedly with no success. I suppose that it was rude of me to point those issues out but I was out of coping skills.
My team decided to order a CT of the brain to make sure that there wasn't anything new developing that we were overlooking. When the results were in and the doctors came to talk to me about them, I asked specific questions about the CT that the doctors were unable to answer. I wanted to know the exact herniation (if any) of the cerebellar tonsils. This led me to ask to speak to a neurologist or neurosurgeon and thankfully, that is when the week began to change.
Imitrex is suck-ass, even when it sort of works. I've always hated the side-effects, but the last time I used it it they were worse than the pain.
ReplyDeleteI agree though it never worked for me. Tim and I have cracked up a bunch since last Monday. Now, when someone says something ridiculous we just say "first year medical student could prescribe imitrex". I suppose it was rude of me but seriously? I still don't understand how they could have offered me that medication with a straight face....especially since they had been following me for 5+ years!
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