Category: Doctor

Two MRIs in One Week

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Around noon-time yesterday I ate lunch, took a Vicadin and laid down on the couch to possibly sleep!

Shortly after doing so, my thumb and index finger on my right hand went numb. Like I was getting a migraine. Oh, crap! What if I’m getting one…what do I do? Can I take an Excedrin Migraine WITH a Vicadin? I didn’t know. Then, as quickly as they went numb, they regained feeling. Hmm…what was that? I wasn’t having any other migraine symptoms like spots in my eyes or sick to my stomach or horrible head pain.

I did sleep a little. I was going to go get something to eat for dinner and my entire right hand went numb and the right side of my tongue went numb. Then my wrist went numb. What the heck was this? A migraine or not? I just didn’t know and I was concerned only due to the fact it was all on one side and it came and went throughout the afternoon. Of course, due to my aneurysm, I’m thinking stroke!

I tried to get in touch with Dr. D’angelo AND Dr. Kwan’s office, but of course they were both closed for the holiday. Great! I just needed someone to tell me this WASN’T a
stroke…so….off we went to the Augusta ER.

Luckily, no one was there again so I got right in and had to go through the whole story about four darn times.

The first “Dr.”’ to see me was either an intern of some sorts who didn’t speak very good English. Why can’t people learn to speak the language fluently before taking a position like that?
But…that’s another Blog entry!

I did NOT care for her saying “Ummm……..” before every single exam segment. She wasn’t picking out paint chips, she was supposed to be giving me an exam and knowing what she’s doing. If she hadn’t said “Umm….” it wouldn’t have been so bad….I guess.

Finally saw a REAL Dr. and he wanted me to have an MRI. GREAT! Lovely. Can’t wait. Just had one three says ago. The feeling in my hand and tongue had all come back and I was feeling better, but I reluctantly agreed it would be better to know now than wait it out all weekend. He said the MRI unit at that particular hospital is not “available” over the weekend, so I caught it at a good time.

They fed me a sandwich because we’d have about an hour wait and it was also time for some Tylenol, which they also gave me. I hate being back in a hospital again.

At 7:30 I went in. It was a little bit different (older unit I think) than the one in Scarborough, but one NICE thing
was that they let you listen to music of your choice! They put these huge headphones on you and it really dulled the noise. I liked that, but I did not like not having any communication with the person doing the exam, which I did in Scarborough. I got through it fine.

Within probably 10 minutes after the scan, the results were read by “the best radiologist in the hospital” and everything looked good. The Dr. thinks it may have just been a migraine,
but possibly due to the Vicadin, there was no pain. I didn’t really have any other migraine symptoms, so I guess, but I am glad I checked it out and he did confirm it wasn’t stroke related. I just really didn’t know. Dave was convinced
something so isolated wouldn’t be a stroke, but the Dr. said they had a 40 year old woman in last week with numbness in one side of her arm and hip and it WAS a stroke, so I was glad we checked it out. We got home around quarter to 9:00.

I suppose I may go through this for a long time until I hear from Dr. Kwan, what I should and shouldn’t be concerned
about. My list of questions for him are getting much longer!

I’m tired today, but feel okay. I just almost feel a little silly for running in to the ER. I wonder how many other
people who have aneurysms feel that way too when something happens that they’re just not sure if it’s a result of the brain surgery or not.

MRI/MRA

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Yesterday I had an MRI and a MRA.

Well….first thing. I THOUGHT I had had an MRI before in the 80’s when I had those lovely 7 migraines within 5 days. Well, apparently I did NOT as this was nothing like I had ever experienced before that’s for sure!

Right before we left the house, I had a double-vision issue. Thankfully, it was very brief, but it was enough to scare
me for a minute and rethink my going for the MRI at all. But it didn’t last long. I think I just over did it this morning. Sounding like a broken record!!

LOUD! Very loud. I wasn’t sure what I could or couldn’t wear into the room and the only thing I had to take off was
my bra, due to the hooks and my watch. Obviously my glasses too. There was a kind of helmet that came down completely around my head and face and these foam pads were put inside the helmet on both sides of my face. Very restrictive, but not painful.

I wasn’t expecting loud though. They gave you ear plugs and ran through several scans that were in lengths ranging from 1 minutes to 3 minutes. Then the big MRA which recorded my blood vessels which lasted 7 minutes. 7 LONG minutes! Very hard to keep completely still for that one.

I also felt something odd in my legs and feet during the scans. When it was done and a woman came in to help me out of the darn thing, she asked me if my feet raised off the table. When I think thought about it, they did! She knew that the shoes I had on from LL Bean had steel bands in the footing. The guy who brought me in did not, so he didn’t take them off. She WOULD have and told him afterwards for the next time. LOL That was an odd sensation for sure because the shoes were being pulled towards my chest near the machine, but I didn’t realize it.

Needless to say, I was beat afterwards,nhad a horrible headache, eye ache and ear ache and hungry. We ate, then got home around 6:30. I went right to bed with a cold cloth on my head and laid down until Dancing With The Stars came on. A Vicadin and a tylenol later, I feel better.

Results will be next Tuesday.

Follow-Up

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Dave got confirmation today that my follow-up MRI has been scheduled for next Tuesday with my follow-up appointment
with Dr. Kwan scheduled for the following Tuesday, the 14th.

Of course I’m already nervous.

Set Free!

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I was awakened at 6:00 this morning to hear my nurse say these were my last two pills of Nomidipin. I said “Don’t toy with me” and she said she thought I was going home today. Well….THAT woke me up!

Shortly there after, Dr. D’angelo came into tell me the final word. I could go home today. YIPPEEE!!!!

I emailed and IM’d Dave immediately, as well as all my friends and family and it was all I could do to not put my clothes on, pack up and sit there, but I knew Dave needed to get some things down at home first, then he still had to drive down to Portland. He said he’d be there around 10:00. What to do…what to do!

I ate breakfast, changed my clothes slowly, picked up some things….slowly! LOL I didn’t want to get everything together and sit and wait. I did walk the 6th floor my last two times…mostly looking for Lisa, the physical therapist who had helped me out so much. I really felt, as did Dave, that I had a kindred soul there in Lisa.

She actually ended up finding me back in my room once she had heard I was being discharged and we had a nice moment of appreciation towards one another. I truly appreciated her kindness, understanding and friendship during my stay there.

My new room mate also told me she’d miss me! So sweet. We had only spend one night together and we had both slept well, so if I had had to stay another night in the hospital, her company would have been very welcome. I hope she got a new room mate who was kind and quiet.

Dave arrived, we got my walking papers and packed up. As I was wheeled down to the elevator, we saw several of the nurses who had helped me and s a couple of the Dr’s. I think them all and they all seemed quite please I was doing so well and could finally go home and wished me well.

Dave pulled the car around, I climbed in and that was it! Going home.

When the aneurysm happened, we were getting close to making some final decisions on the bathroom remodeling, but this obviously put everything on hold. Dave had stopped at a place in Saco, south of Portland, where he found the shower and a similar tub, so since we were right there, I decided I should take advantage of it and stop by.

Getting into the car and driving proved to be difficult. After looking at the same walls and hallway for three weeks, the stimili provided by passing cars, houses, etc. was a bit difficult. But tolerable.

We stopped at the bath place. As I was getting ready to carefully climb into the empty tub for a “dry fit”, we explained to the sales girl where we had just come from and what happened. She then told us of a story of her 47 year old aunt who had an aneurysm and died instantly…she had six kids. I could not get that out of my head and had an emotional time with it. Again, it made me realize just how lucky I was…just how lucky I was to be here at all and made me question why I was given the gift of life and she wasn’t? I will no doubt struggle with that for a time. Survivor’s guilt?

I wanted one thing before we got home…a Big Mac!!! So we stopped at McDonalds for the big meal…fries, soda and the Big Mac! It tasted VERY good!!

We arrived home an hour later. I was expecting to be more emotional when we pulled into the driveway. It was more a relief to be here than anything else.

Entering the house a wave of relief washed over me, then the kitties came to greet me at the door. Lexie ran right up, but Smokey was very hesitant. He’s so funny. Took him awhile to get use to ME being there! And Dave hasn’t been home during the day for three weeks either, so the two of us being there, really threw them I think. I got emotional then. I was with my family and I was home and I was alive.

Dave needed to get groceries, so he left a short time later to get us some food. I called my mother and sat down with a nice, hot pot of good tea! I had been craving that for weeks. It tasted fantastic.

While Dave was out, I walked around the house a bit and it was very odd. When I had left the house that morning for the emergency room, the leaves were turning and it was warm outside. Upon entering the house this day, it was like I was gone three months, or that time had stood still….there were now NOW leaves on the trees, it was VERY chilly outside, my calendar in my computer room was still on September and things I had planned to do the next day (Oct. 5th) were still sitting there waiting to be done.