Category: Frustrated

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.

Some Ideas

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Yesterday was a rough day. I did far too much the last two days with the trip down for the MRI/MRA and then two visits and the store on Wednesday. I felt horrible Wednesday night and almost all of yesterday with bad headaches, VERY tired and some other lingering effects that I was told the Vicadin may be causing.

My nurse visited yesterday and she may have shed some light on a couple of things. Apparently some of the symptoms I have displayed the last couple of days with the double vision, confused vision, headaches and nausea, may simply be caused by 20 days in the hospital and two weeks as home!

She said it’s quite common for folks who haven’t had a lot of stimulation outside the hospital or home to experience exactly what I did. Even the hair loss. Obviuosly, I’m not washing my hair on a daily basis just yet because it really poops me out, so there will be an accumulative effect on the days I DO wash my hair. Makes far more sense.

I will still ask my Dr. on Tuesday about all of these things and hopefully he can tell me what I should and shouldn’t expect and what is and isn’t related to the surgery, so I won’t freak
out…which I am KIND OF doing until I know better.

I feel better today and hope to get out for some fresh air later as Dave said he’ll let me boss him around in the garden to button it up the for winter. I hope we’re still speaking to one another when we get back in house! LOL

Also, the occupational therapist came yesterday and she gave me some other good advice for everyday-living type of things for therapy.

A lot of people, including all the folks from Health Reach and on the message board, say that with this kind of situation, depression is not uncommon. Great! Just what I need for the
holidays! Hopefully, with the help of my fantastic psychologist, I can avoid that trap.

Shopping Adventure

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When I left my visit from work, I was very tired and my eyes and balance were bothering me, but I needed to run into Rite Aid and give them my new insurance info. Well, I suppose I didn’t NEED to go in, but I thought I’d give it a try since I need a few more items and thought it would be easier for me to go in and get them myself, rather than explain exactly what I needed to Dave. I wish I had!

The hairspray wasn’t difficult, but when I hit the toothpaste aisle….issues! I had trouble focusing. Had trouble concentrating on what items I needed to get. It was odd, frustrating and I got a little ill.

Once we got out of there, I was dizzy. I had to close my eyes on the way home and went right to bed when I got home. Still not feeling great, but I couldn’t get to sleep. I am just NOT a napper! LOL

So, that was my first test at going into a store. I guess I can’t do it just yet! Sorry Dave!

Update

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I’m on day 10 at home. I’m having a headache pretty much every morning. Some days much worse than others. I’m finding that if I do too much in the morning, which is when I feel the best after breakfast and a pain pill, I feel much worse around 1:00 and the rest of the afternoon. So, today I experimented and did nothing this morning. Literally nothing. I have felt much better this afternoon and just took a shower. I guess I might be overdoing it. I didn’t think so, but perhaps my head is telling me otherwise. Some days it’s an all-day headache that even the Vicadin won’t touch. I’ve been given permission from the Dr. to take Sudafed when I feel it’s a sinus issue, so that’s good.

I go for my follow-up MRI on Tuesday down in Scarborough (south of Portland), but do not get the results until my visit with Dr. Kwan the following Tuesday. A nurse is coming in twice a week and the occupational therapist is in one day a week to work with me. They’re both really nice.

I’m trying to bend down a bit more each day and continue walking in the house. I can’t move quickly as that throws my
balance off and bending completely over is a no-no just yet. I’m feeling a bit more stable when walking and standing, so I think the cane might be history soon. It’s more of a safety thing right now. If I SHOULD get dizzy, or I walk outside to get the mail on an uneven surface, I’d rather have it there, than not. I haven’t attempted the stairs yet. Laundry is piling up, so I fear I’ll need to soon but I won’t be able to lift the wet clothing.

I am sleeping very well though. I’ve never been much of a napper, so just laying down in the middle of the day isn’t
easy for me. Once I do, I always fall asleep, but it’s making myself do it that’s difficult.

Yesterday I unloaded and loaded the dishwasher (sitting on a chair) as well as sorted out and threw out magazines  and catalogs (threw them all on the floor and sat down) that
have accumulated throughout the house since I left on Oct. 5th. It took a lot out of me and I paid for it later in the day. Poor Dave came home to grumpy, whiny Heidi. She’s just so unattractive. I should have stopped after the dishwasher and called that my therapy for the day. But I felt good, so I pushed it. Bad Heidi, bad. I just fear I’ll become a couch potato, so I feel I HAVE to do something, but I can’t push it. A little at a time still. I just have to remind myself I’m recovering from brain surgery!