I want to start by apologizing that it's been so long since my last entry. I tried to write several times but I just couldn't put my thoughts together. I'm going to do my best to remember everything I wanted to say. So many things have happened in the last month. I'm going to break it up into more than one entry so it's easier to read than one realllllly long entry.
About a week after my past entry I was sitting at home and I started having vision problems in my left eye. There was a zigzag light and it was like I had a blind spot in my peripheral vision. I tried calling the optometrist in town but it was a Saturday and the receptionist didn't know what for me to do. My doctor's office has an emergency number on their voicemail to call, but no one called back when I left a message. After about five minutes I went to stand up to go upstairs and my left leg wouldn't work. I immediately started to freak out. My dad was at work and I knew there was no way I could drive so I called 911. They asked me a bunch of questions while they sent the ambulance. And then they asked me if I'd ever had a stroke before. I haven't but just the idea that I could be having one made me freak out even more.
When the ambulance got here they took my vitals and checked me out. During that time I lost feeling in my left arm and the side of my face. Once they heard my psych diagnosis they immediately asked me if there was anything going on in my life or with my mental illness that had upset me lately. There wasn't. They had me hold up my arms and turn them inward with my eyes closed. My left arm came up but it didn't turn.
Once they got me in the ambulance they ran an EKG and put in a IV. They gave me oxygen. The 911 operated had called my dad for me and he showed up a few minutes before we left for the hospital. They wouldn't let him ride along. On the ride to the hospital I heard them on the radio saying I had stroke symptoms and to have the CT ready.
When we got there they rushed me to CT and a bunch of nurses and the doctor came in and they asked me a million questions. After the CT they started running tests and having me do this and that. The doctor looked me over and I tried to explain my diagnoses. I explained the occipital neuralgia which causes me to have chronic headaches and migraines. She asked me if I had a headache that day and I said yes and that I still had one. I explained it was only on the right side and it wasn't like my normal migraines. They gave me some pain medication and soon my body seemed to work better. The doctor came in and said that they thought I was having a migraine with an aura but they wanted to check the CT results to make sure it wasn't a stroke. Before then I had never had aura.
The CT results came back and everything looked good. They gave me more pain medication and after about 20 minutes they discharged me. They told me to be sure to see my family doctor and to give my neurologist a call.
I have since seen my family doctor who tried to help by changing my migraine prevention medication. Unfortunately it didn't help and it dropped my blood pressure way too low. I have an appointment at my neurologist's office on March 14.
I have had chronic headaches and migraines for a long time and they limit what I can do which really sucks. Sometimes I try to just push through and do what I had planned anyway, which works sometimes, but mostly it just puts me in a really bad mood which ruins whatever I'm doing. Now I worry that I will have an "aura" at a dangerous time, like when I'm driving or on the treadmill. So far I haven't had another one and I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that it won't happen again.
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