Waiting in the Emergency Room

I actually had posted bits and pieces of what happened over the next few days but this will give actual information.

My chiropractor refused to work on me Monday. He was concerned with my neurological exam and was afraid I was using my neck to mask my head. I know that my neurological exam was caused from my trigeminal and the fact it had really bothered my right eye over the weekend. This happens on occasion. My right eye will get so dry from the nerve issues that it starts acting funny. I always know it's going to happen and this was no different. Regardless, it meant that I didn't get my neck adjusted and I continued to have episodes with it.

Tuesday, while at work and working on my computer, the pain shot up just as it has in the past but rather than hurt between my shoulder blades and head, it seemed to radiate from the center of my head. It was very consistent almost like the beating of your heart. I also had the blurry vision during this time and could hear my heartbeat with each throb. It lasted approximately 5 minutes but that could have been longer. The pain intensity was in the 8 range. I took two ibuprophen and it seemed to dull it and after a few minutes it went away although I feel a bit "stiff" since. My neck and shoulders feel very stiff since and this time it was not preceded by neck creaking. I sent an email to my NeuroSurgeon at this point with details of what was going on.

I would have this twice more before leaving work to go home. They were not as intense as the original one but they stopped me in my tracks nonetheless. At this point, they seemed to be triggered when I walked. Of the other two, one occurred when I came out of my boss's office after telling him I was going to go home early and the other when I walked out of the building to get into my car. I didn't have a single spell while in my car but would have another when I walked into the house. All of the times I was walking.

When I got home, I went straight to my bed and laid down. I didn't dare move hoping that I wouldn't have it any more. I called John before I left work to let him know I was driving home. I had been laying there for about 20 minutes with nothing when my cell phone rang. By the time I was able to find it, I had triggered yet another episode of pain. This one would be one of a rating 6 or 7. I hurt so bad that I screamed into my pillow willing the pain to go away. I laid there for almost an hour waiting for the boys to get home. I was feeling so good, I decided to give one more try at getting out of bed. This was a huge mistake. This one quickly shot up to a nine and lasted anywhere from five to ten minutes. I was in tears when I heard the door open and knew the boys were home. I hurt. I hurt bad.

John came and checked on me and I tried not to move but at one point I decided I had to try. I got out of bed with his help and successfully walked to the Great Room. Before I reached the couch, it hit again and this time I told John that it was time to go to the Emergency Room. I wasn't sure how many more of these episodes I could handle. Anyone that knows me, knows that it took A LOT of pain for me to say I needed the ER. I am not an ER person and I'm not a hospital person so I was in tons of pain to tell him I needed to go.

We dropped my son off at a friends house. (Love ya, Jessi, you are a life saver) I knew he'd have more fun there than waiting in an ER and I didn't want him exposed to the flu or anything going around either. At her house, I had yet another. I held on tight to John to steady myself and I felt my back and neck tense a lot during this one. I also became much more disoriented this time than I had been. Apparently I was able to "move" something this time because luckily it was the last episode I would have.

After waiting in the ER for over 3 hours, John went to see how much longer it would be. They told us there was still 8 ahead of us and due to the emergencies that were on their way in, that would be approximately 3 more hours. I was not interested in spending another three plus hours at the hospital so I checked myself out. (Note: this was 3 hours and I wasn't even out of the waiting room!!!)

At this point, I won't deny that I am terrified this might be from the tumor but I am refusing to think that way right now. We'll see how the rest goes.