First published on March 27, 2012 at 11:48 p.m.
Things have taken a bit of an... interesting turn? I came home from the hospital on Saturday night and was struggling with a bit of nausea and headaches throughout Sunday. By Monday (yesterday) I was in so much pain from the headaches I was puking. Some of my friends and I joked that, because I had never in my life had a headache before, maybe I was really just having minor baby-headaches that my body couldn't handle only because it had never had to deal with them before. Well, puking out of my dad's car door on my way to my first neurologist follow-up appointment yesterday sort of put that theory to bed. When I finally got to talk to a neurologist, he looked at my charts and asked why I hadn't had any nerve-shock tests before. "Beats me, I'm not a doctor, and besides that sounds miserable" was the reply that went through my head. Well, my instinct was right on, because after getting a shot in my ass to numb the pain in my head and the nausea in my stomach, I had to sit through a series of INCREDIBLY painful shock tests for a full hour where they literally shock you about as high as you can stand it so that they can measure how your nerves react. And then, to add to the fun, they did this test where they put needles in my muscles and wiggled them around and made me flex and stuff. Miserable is sort of an understatement. Thank god I had my dad there the whole time, but I think watching me scream and cry non-stop might have been even harder on him than it was on me. And after all was said and done - this is the kicker - the neurologist called in another neurologist and after studying my results they both informed me that I DO NOT HAVE Guillain–Barré Syndrome. Like, not at all. Like, maybe never had it. Like, spent six days in the hospital getting treatment for something that they are now saying I do not have. I burst into tears and the neurologist looked at me like I was crazy and said "Cory, why are you crying! This is GOOD news! You don't have any nerve damage, you should be happy!" And while he was right, I replied "Yeah, but at least when I was diagnosed with Guillain–Barré Syndrome, we knew what was wrong with me and that I could get 100% better." To which HE replied, "Who told you such a thing? Between 5-10% of people with Guillain–Barré Syndrome NEVER recover!" Oh man... gotta love brutally honest doctors, I guess :) Well, on top of this "interesting" news, my headaches were still unbearable, even with the shot of pain killer. The neurologist thought the head aches were from the spinal tap I had done the Monday PRIOR. Sometimes, when you have a spinal tap, it can not heal properly and you can basically leak out brain/spine juices through your spinal tap hole and then your brain doesn't have enough brain-juice cushioning which can lead to excruciating headaches. While in the hospital, a different neurologist thought the pain came as a response to the IVIg treatments used to fight off the Guillain–Barré Syndrome (that I likely never had). And ANOTHER neurologist thought my headaches were just from stress/muscle tension and spasms. The neurologist I saw yesterday was the one who thought the pain came from the spinal tap, and I was admitted to the hospital again to get a blood bandage over my alleged spine-hole. Basically, I had another needle go into my back but it didn't go as far or as deep as the spinal tap did. The anesthesiologist who did my procedure said it might hurt more than the S-Tap but I actually think it hurt less. After getting a needle in me they drew my own blood from my hand and injected it over where my spinal tap had been done, to sort of cushion/add a bandage over the place where I had my last Spinal Adventure. It wasn't too bad after all was said and done, the procedure went quickly, and the very nice (and cute) anesthesiologist who did the procedure was named Pericles, Perry for short. I asked if he was named after a Greek demi-god and from then on he distracted me with some talk about Greek Mythology which I totally love to geek out on and which helped to take my mind off the fact that I was getting needles put in my spine AGAIN. By the way, in my pain-coma I confused Pericles with Perseus; Pericles (he informed me) was actually a Greek Senator who helped kick of the Hellenic age and stuff. Usually I am MUCH better at keeping my gods, demi-gods, and important Greek senators straight. I blame the drugs I was on ;) Anyway, the very good news is that while I have had some headaches today, they are not NEARLY has bad as they were the day before. I have to hope hope hope that this means the blood patch did its job, and that at least the Case of the Mind-Numbing Skull Throbbies will finally be put to bed. As for whether or not I have Guillain–Barré, I have a follow up appointment with my primary doctor tomorrow. The neurologist I saw yesterday said I was perfectly healthy and that STRESS might be the source of all of these health misfortunes, but I am having a really hard time accepting that as a final answer. I mean, I KNOW that stress can do terrible things to a person, and some parts of my life have been super stressful (work, etc.) lately, but I feel like I've been through worse stress before and never ever did my legs suddenly JUST. STOP. WORKING. So... I'm not sure what to make of it yet. I have a really good primary doctor, and I'm hoping that she can help me get to the bottom of all of this since the neurologist sort of washed his hands of me and pronounced me to be in great nervous health. Which I know is actually a good thing, but what I want is answers. For now though, I concentrate on the little things that are still good. I still have Health Insurance until the end of April (my job doesn't allows medical leave time... that's a whole different story) so no matter what I can see doctors through the end of next month without having to worry. Another great thing is that today I felt very strong while doing my power-laps around the nurses station! My dad actually made me sit down and take a rest, but I was antsy and felt like I could have done another two full laps, haha :) And the best thing of all is that the headaches are no longer making me puke and cry! This really is a blessing. I can handle all of this craziness so much better when the simple act of sitting up doesn't make me un-eat all of my pain meds ;) And even to this day so many of you have been SO great and SO supportive! Hearing that I don't have Guillain–Barré Syndrome after all has been really scary - not knowing is almost worse than knowing sometimes. And sometimes, I haven't always felt as Sunshiny and Dackalicious as I am usually known for being. But your reassurances that I can get through anything with my positivity and smiley heart helps me call that positivity and smiley heart back to the forefront of this weird health battle, even when mixed diagnoses have scared them away for a bit. So THANK YOU, for reminding me that who I am as a person is really the single biggest defense that I have when stuff gets crazy. I know I say this about every time I post, but I do mean it EVERY SINGLE TIME: Thank you, thank you, thank you! For all of your love and support. I know that with you guys keeping me in your thoughts and prayers, I really can get through all of this with ease and peace of mind ♥.
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