About this Blog

~Hi, my name is Courtney. I was a full time college student, starting to be a dancer, and used to work with kids part time, living on my own until my illness disabled me.
~I became sick in 2005. I created this blog in the summer of 2006 to record my "headache" diary and to see if anyone finds it interesting.
~12/2006 I lost my job then after, failed a year of college.
~2/2007 Dx Lyme Disease with Bartonella: prescribed 8 months of oral antibiotics. I'm not even sure if I ever had the Lyme Disease.
~11/2007 The doctor took me off medicines while I was still improving but not fully recovered.
~6/2008 Dx Chiari I Malformation by a neurosurgeon in Beverly Hills.
~8/2008 Decompression and Lamenectomy helped 80% of my problems.
~2/2009 Dx Hypermobility by an Orthopedic Surgeon/School Doc: Started PT, dancing, going to school and working.
~6/2009 Started working full time as an Infant-Toddler teacher, which requires lifting. Dancing part time, maybe I'll finish school eventually...lol
~12/2009 Dx Chronic Sinusitis: Stopped dancing due to constant infections.
~2/2010 Sinus Surgery & complication: Severe Epistaxis: Became severely anemic.
~3/2010: Dx Ehlers Danlos Syndrome: by Geneticist
~4/2011: Switched jobs, now work at a Pre-K teacher for 3 and 4 year olds. Less lifting!
~5/2011: Started PT and exercising again

Sunday, May 20, 2012

Migraines

It all started 2 1/2 months ago when my cat scratched my toe. It was deep, deep enough to get it taken care of by a nurse at Kaiser. Cleaned out and ready to go. Later I was doing something with my wicker chest and got a splinter on my right ring finger. After a week it was still hurting badly and starting to look infected. I went in to the dr again and had it surgically removed, including a portion of my nail. Awesome.

 After that I noticed a strange rash on my stomach. Small rings everywhere but only on my torso and each side, not just one side. I thought nothing of it. I thought maybe it was eczema. I thought maybe it was hives. It was a rash from a virus, turns out. But the dr said there wasn't anything more to it than just a rash and that it would go away in a few weeks. It did.

  Over the last 2 1/2 months my "allergies" have been acting up. Or what I think are allergies. I've woken up with bloody noses a number of times, sometimes daily. I've worked hard to do the sinus rinses, clean out my nose, take allergy mediation, etc. One day a few weeks ago I was feeling rather ill. So ill in fact I thought I really needed medical attention right away. To the ER I go!

  Found out it was low blood sugar. My sugar level was at 60 and the absolute lowest before it becomes dangerous is 70. Great now I have hypoglycemia, which I always knew about kinda but never wanted to really admit and actually never had any proof of.

  Still after all of this my eyes are hurting, a constant pressure between my eyes, a point where I'm not sure if it's my eyes or my sinus. Stupid me, I thought I should try my Flonase again, although I know it gives me headaches.

  Friday, after I tried the Flonase, my eyes were hurting pretty badly, so I thought I would try and see a dr that day. I got a dr early in the afternoon, hoping I would be in and out before I started work. The dr checked my eyesight, 20/20 but because my eyes were so sensitive she wanted me to be seen by the ophthalmologist. As soon as the tech at the ophthalmology department shone those lights in my eyes I knew I was getting a migraine. They dialated my eyes and I went into see the dr. I was about to throw up! She finished her tests and turns out my eyes are super healthy! Which is good news but at the same time, why?! why are my eyes hurting?

  Well I wound up again in the ER, JOY! Given diuladid zofran and benadryl. Still my eyes were hurting. But at least the dr there was able to push my old prescription for Maxalt. It's been a year since I've been able to get it covered. Out of pocket costs 250 for 9 pills! It's the only migraine medicine that works for me. So that makes me happy. No more ER visits for migraines (hopefully.)

  Now the kicker, you know what really really sucks about getting migraines so often? Now I worry about my death, I think great! My death is gonna really really suck. Migraines are the WORST thing to ever happen on the face of the planet. No joke! We should do "Walk for a Cure for MIGRANES" because it really is a living hell.
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