I’ve just about exhausted the subject of my infamous “brain fart”, but there are a couple of parts to the story I would like to add…
After reading my other two installments, my family (the kids) thought of a couple of things I kept saying that they considered very funny. When I asked my DH what caused the problem with my brain, he would patiently explain (again) about our having “relations” and that I got one of my headaches…to which I would reply cleverly (every time), “Must not have been too memorable then!” He probably found that amusing the first dozen times I said it. The other thing I kept obsessing about and asking periodically was, I would look at my DH and ask, “We don’t have any insurance, do we?” He would patiently reply (again and again), “No, we don’t have any insurance.” To which I would roll my eyes and heave a big sigh….every time. Just stick the knife in and twist it, hon….again. Poor DH, he really did go through a lot that day.
After all the tests and several hours, the neurologist on call came in to discuss the “probable” diagnosis with us. Now, at this point I’m beginning to come out of it somewhat, but I was having trouble (still) grasping what people were telling me, and they had given me something with codeine to help my headache, which always makes me loopy. Anyway, he was probably in his 60′s, had a very thick Polish accent and loved to hear himself spout big medical terms in his thick Polish accent. I thought it was just me, but DH had trouble understanding him too. He kept asking questions to try to get the doctor to clarify and tell us in layman’s terms what had happened, but he really wasn’t very helpful (a couple of weeks ago, five months later mind you, we received a bill from this doctor for $200…he must have charged per big word). We found out several days later what he was talking about from an AMERICAN doctor, who spoke plain English to us! More about him in a minute…
I don’t remember the ride home or getting on the bed to go back to sleep…I was doped up pretty good with the codeine. I woke up about midnight from the drug induced stupor (DH was probably really glad to have me quiet for a while!), and I remember looking at the bandage…arm? hand? I can’t remember now…realizing that I’d had an IV. I got up and looked in the mirror at the bandage on my back where they had done the spinal tap…the spot was a little bruised. Looking at that evidence is the only way I could grasp what had happened. It still felt like some crazy dream. DH came and laid down on the bed with me and we talked for over an hour about the whole incident and he told me all about it one more time, and this time I was able to retain the information, but it still just didn’t seem REAL to me. It was like listening to a story about someone else. That’s just the weirdest feeling I’ve ever had. It’s not the same as being under anesthesia during a surgery or something…you’re there and awake, and yet you can’t remember it no matter how hard your brain works on it.
The next morning I sent a text to my kids and my friend D, letting them know I was better…then immediately sent it again (hey, that was DH’s idea). D found it hilarious, but my kids didn’t think it was too funny….hmmm, payback’s not quite as much fun, is it?? Over the next several days, I was treated like I was going to break by my family…DH wouldn’t even let me stay at the house alone for a couple of days, which I thought was sweet but unnecessary. I was pampered and catered to, though, which was very nice. The icky part was that if I got up for more than 10 minutes at a time, I would feel extremely nauseated, so most of the time I had to lay flat out. I HATED THAT!!!
We were concerned enough about it that DH called the neurologist’s office, that we had appointment for on Friday, and they went ahead and fit me in on Wednesday. That was very accommodating of them. The doctor was so nice, and asked me a bunch of questions about my history with the headaches, then told me what his diagnosis was…he totally agreed with the Polish doctor, but explained it in a way that we (sort of) could understand. You know, the brain is still a mystery to the medical community in many ways, so they give you their opinion as best they can…The doctor said that the “thunderclap” headache happens when a small blood vessel in the brain constricts (or spasms) and cuts off the circulation of blood momentarily. When it cuts off that flow, it affects my short-term memory causing me to not be able to retain new information for a while (which also explained to me what happened to a lesser degree 3 years ago). But this one was troubling because it lasted so much longer. The doctor said that the problem is, if it happens where the constriction lasts longer than a minute or two, it could become a stroke instead of a glitch. He prescribed Norvasc, which is a “blocker” for those kinds of spasms, but also helps control blood pressure (since mine was still running a little high). My sister also take this drug, as she gets those “spasms” in her heart. Well, I have since had to stop taking it due to some unpleasant side effects, like heart palpitations…oh well.
Oh, by the way, the severe nausea was from the spinal tap. They didn’t tell us ANY possible after-effects from that in the hospital. The neurologist told us that sometimes when they do a spinal tap, a little bit of spinal fluid leaks out of the site where they do it, so the pressure is off. It takes time for that lost fluid to build back up and we could speed up the process by me drinking….get this….caffeine. He prescribed me drinking a bunch of caffeine! I thought that was the easiest thing ever! Of course, since I normally drink NO caffeine, I was completely hyper and couldn’t sleep for several days, but the nausea completely went away about 3 days after that, so it was all good.
Believe me when I say that DH has been CONCERNED about this happening again…it’s not an impossibility. It has taken time to convince him that I’m not going to drop dead of a stroke whenever we…….ummmm…..kiss. THIS is one of the reasons I have been trying to get healthier and lose weight. If I can keep my blood pressure down to a normal level, that will go a long way to preventing this happening. But you never know, do you?
Two words I will NEVER be able to use again without thinking of March 27, 2009………LOOP and SURREAL……..
