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Medication Options for Intracranial Hypertension
Having lived with Intracranial Hypertension for almost four years, I must say learning the ropes comes very slowly – but it does indeed come. Year one was mostly spent being misdiagnosed while trying all forms of relief in the wrong direction (allergies, migraine, etc). Year two was nothing but being a guinea pig for what helped and what didn’t, this included both noninvasive and invasive treatments (medications, weight loss, surgery). Year three was thankfully the beginning of finding successful answers – very, very slowly. Now with year four at its close, I hope to share with you some of what I have learned that has helped me manage this condition,…
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My Shunt Surgery – Recovery
I remember the moment I woke up in recovery and was told I just had shunt surgery. Part of me felt like I was still in and out of consciousness in the ER. Part of me thought I had passed out from the pain, and they had performed an emergency shunt surgery. Within a few minutes though, my husband and his sister were at my side, and I began to remember that it was all planned. Nurses came by to take bedside X-rays, and I rested, soaking in the new information that was now a part of my life: I had a shunt. I had a medical device inside of…
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My Shunt Surgery
June 7, 2018 I laid on my side on the ER bed for the fifth time that year. My husband sat across from me. The anesthesiologist sat behind me. My pressure had once again been uncontrollable, and all medications had failed. It was time for yet another spinal tap. I honestly didn’t even care anymore. None of this was new, and nothing could possibly feel worse than what I was already feeling. I just wanted relief. As the physician inserted that 3 ½ inch needle, I did my best to breathe and pray, waiting for her to announce the opening pressure. Instead, she grabbed the extension. The next sound within…
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Health Care Frustrations – How You Can Help
So you’re sick. You’re feeling miserable, and your body is in so much pain that you think you might be dying. What do you do? If you’re like me, you’re thinking the ER might be your last hope. Of course, nobody ever wants to resort to going to the hospital, but when you’ve tried everything, and nothing is working, what choice do you have? Except, say you get there, and there’s nothing they can do. Let’s say you wait for hours in the ER, go through the hoops of IV’s and questions only to be told nothing is wrong with you – only to go home in the same exact…
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Tearing Down the Strongholds of Addiction
Ever since I was a child, I watched my brother struggle with a terrible drug addiction. I watched him in and out of jails and rehabs my whole life as I prayed for his freedom. When I was 18 years old, he was found dead in his apartment. This year makes ten years since I lost my brother. Addiction was not a stranger to my life. As sheltered as I was, my parents couldn’t keep me from knowing that four of my six siblings fell into its grasp. I saw it destroy their lives. I saw it change who they were, change their appearance and alter their personalities. I couldn’t…
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Sleepless Nights
It’s 2 am, and the headache has already hit hard enough to wake me from my sleep. I feel it so sharp inside my temple that I swear if I could slice open my head, I would be able to remove the stone that is piercing my brain. I try to change positions to bring relief, only to commence the whooshing noises of blood rushing in my head. I am tormented by these angry waves roaring at me in this silent hour of night. I can’t take it anymore. I get up and am then hit with the pounding, pulsating pressure on my brain and eyes. If I give it…
