nine out of ten

A particularly hellish month

It has been a rough day.

I woke up at 4 in the morning with a MASSIVE headache. It was the kind of pain that makes you pause and wonder if the world is ending. The kind of pain that makes it hard to breathe, hard to move. The kind of headache that makes you sit up at 4 in the morning and wonder if you have freaking meningitis. That’s how bad it was.

I managed to shove some pills into my mouth to deal with some of the side effects of the headache (because there’s just nothing that helps the pain) and I attempted to go back to sleep. At best, falling back to sleep would’ve been tough with that amount of pain, but when you add an adorable little cat who really believes that 4 in the morning was the most perfect! time! ever! to eat and in protest of not eating decides to climb in and out and in and out and IN AND OUT of the blinds 20 million times, well, sleep is nearly impossible.

That did not make the day any easier.

Looking at this month, I’m starting to worry. I haven’t had this many bad days in a long time. It doesn’t seem to be related to stress, especially considering my weekends are every bit as bad as my weekdays. It doesn’t seem to be related to difficulty of work because light days are every bit as bad as difficult ones. It doesn’t seem to be related to anything.

But it’s getting worse. It’s getting a lot worse.

The headache I had in the middle of the night last night was the worst headache I’ve ever had that wasn’t the result of a lumbar puncture and subsequent spinal fluid leak. It was terrifying because it came out of no where and awakened me from a dead sleep (again, about having a freaking baby. My subconscious has SUCH issues). Thankfully the pain did go down some and I was able to go to work, but all day I have felt miserable. All morning I felt like puking, and all afternoon I’ve just wanted to sleep. Or cry. Or both.

I don’t know what to do at this point. I don’t know where to go, who to call, what to try. I don’t know how to manage when the pain is like this. I made it through the day today, but it was by far the toughest thing I’ve done in a long time.

I can’t keep doing this. For the first time in a while, I’m genuinely scared of tomorrow.

To my very core, I’m terrified of that pain, of this pain. Of more pain.

8 Responses to “nine out of ten”

  • Katy:

    I am so sorry. I wish I had good advice or something. You must be leaking somewhere. Right? I hope they figure this out soon.

    [Reply]

  • I wish I could offer more than an internet hug.
    ((((((((hugs)))))))) <– that's from two octopuses (octopii?)

    [Reply]

  • Beth:

    That chart scares me and it isn’t my head. I wish I had something to offer other than sympathies and hope that someone is going to find something eventually. I just don’t know how you keep going forward. I’m not sure I could do that.

    [Reply]

  • I am worried about you. I really, really am.

    I also just got done reading a wiki article on Spontaneous cerebrospinal fluid leak to educate myself on what you are going through, which only made me more worried about you.

    Is it time to consider traveling to the Mayo Clinic or some other world renown medical center to get another opinion? I know what I am suggesting is a royal pain in the ass, but so is 9/10.

    And btw, you are averaging about a 7 for the month of July (yes, I added up all the ratings and divided by the number of entries.)

    I send you (((hugs))) & healing thoughts every day … but you need something more than that and I wish I knew what that was.

    [Reply]

    Katie Reply:

    @Selena, The great irony is that the world renown guy on spontaneously csf leak is in California and he’s my neurosurgeon.

    But, if you know of someone at Mayo who does a lot of work on csf leaks, please let me know. I’m open to trying. I really really am.

    [Reply]

  • I barely know you but am scared for you too.

    [Reply]

  • Thinking of you, Katie. Hoping today has been better and that tomorrow will be better still.

    [Reply]

  • Just said a prayer for you. I’m hoping things are at least a little better.

    [Reply]

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About the Brain
Welcome! I'm Katie, a 28 year old, full-time graduate student who just happened to have brain surgery in November of 2007 to give my ginormous brain a little more space. This blog chronicles my daily life, from relentless headaches to being a doctor's wife. Sit down, get comfortable and stay for a while.
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Questions? Concerns? Don't hesitate to email: overflowingbrain@gmail.com
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