My Health #8 - Wednesday, August 17th

Yesterday I called and scheduled my ambulatory EEG.  I was to be at the LRDC at 8am to get hooked up to the monitor.  I went to bed early and got up at 4am and left the house.  The timing was good.  I got to the clinic at about 7:45.
They got me right in, and I was officially ‘testing’ starting at 9:00 this morning. I am supposed to push a little button when I feel that I am going to have or have just had a ‘spell’ so that they are easier to track on the readout.  I am also keeping a required journal of what I do all day, especially eating, going to sleep, or waking up.  I can’t get anything wet, so I am taking bird baths.  I try never to miss a relaxing shower or bath. Big bummer there : )   No scratching my head.  Yeah right. I am doing my best; that’s all I can say.  No chewing gum or candy, plus lots of other obvious rules not worthy of listing.
I got out of Little Rock as fast as I could.  I came over to the motel and they were kind enough to let me check in 4.5 hours early.  This was a very good thing, because 4am is not my favorite time of the day to get up.  While going to sleep I did have my spells.  I pushed the ‘event button’ every time I had an episode until I fell asleep.  Really the only time I have them is when I am trying to go to sleep or when I am just waking up.  When I woke up at around 2:20, it was to a really weird, and a little freaky dream.  I was startled awake by it.  It  is too weird to describe and I don’t remember most of it.
I am a little mad at myself.  I was so on top of everything.  I had packed everything I needed, had the GPS on my phone to guide me to the motel, had remembered my phone and laptop charger, and even a hairbrush I didn’t need.  I brought all my medicines….except one.  Now I am on a quest to get my medicine at a Wal-Mart here in Maumelle.
I have to be back at the Clinic at 9 in the morning.  More on tomorrow—tomorrow.

August 10th
I woke up early because even though my appointment wasn’t until 9 am, I am used to hopping in my car and driving 1 mile to work.  No traffic.  Today I would be hitting Little Rock during rush hour in the middle of a storm.  I thought it best to play it safe.
I woke with a bad headache and oddly bad heartburn.  Didn’t bring any tums.  Added that to the medicine list for later.  I wanted to make sure I had plenty of time to get to the clinic.
Then, as I began to get ready to go, it started to pour down rain.  I have wires and water soluble glue all over my head, and no umbrella.  So, I carefully planned.  I ate breakfast in the motel room (I packed food to save $ : )), I got dressed and ready to walk out the door wearing a hand towel on my head, and a ball cap on my hand towel.  No sooner than I opened the hotel room door, the rain abruptly stopped!  I laughed out loud.  God is so funny sometimes.  He wants me to be sure that he stopped that rain just for me.  He has totally been with me this entire trip.  I wore my getup to the car anyway, just in case.  He is a good God, but Satan likes to try to mess up my groove sometimes, and I didn’t just fall off the turnip truck.
When I got to the clinic-a full hour early-It wasn’t raining at all.  And at this point can I just say that the GPS on my phone is the best thing ever?!  It totally takes all the stress from the drive. Even on a really stormy morning right in the middle of Rush Hour!  It takes the guesswork out of the route and allows you to focus on what’s going on around you.  I never really had the chance to use it before this trip.  Awesome.
I digress.  So, the EEG tech got me in early and checked my leads. She said I was doing an excellent job taking care of them, and she sent me out the door 25 minutes before my set appointment time and said that I could come in anytime between 8:30 and 10:00 tomorrow, so if rain is in the forecast I don’t have to worry so much about my leads.
I went straight from the hospital to the Wal-Mart I had called about my prescription.  I arrived there with my GPS at 8:57 am and the Pharmacy opened at 9am.  I got my tums and a little composition book for my medical journal they are having me do, because I am Wordy Gertie, and one sheet of paper wasn’t working for me.  I also got some nail polish.  Got the medicine and headed back to the hotel.  I ate lunch in my room, watched a little T.V., played a little facebook, and laid down for a nap.  My head had been hurting pretty badly all day so far, and I was ready to have some rest.
I finally laid down about 1 pm, and was awakened in terror just before 3 with a TERRIBLE nightmare. I do remember this one.  It was like I was watching a video on youtube where an old friend of mine who I haven’t seen or thought of in years died in a crash while leaving his wedding.  Then I was the person filming the video. Then I was in the vehicle.  I haven’t seen him since we were teenagers, and I don’t even know if he IS married.  It was so strange. I won’t even share anymore details.  I don’t want anyone else to have a nightmare.  Let’s just leave it at “It was a really freakin’ scary bad bad bad bad dream and I don’t ever want to think of it again.”  I looked for him on facebook after I stopped hyperventilating.  I didn’t find him, but I did find his mom.  Maybe I’ll look again later.  It may be silly, but I think I would feel better if I found him.
For about an hour after the ‘awakening’ I was really suffering with a severe migraine.  I finally took something for the pain.  I don’t like to do that if I can manage through them with just rest and dark rooms, but this one wouldn’t relent.  The pain has eased some now, and my body is relaxing from the stress.  So strange.  Maybe I am watching too much television, but I don’t really think HGTV and Food Network would cause a dream like that : P Also, I didn’t have that one medicine last night, so I took it and my other medicines a little while ago.  Most of my medicines can cause problems like that if I miss a dose.

August 13th
As you can see, I was unable to finish my journal during my trip.  The last of the 10th was fairly uneventful.  I did get out of the motel room and cross the street to McDonald’s for a Mocha Frappe’  That totally hit the spot.  I bet the caffeine showed some interesting things on my EEG.  I then talked to my hubby on the phone for a while before hanging up for the night and playing on Facebook and watching TV.  After my horrible dream from earlier in the day, I was reticent to doze off.  But alas, I succeeded at nearly 2 a.m.  I woke up the next morning feeling un-refreshed, but looking forward to going to the clinic to be set free of my gluey and tapey and wirey and itchy bonds.  I didn’t have to be there until 10, but I made it at 9:15.  The lady at the front desk looked at me funny.  It was like she wanted to say ‘two days in a row? An hour early? Can’t you tell time woman?”  I answered her unspoken question.  I simply said “Bad Weather.  I’m not used to driving in Little Rock, so I wanted to give myself plenty of time to get here.”  She just nodded and I had a seat.  Once the bonds were cut, I headed out of Little Rock, very happy to be going home, but very tired.  The headache I carry about with me was getting worse.  I’m not sure what is causing it. I am beginning more and more to think that stress is my disease.  I do know because of my MRI that my brain is beautiful and unscathed. So apparently we will have to look elsewhere for the problem.
August 16, 2011
Yesterday I contacted LRDC to find out if the Neurologist had read my EEG.  He had.  It was normal.  Two days of exactly the symptoms I have been struggling with, on record now—and the test is normal.  I don’t mean to sound upset, but I just hoped that I could get an answer and not have to keep this up.  On the bright side, everything about my brain is normal except that the pressure from the spinal fluid inside is a little too high, which causes the daily headaches, assumingly for the past many years.
Alas, however, I am not any closer to finding the answer as to why I am having what the neurologist is calling myoclonus.  Myo=muscle. Clonus=Jerks.  But even that doesn’t really give a diagnosis but rather names a symptom that must be attached to the problem.  So, now I have to go back to Little Rock and see My Neuro on Sept. 7th.  We’ll go over the results and decide what to try next.
In the mean time, he would like me to go from once to three times per day on a medicine that knocks me out.  Not keen on taking medicine that will make it even harder for me to work.  I think I’ll hold off at least till the weekend to try that.  Experimenting with dosages during the work week has not been historically wise.  Also, it seems counterintuitive to treat something you haven’t yet diagnosed.  I have to admit that the klonopin did help really well for a while, but just with any mind affecting drug, they begin to work less well.  Additionally, the tremors feel stronger than they did, and are breaking through the medication.  I’m just not sure I want to put myself in a stupefied state to treat a condition we can’t pinpoint.

So, I guess this chapter gets a sign-off with uncertainty about what’s to come next.